Spooky Tales and Tips

Ladies and gentlemen me and Donald Duck are back to bring you a unique viewpoint and outlook on the writing for children genre. We've gotten a break, so we're refreshed and ready to go!

Uh....his sleepy look is spooky..

So I was scrolling down the Cynsations blog when I read an interesting phrase: "unlikeability is a tool in the writer's toolbox." To me, this was kind of an odd phrase because I've never really thought of that as necessary to write a compelling book, much less a children's book. Sarah Aronson, the guest writer of this article, writes: "I prefer 'different' over 'beautiful.' I want to read stories that offer me something less safe and perhaps, a little more edgy with lots of moral ambiguity. As a reader, I enjoy entering the world of someone who in real life I would despise, despicable characters, characters that are not all that nice, complete with endings that make me more unnerved then content." This is very interesting outlook that I haven't really considered. 

Personally, I agree and disagree. In many cases, the villain (in antagonist form) truly becomes the focus of a story. Look at many of today's movies and shows, they focus on the villain at the beginning of the show and explore their motivations, sometimes more-so than the hero (case in point, General Zod in the blockbuster hit Man of Steel in many points drives the story). Of course, the trend in superhero blockbuster movies is to make the villain almost cartoonishly evil, but this is part of the charm of comic books, and often the cruel nature of the villain provokes an almost animal like aggression from the hero. And though there are many heroes and arch-types, that's not to say there aren't famous "evil" protagonists. Case in point, Saul gets a ton of attention in Scripture and drives the story as he wages war against Israel's enemies. Saul continually disobeys and seeks plunder for himself, but then there's a part of him that wants to be good. I would still say he's unlikable though. Perhaps this does fit the bill because there's some moral ambiguity: Saul shows potential, and vows to do good, but ultimately fails and fails. But to me, I think that a story works best when there's an underdog. Saul's complete descent to madness, when he's a lunatic and not redeemable (truly detestable), is best depicted when he faces the underdog in David. They are very much alike, but David truly does chase after God's own heart (not just professing it). In another hit show, Smallville, there's a very intricate twist of this: there's the underdog Clark Kent (before he was Superman, he's an angsty and love driven teenager), who befriends Lex Luthor (we all know he's going to be the villain but here he is insanely likable). Over the course of the show, Lex Luthor becomes more and more unlikable, but that's part of the story: viewers want to see what will drive Lex Luthor into madness, into becoming a super villain. So I surely agree that dislikable characters can drive the story and carry some positive traits, but I think often times they can only be the protagonist for so long until the underdog hero takes over the reigns. It's an interesting thought to consider that some readers would truly want "to spend some time in a body that they would never want to be in real life." 

I really enjoyed some of the tidbits of Chapter Eight of "Writing Great Books for Young Adults" where it lists tips in bullet form (here's some of my favorites, most helpful): "people to not use proper grammar...conversation involves give-and-take between people...people exaggerate and often lie...silence is part of conversation...there's many speech hesitators such as 'uh', 'well', 'you know.' That's certainly true: dialogue should be believable and unrobotic. Quirks in speech and mannerisms helps make a story unique: whether it's a character using excessive hand motions, a character avoiding eye contact, someone pulling out their phone at a particular moment in the conversation, etc. All of this is important and makes a character unique. And I surely agree conversation is a 'give and take', it's like two characters throwing ideas around back and forth. The quirks in speech and mannerisms can be used to show the wit of a character, nervousness, confidence, and the subtle details can be the most important in shaping a character. Often times interruptions and short fragments will be used in conversation: this can set up almost a rhythm or a musical effect. Pacing is very important, to have a balance between humor and seriousness, etc. 

I'm laughing and seriously about to place my palm on my face. 

Things are starting to get almost...almost....spooky

It's almost Halloween and things are getting terrifying.....including Don's usual Halloween costume choice...

Oh, you fancy huh? So here's the weekly roundup: the first article I read, I feel is timely, though it isn't perhaps as crystal clear as far as concepts go. It certainly pertains to writing young adult fiction, though, and what the substance of a show is about. On the Cynsations blog, Cynthia Smith talks about the Glee tribute to "Finn Hudson", one of the main characters of the show. Personally, I've never watched more than the first episode of the show, but I know that the tribute has been described as touching and beautiful around social media sites. Now, Glee often tackles contemporary or universal issues, so naturally people wondered if it would delve into the addiction that Cory Monteith struggled with. Yes, this makes logical sense, but the thing is Cory's character (Finn) on the show never showed the same struggle with drugs and alcohol. As Cynthia writes, "theme only resonates when fiction rings true...consistency is the key to resonance." So instead of incorporating drugs or any cause of death into the show, the writers left it open and unanswered, instead focusing on the impact of Finn's character. Finn's character was compared to Superman on the show, making his quarterback character almost part of this 'superhero' archetype. But even if Finn's character had glaring weaknesses, the show didn't mention drugs as one of them. Yes, it would've made sense on one level to try to tie in real life and the story, but it wouldn't have fit into the cannon.

