Writing for
Children: Throw Obstacles at Your Characters
by Laura Backes
Successful children's fiction begins with the main character. Many writers
create a biography or detailed character sketch, listing every physical and
personality trait imaginable, so they have a clear picture of who their
character is. Then they give their main (and important secondary)
characters a list of goals. What does he/she want to accomplish? What does
he/she need to do in order to grow as a person? The goals must be
believable within the realm of who this character is. These goals are as
important in picture books as they are in novels. How your character
reaches his large and small goals provides the bare bones of plot.
But in order for a story to be really interesting, your character can't just
think of a goal and then effortlessly reach it. As a writer, it's your job
to throw obstacles in your character's way. By developing obstacles that make
sense, you add conflict and tension to the plot. If you progressively
raise the stakes for your character throughout the story, you'll keep your
readers turning pages to see what happens next.
The first obstacle your character will encounter is that of the critical
situation.
This is the point in the beginning of your story at which the character's life
changes. Without this critical situation, the character's life would have gone
on as before; but with it the character is forced to experience the story's
events and challenges. This critical situation should relate directly to the
character's goals, creating major shifts in the character's life. Once you
select the critical situation, get out your list of goals and select several
that lend themselves to creating opportunities for relevant obstacles throughout
the story. Some of these obstacles can be developed into sub-plots.
For example:
* Does the character have to be somewhere at a specific time? Make him late, or
make him miss the appointment altogether.
* Does the character need to find something? Make the search difficult or
fruitless.
* Does the character need to communicate with someone? Have the note destroyed
by weather, stolen by a bad guy, or misinterpreted by the receiver.
* Does the character need to be alone? Make sure she's surrounded by people.
When developing an obstacle for your character to overcome, you can examine the
obstacle from various perspectives:
1) The character can experience the obstacle himself, or choose not to
experience it, which might result in different problems. For example, your
character may experience bicycle trouble, making him late to a vital class or
appointment, or he may choose not to participate in a family gathering or
holiday celebration.
2) The character can be the victim of the obstacle, with the obstacle being done
to or used on the character, which requires a reaction from the character (i.e.
your character may get ambushed by the neighborhood gang).
3) The character can witness something which provokes a reaction, decision or
conflict. For example, she may witness a robbery by the neighborhood gang, but
some of the members are her friends and she must decide whether or not to report
the incident to the police.
Another way of creating obstacles is to ask yourself the following questions:
1. What could go wrong when trying to achieve or obtain the goal?
2. Who or what could hinder progress toward this goal?
3. When could things go wrong? Name the worst times.
4. Where could things go wrong? List a location and three obstacles that
could occur.
5. How could things go wrong? List the process or sequence of events, or the
mechanisms involved.
Also think about the obstacle's placement in the story. What needs to
happen before the obstacle takes place so it can have the most dramatic impact?
What should you foreshadow? And what information does the reader need to make
this obstacle interesting and believable?
Finally, does anything about this obstacle lead the character into the next goal
and the next obstacle? Ideally, the character runs from one problem to another
until finally he either succeeds or fails at his goal.
Remember, for an obstacle to work it must be logically and intricately connected
to everything else that's happening in the story. But that doesn't mean it
has to be predictable. The obstacles can be humorous, suspenseful, and
above all, surprising. Then you'll have characters your readers will want
to root for.
Laura Backes is the publisher of Children's Book Insider, the
Newsletter for Children's Writers. For more information about writing
children's books, including free articles, market tips, insider secrets
and much more, visit Children's Book Insider's home on the web at http://write4kids.com.
Copyright 2001, Children's Book Insider, LLC
