(Picture courtesy of Mary R. Vogt on morguefile.com)

Have you ever found yourself telling a kid, "Don't talk with food in your mouth," and then realized you were doing the same? I once caught myself out when I reread an article I'd written on character development. Among the suggestions were questions to ask yourself about the character. I realized I couldn't answer any of them for the main character on my current work-in-progress. Ouch! I wish I could say I was only on page one of my novel.

I know some writers write totally organically and learn their character as they go, but I know I need more. So why do I keep trying to do without the preparation? I wish I knew. I may have to make a sign to go above my computer, "Do you know who your character is?"

Or maybe it's that I always have to get to a certain stage in a story before I care enough about all those details of my character to find them out. Of course, that definitely can cause major rewriting.

I've heard writers explain how they write very detailed bios of their characters, major and minor, before writing any of the story. Others fill out complex charts. For me that would be telling the character who they are more than discovering who they are.

On one work-in-progress I discovered my main character's initials didn't stand for what I thought they did. I'd given JD his name a long time ago, when his story idea was only a glimmer of an idea. I decided the J stood for Joshua. When pre-planning a scene in my head, another character asked JD what his initials stood for. He answered, "Jonah David." Whoa! Time out! Where did that come from? But it felt . . . right.

So where does that leave me? Not totally in control.

But I think I need to work on a balance for this dichotomy. Some pre-planning, some organic, followed by more planning, followed by more organic. And, flexibility.

So don't do as I say, or as I do. Instead figure out the best way for you to work out this issue of character development in your own work. Though if you have any tips, I'd love to hear them.

Note: If you don't see the comment option, click on the title.

What catches attention? Bad news or good news? You only have to look at a newspaper, the internet headlines, or watch the TV to know the answer. Bad news gets more space and attention.

Think back to your school days. When kids whispered about a classmate was it because something good happened? Not usually. The "did you hear . . ." topics were about someone doing something wrong, getting caught, etc. The stories didn't have to be true and often got worse as they spread.

Sounds a lot like fiction writing. Writers are paid to give characters problems and make them worse. Readers can't necessarily solve their own problems, but reading how someone else solved a problem gives them hope.

In a novel the first problem introduced may not be the main one of the book. Here's an example: "When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he'd caused it." (Savvy by Ingrid Law). Mibs, the narrator, will be turning thirteen and finding out what she has to deal with when she gets her own savvy. First, however, we are introduced to her brother's problem.

Short stories don't have the time to deal with multiple problems or much character development. Like juicy gossip, a short story problem needs to start right away.

Launch a short story problem with action, dialogue, thoughts or a combination. Let's take a girl who has lost the watch she borrowed. We could start with action: Wendy reached into her jeans pocket for the watch she'd borrowed from her older sister--it wasn't there! A dialogue beginning might be: "Oh, no! Teresa's watch is gone. She's going to kill me!" Her thoughts could introduce the problem this way: It's gotta be here, Wendy thought. I know I put Teresa's watch in my pocket. No matter which way this story starts, the reader knows it is bad news for Wendy.

Here's an example from a classic story: "There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be a real Princess. He travelled right round the world to find one, but there was always something wrong." ("The Princess and the Pea") By the end of the second sentence, we know there is a definite problem.

Some short stories may introduce the problem with the title of the story as "Who Will Care for Spot?" does. (Marilyn Kratz, Highlights) This problem is reinforced by the beginning lines. "Mom looked worried as she hung up the phone. 'That was Jenny next door,' she said. 'She won't be able to take care of Spot while we are on our vacation.'" Again, bad news.

Are you giving your readers bad news up front? Try it and see if sharing the problem early makes the readers worry and want to read on.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

If you want to make your characters stand out and be unique (i.e.: see the light of day in a published book), first try running your dialog through the cliché detector. Figures of speech can be so common you don't even notice them - phrases like, "we're not out of the woods yet," or "don't count your chickens before they hatch" tend to slip right past our radar. Don't let them.

Make your dialog better than that, more original. In your dialog revision, take the time to establish a voice, even a lexicon for each of your main characters. It'll make them stand out from each other, and more, it'll make them jump off the page. Here are four ways to make your characters "talk different."

1. ATTITUDE:
Is your character defensive, combative, a know-it-all, a joker? Make sure that her dialog consistently reflects this.

Let your character's attitude inform every utterance. As an example, take Deborah Wiles' EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS. The obnoxious little boy, Peach, could have just said, "Good morning, Comfort," when he came into her room. Instead he says, "It's morning and I've come to see you!"

