Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am Brandon Vestweber. Yes, that's my real last name. I am here alongside the mascot of this website: Donald Duck. Wow, Donald, did I wake you up from a nap? Please don't yell and spit at me...
Whoops....
You see, I'm from Memphis. And being a Memphis native, I always walk into the Peabody Hotel to pretend I'm fancy for a few fleeting seconds. While I'm there, I always check out the ducks. That's when I ran into Donald Duck who was cheering on his children as they marched around the Peabody. AI told him about all my classes and of course the mountain of life that is creating a blog. That's when Donald's eyes lit up (one eye had a dollar sign and the other sparkled). Don told me he could aid me in the art of writing for children and setting up the blog in exchange for some publicity. Don told me he's wary of these despicable yellow tic-tac characters that are taking over the big screen instead of him. Anyways, he's my partner and figurehead of this blog. As a father, he should know a lot about kids and what appeals to them, right?
Ok, so I can't even compliment him. He's still mad I woke him up from his beauty sleep. But is it really necessary to shoot fireballs?
In my Writing for Children class, there is an interesting book called simply Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul. It covers a variety of subjects about what it takes to essentially make a children's masterpiece (something that can compare with the majesty of Captain Underpants or Catzilla). In Chapter Sixteen, the book covers something that has daunted essay-writers and creative writers alike (the terror worse than a Sharknado): the title! There are various techniques employed by children's writers to create catchy/memorable titles, such as using alliteration, unusual/standout titles, loud exclamations, inventing new words, adding spins onto familiar story titles.
The title is integral because often times someone will scan through many titles at once on a shelf, disregarding everything except the spine of a book. Indeed, children's book titles should be catchy, unique, but also respectful to the content and atmosphere/mood of the book, and hints about the contents. At the same time, someone can create mystery with a vague, generalized word or question within the title.
Another important thing to remember is that a child should be able to easily read or pronounce the title: making it a riddle or a tongue twister will confuse the child but something short and attention-getting will get the kid's attention. Speaking of short and attention getting....
Or another method would be to use the main character's name within the title, and it helps if that character is both strong and distinctive. That's why I chose Donald as my mascot/part of my title, he's loud and weird (not to mention likes to dress up strangely).
"What are you talking about, simpleton? Is this how *MY* clubhouse is going to go?" - Donald Duck to me.
But it really is true, a title that's unique and catchy (such as the Captain Underpants or Catzilla mentioned) will imprint itself onto the minds of anyone who sees it. I know for me in writing for any type of fiction the title is important and one of the first things I come up with (after the characters and a general plot). It can be a way to hook the reader by making it flashy or unique compared to all the titles that play it safe or generic.
When reading the Cynsations blog by Cynthia Leitich Smith I couldn't help but relate to this interview she had with K.A. Parson. She discusses the central question of creating a character: what is it they want: acceptance, love, friendship, money? This reminds me of the scriptwriting classes I took from Bob May and how he always emphasized the main objective of the main character: it had to be something that character wanted for themselves, something selfish, and it had to be a desperate quest to attain or accomplish the main objective. This emphasizes that because it shows that each character, even in children's stories, must be trying to accomplish or grasp something that is elusive.
But there's the flip side to that that I hadn't really thought about as much as K.A. Parson: what if the character doesn't achieve this objective? She makes a great point that the stakes involved don't have to be life threatening, but they should be important. Indeed, this makes the story more suspenseful if there's consequences if that main character should fail. What if Scrooge McDuck has to make the next flight to L.A. to meet with a McDonald's worker to pen out a business deal but his airplane is late? This would up the stakes, but it would up it even more if I said that Scrooge would have to sell his relaxing hat and beloved hot tub if he failed? Wouldn't that be suspenseful (and for me, enjoyable)? Of course, I could even go so far as to say if this business deal didn't happen he could lose the house, but that could be too serious (at least for children's work).
She goes onto say that motivation propels and drives the plot forward and the story: if a character's objective is in-line with the main character they can be an ally, if it clashes with the main character's goal than chances are they are an antagonist. This I think is important to remember in stories because common objectives can enhance the relationships between characters, while on the other hand clashing objectives can separate characters from experiencing a close-knit relationship.
In the last chunk of the interview, K.A. Parson talks about the role of humor in her stories: she uses it carefully and purposely to add comic relief in between serious scenes in her stories so that the story isn't all 'heavy material.' Indeed, I think pacing is important and unloading too much serious information can make the story too depressing or melodramatic. I think especially in children's writing, humor and wit are pivotal and should be intertwined in even the most serious story to show that there's always underlying hope and possible joy even in the worst circumstances. Overall, I really enjoyed this interview because it talks about how even the "lesser" ingredients of writing like using humor can enhance the story and improve the pacing, while at the same time talking about the foundation of the story (objectives) and how that foundation can be strengthened.
Check back next time for some more analysis and more Donald Duck's expressions....
Terrific, Brandon! Very creative, with great ideas of the course material!
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