Writing Child Characters Class Notes
HONORING CHILDHOOD
- Be very careful to respect the time of life that is childhood. Honor your characters
emotions and thoughts.
- Consider the emotions underlying your child character’s behavior.
- Children go through stages of intense growth
- When writing multiple children, don’t neglect making their traits (as listed below) and
instincts different. Don’t just make your characters different on a skills/personality level.
FINDING IDEAS AND INSPIRATION
- Take time to research how children the age of your character behave, recognizing that
some children are more mature and less mature in varying ways. Research not just the
age of your character, but the age before and after her age.
- [Link]
- Child Development Websites
- YouTube Videos
- Spend time with children
- Parenting websites
- How children learn
VALUES AND BELIEFS
- Children have values and beliefs as real as adults
- “Right” and “Wrong” are abstract concepts children must build over time
- Egocentric values and beliefs are replaced by more altruistic ones as a child grows
A CHILD’S WORLD
- The environment a child is raised in has a significant impact on her/him. Consider
o Culture
o Era
o Environment (home, city, country)
- Take time to consider the world of the child. Not just what she does every day, but what
in her day stands out to her.
o School
o Holidays
Writing Child Characters Class Notes 1
© 2020 Barbara Vance
[Link]
[Link]/c/wordswithbarbara
o Friends
- Brainstorm down to specific detail
- Utilize the five senses
GROWING UP: DEVELOPING GOOD TRAITS
- Curiosity
- Social skills
- Resilience
- Integrity
- Resourcefulness
- Creativity
- Empathy
- Assertiveness
- Humility
- Confidence
CHILD INSTINCTS
- Children operate a lot on instincts because they haven’t fully developed other traits and
because they have more limited experiences.
o Escape
o Combat
o Repulsion
o Parental instinct
o Appeal
o Sex
o Curiosity
o Submission
o Self assertion
o Herd instinct
o Acquisition
- As you consider your character’s actions and reactions, ask the following:
o What is the instinct being manifested?
o What is the emotion associated with that instinct in the child?
o What caused this instinct to appear at this moment?
o How is this instinct being manifested?
o What happens when/if the character takes this instinct too far?
Writing Child Characters Class Notes 2
© 2020 Barbara Vance
[Link]
[Link]/c/wordswithbarbara
DEVELOPING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
- Remember that routine things for you are new for a child
- Children learn fast and know a lot about what they are exposed to, including words
- Remember to consider not only what your character knows, but what she doesn’t know
in light of her environment.
Emotional Control
- Children are not always as impulsive as people think
- Children are experienced much that is new and being stimulated in new ways; this can
make someone anxious and exciteable
CHILDHOOD CHALLENGES
- Be aware of the limitations of being a child: physical, emotional, knowledge. And focus
on their feelings about those limitations
o What are the limitations my character is dealing with?
o How does my character respond to these limitations?
o How are these feelings manifested?
o How do people around her respond to the limitation?
- Concrete vs. Abstract thought
- Egocentric
- Remember to research and consider the specific age of your character and how mature
or immature she is.
POINT OF VIEW
- You do not have to write from the perspective of your child character.
- If you write from a child character, are you writing from her older self looking back or
from the direct eyes of her young self? This will dramatically influence P.O. V.
RECOMMENDED READING
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ~ Betty Smith
Dicey’s Song ~ Cynthia Voigt
Writing Child Characters Class Notes 3
© 2020 Barbara Vance
[Link]
[Link]/c/wordswithbarbara
RECOMMENDED COURSE VIEWING: NEXT STEPS
As we discuss in the course, I recommend putting as much time into considering your antagonist
as your main character. To that end, I have a number of character courses that I recommend
going through if you have not already:
1. Writing Unforgettable Characters: Crafting a Character Profile (Start here. This class is
about how to choose the foundational traits out of which all other traits grow). Includes
a very helpful worksheet.
2. Character Values & Beliefs: The Foundation of Your Character (Take this course next. It
really pairs with the Character Profile course. This also focuses on foundational traits you
will want to sort out that determine why your character does what he/she does. If you
want consistent characters, this class will help!)
3. Character Flaws: Create Depth and Drive the Plot (This is a great one for all characters,
but especially children. It will keep you from choosing random flaws and focus on
selecting the best flaws for the plot).
4. Choosing a Character's Strengths: Likeable but not Perfect (This will really help you not
make children who are too precocious or flat.)
5. Describing Traits, Actions, and Thoughts: Bring Characters to Life (This course is
focused not on the development or pre-planning of a character, but how to write that
character into the story. You want to avoid overused or uninteresting character
descriptions and try to write descriptions that strategically push the plot forward and
choose the most relevant aspects of your character to share.)
6. Write Believable Character Relationships (Also about writing your characters into the
story, this course will help you think about juxtaposing the characters in your story so
that you choose the most interesting, dramatic, strategic traits for each.)
Make a Difference!
If you enjoy these courses, please leave a review! It helps your peers, and it helps me make
more courses!!
Please also share the courses with friends using the shareable link on the course
page. It makes a BIG difference.
Writing Child Characters Class Notes 4
© 2020 Barbara Vance
[Link]
[Link]/c/wordswithbarbara
Thank you for your support and kindness! Best of luck with your writing! Barbara
Writing Child Characters Class Notes 5
© 2020 Barbara Vance
[Link]
[Link]/c/wordswithbarbara