That little tweak shows us his quirky personality, as well as his attitude. Is he excited to see Comfort? Oh, yes. (Is she excited to see him? Not so much -- and her dialog reflects this.)

2. EDUCATION:
Your characters' level of education determines so much of their speech, from word choice to sentence length and complexity. Make sure that you take this into consideration and use it to set characters apart from each other.

Have the smart characters use bigger words than the rest; have the not-as-smart-as-they-think-they-are characters MISuse bigger words. In my book, FAREWELL, MY LUNCHBAG, janitor Maureen DeBree aspires to a more sophisticated means of expression than her education allows. That's why she says things like "Don't cast nasturtiums" instead of "Don't cast aspersions," and advises the detectives to use their powers of "reduction," instead of "deduction."

3. FRAME OF REFERENCE:
What does your character obsess over? What kind of background did he come from? What kind of world does she live in? These considerations will inform what your characters say and how they say it.

For example, in EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS, Comfort's older brother, Tidings, is obsessed with all things military. When he greets her, he says, "Easy, Private!" When asked where the visitors are, he says, "The troops are reconnoitered in the back parking lot." It's never a challenge to know when Tidings is speaking, and his dialog reveals a lot about who he is and what his aspirations are.

4. EXCLAMATIONS
What kind of character would say, "Criminently"? What character would say, "Eeww, gross"? (Hint: probably not the same character.) Exclamations are a small touch, but if you use them right, they can help the reader zero in on the personality of whoever is speaking in a heartbeat.

For example, in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, the hero, Harry Dresden, is a wizard/private investigator. He uses phrases like "Hell's bells" and "Stars and stones" as exclamations, giving him a uniquely wizardly way of expressing himself. If he just said "damn" and "holy moley," it wouldn't have the same effect.

Take these four considerations into account, the next time you're taking a closer look at dialog. And I guarantee, to paraphrase David Sedaris, that your characters will "talk pretty one day."

BIO
Edgar-nominated author-illustrator Bruce Hale is passionate about inspiring reluctant readers to open books (and read them). He has written or illustrated more than 25 seriously funny books for children, including the award-winning Chet Gecko Mysteries series, Snoring Beauty (one of Oprah's Recommended Reads for Kids), and the comics-novel hybrid, Underwhere. Read more about the books on Bruce's website.

An actor and Fulbright Scholar in Storytelling, Bruce is in demand as a speaker, having presented at conferences, universities, and schools all across North America.

Plus, he's one nice guy.

And, you can get great articles like this one by signing up for his newsletter. It's free here.

I once heard an editor say she wanted the following in pictures books:

• humor


• unique settings


• memorable characters


• emotionally engaging

One my youngest daughter loved, that I actually found a bit odd:
• Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch; illustrated by Sheila McGraw

These I first read to my grandsons:
• First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg; illustrated by Judith Dufour Love
• Library Lil by Suzanne Williams; illustrated by Stephen Kellogg
• The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman; illustrated by Marla Frazee

Others I love:
• Big Bad Wolves at School by Stephen Krensky; illustrated by Brad Sneed
• Coyote Steals the Blanket by Janet Stevens
• Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
• Mrs. Biddlebox by Marla Frazee
• The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill; illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith
• See You Later, Alligator! by Laura McGee Kvasnosky
• The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner; illustrated by Jonathan Lambert

After making this list, I've come to the conclusion I'm not reading enough recent picture books. Time to visit the bookstore!


Here are some Best Picture Book lists:

49 brilliant picture books from the past 5 years as chosen by award winning illustrators

Best Picture Books 2010: David Wiesner, Jon J. Muth, Louise Yates and Other Spectacular Illustrators Honored - 10 from the Huffington Post

The Best 25 Picture Books of 2010! - books4yourkids.com

From 'Brothers Grimm' to 'Stuck,' the 11 Best Picture Books of 2011 - The Atlantic

Best picture books of 2011 - Lindsay Weiss on babycenter.com


Are you sharing your favorite picture books? Or giving them as presents next month?

Funny how when you've spent time collecting info on a topic, more info keeps popping up even when you thought you were done. At least that's how it often works for me. I posted this big resource for picture book writing, but now I have more to share.

First, some reminders courtesy of some of my students, a few critiques I've done recently, and the SCBWI Carolinas Conference last weekend.

Is it really a picture book? I know when I started writing, I often thought what I wrote was a picture book when it really was a magazine story. That's a pretty common error. This article by Jan Fields explains the difference well: "I Wrote it -- What is It?"

If after reading the article you are still unsure about your piece, create a storyboard or picture book dummy. (Links to "how to" directions are in previous post.) After you lay it out, think about what the illustrator could draw on each spread (a spread is a set of opposing pages). If the first spread's text indicates a child sitting on her bed, and so does the next, and the next, that doesn't give the illustrator much to work with. If the child is active, the illustrator has more opportunity to create interesting pictures.

Okay, so it is a picture book. What do you do about illustrations? Probably nothing. You do not illustrate the book yourself unless you are a professional illustrator. The publishing house will choose an illustrator. They often like to match an unknown writer with a known illustrator or vice versa. Even my friends who are author/illustrators don't necessarily illustrate every book they write. When someone takes your text and adds his own vision, the resulting blend of ideas creates something almost magical. If there's something not in the text that the illustrator must know, you may do a brief illustrator's note. i.e. desert setting.

I remember years ago Kathryn O. Galbraith talking about how picture book language must "sing." Have you read your text aloud? Do you stumble? Have you had someone else read it aloud? If they don't read it "right," you need to rewrite. Could you read it over and over and over to a child and not get bored? I love this quote by M.B. Goffstein: "It is tiresome to read a text that the author hasn't fought for, lost, and by some miracle when all hope is gone, found." Here's a great resource for while you are rewriting: Picture Book Editing Checklist from CBI Clubhouse.

And a few comments about rhyme from a Picture Book Panel at SCBWI Carolinas:
Lucy Cummins, Associate Art Director at Simon and Schuster and Paula Wiseman Books, talked about having to learn the term "scansion" (You can read about what that means here.). "Rhyme doesn't mean you have movement in the story," Lucy said. Check out this blog post on Lucy.

Rachel Orr, Agent at the Prospect Agency, asked, "Are you fixing things with your voice?" She suggests that if you have written a story in verse, to rewrite it in prose, then go back to verse.

Amy Lennex, Editor, Sleeping Bear Press said, "The rhyme must add to the story. It must make it a better book."

Recently a friend asked me for some picture book recommendations. I told her some authors and a few titles, plus a website where she could check out books. So what have you been reading lately that you'd recommend to my friend? Sure there can be some classics, but there better be some recently published picture books coming to your mind. I can name some illustrators whose work I like because of reading picture books. Can you? This is all part of market research and learning your craft.

Here are a few of my favorite picture books (a mix of new and old):
Chowder by Peter Brown
Froggy Eats Out by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Let's Play Rough! by Lynne Jonell, illustrated by Ted Rand
Mañana, Iguana by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrated by Ethan Long
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josée Masse
Mostly Monsterly by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Scott Magoon
Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

More Picture Book Resources

"The Basics of Writing a Picture Book" by prokidwriter
"How to Write a Picture Book" by Jennifer Lovvorn Parker
"How to Write Picture Books" by Robyn Opie
"How to Write a Picture Book That Shines" - video by Jon Bard
"Picture Book Guidelines: Learn How to Write for the Youngest Children" by Jennifer Jensen
"Picture Book Lessons, Grades 3-12" - this site is aimed at teachers who want to teach their students using the Six Writing Traits - but could be helpful for writers of picture books, too.

Links to Picture Book Awards

Caldecott Medal Winners - for picture book illustrations

The Charlotte Zolotow Award - for picture book text

Cybyls Award Winners - includes picture books

SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards 2011 - includes picture books

SCBWI Golden Kite Awards - check out awards for picture book texts and illustrations

49 brilliant picture books from the past 5 years as chosen by award winning illustrators

Bill Martin Jr. Picture Book Award (Kansas) - my current home

Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award - my previous home

Many other states have awards as well. There are also country awards and other organization awards. Check with your local children's librarian.

Links to Picture Book Collections and Recommendations

Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Kids Corner: Favorite Picture Books (Summer 2011 Edition) by Rebecca Reid

The New York Public Library's "100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know"

Save the Picture Book by Bridget Heos

20 NEW Favorite Picture Books - Fall 2011 - posted by Imagination Soup

AND MORE RESOURCES courtesy of Tammi Sauer!
PICTURE THIS: A Daily Guide to Picture Book Writing with Rob Sanders
Marisa Montes Picture Book Writing


If you'd like to comment or share favorite picture book titles, and don't see a comment box, click on "Picture Perfect Picture Books" above, then scroll to bottom and the comment box should be there!