 Instead of focusing on the 'cause of death' of the character, the tribute episode focused on the impact Finn's character made: a popular quarterback who intermingled with music and singing along with diverse groups around him. As Cynthia notices, would a cause of death randomly added ruin the tributes effect? I think it's an extremely tough question, but I think that would've shifted the focus away from his legacy that he added. So, in some ways this may seem like it doesn't apply to young adult writing, but I think it does. It tells us that consistency is key, and characters that are both realistic yet inspirational are ones that readers really do treasure. Weaknesses are fine to impart into writing and should be there, but it's wise and productive to gradually build those weaknesses (and the root of them) in writing rather than just add it on a whim or without some kind of backstory.

Chapter Five in Writing for Great Books for Young Adults delves into the building blocks of creating the foundation of the plot. I thought it was very interesting that it advises "don't have too much plot: character do not have to have a crisis or deal with threats every few pages...too many characters, story lines, subplots, and too much action will quickly lose younger readers...breaks in the action are important for the characters to reflect on what has happened, consider the current situation, and plan their next move...this will help sustain the suspense and ramp up the anticipation of watching the character move into the next action scene...the author should focus on the protagonist and his reactions to advance the story." This to me is very interesting because it reminds me of an important issue that every show must cover: pacing. I notice the pacing of a TV show or movie so easily now: generally, there will be minutes and minutes of an action scene or chase scene and then there's a break (like a breath) for humor and comic relief. This allows the reader to rest, or at least be caught off-guard when something else loud happens!

At first when I read that paragraph, I disagreed with the book, since some anime's (that I would say apply to young adults) pack in a ton of action and characters and subplots all at the same time. But indeed, they have tons of reflection by the main characters once these subplots or new characters are introduced. Many times, the inner thoughts of a character in these anime shows will be expressed or they will reason with themselves verbally, or perhaps name out what their going to do to something else (even if that person is their enemy). Indeed, anticipation and suspense are needed and are important, pacing is pivotal whether it's writing young adult television, books (maybe chapter breaks), movies, etc. As I learned in my scriptwriting classes, television is like this very much so--there should be a lingering question or plot-twist right before every commercial break to build anticipation (for the big 'fight scene' or cliffhanger or something). Or like many shows, the character will reason with themselves and have an epiphany of something they didn't know, something shocking, which is perfect for a chapter or commercial break. Indeed, the pacing of any story is important, for it to have a balance of action along with moments of rest or stillness as a character learns or or muses meditates on what is ahead or what has just happened.

Creatively annoying Donald

Welcome one, welcome all. It's a new week which means new and exciting articles! Yes!!! Donald Duck can't wait!!! I told him he'd get to discuss this weeks blogs/chapters with me so I pulled him away from his weekend at the spa.

On the very interesting Cynsations blog, there's an interview with a (announcer tone): New Voice in the writing world: Annamarie O'Brien who speaks about her hit new story "Lara's Gift." She speaks about how researching this story took her years upon years. It's set in Russia and thus, required a lot of creativity especially to research how life was like in the Imperial era in Russia. Though she lived there and had memories of the area, some of the details she wanted were more obscure to find. Two years passed before she was able to choose what kind of business one of her character's owned (she chose a bell foundry industry). She says this was important because by integrating bells into the story she could increase tension, show emotion, and 'poke' at the senses by having this bell sound clang throughout the story. She also described that the beginning of her story was very difficult, so she eventually decided to integrate a prologue into the story. Such a decision was something she tossed around for awhile, but she didn't know whether or not prologues were necessary or acceptable in contemporary stories. In a sense, the answer to this lies in her first point of advice: trust yourself. She also lays out two more tips: give yourself goals/deadlines, and never give up hope.

The interview to me shows that solving specific details of a story can take time, and that's okay, because those details uncovered can really strengthen a story or enable the writer to integrate a lot more than they would've been able to without it. It also shows that research is okay and sometimes necessary when dealing with historical things: it can be fascinating, and those obscure details you find interesting can likely [or at least can be tweaked to] be what the reader will find interesting. And it also shows that sometimes unconventional means, such as using a prologue or epilogue can be effective and utilized, though some may frown upon it, each story is different. I mean case in point, look at the epilogue in the Gospel of John. None of the other Gospel's have such an epilogue (or some of the closing paragraphs). There shouldn't be a "yes" or "no" answer to such conventions, just the notion to trust ourselves.

For an appropriate seasonal choice, there's also an interview with Charlotte Gunnufson on her new story "Halloween Hustle." The first thing she discusses is the long process of being published: she started sending out her story in spring of 2008 and didn't get publication until 2013. She says things like her critique group and magazine pieces and just clinging to hope helped her continue on even though it took such a long time to get published. Her inspiration still comes from what re-invigorated her writing career: the acclaimed movie Pursuit of Happiness, which inspired her to pursue happiness rather than achieve it. In other words, we are full of joy when we are almost to our goal, not when we actually grasp it: "we are happier when we are almost there." This shows that patience is often necessary when dealing with writing, but the process can be exciting and lead to fruitful endeavors. See Donald you should be patient...

For more tips, there's the book "Writing Great Books for Young Adults" by Regina Brooks. The First Chapter lays out some simple but often overlooked tokens of advice: the first of which is that the 'heartbeat' of the story depends on the ability of the writer to convince the reader that the protagonist is one of them. This is really all about authenticity: a writer has to be able to channel kids voices and emotions and thoughts, it has to be grounded and realistic: even the most larger-than-life personality should be relatable and have the same struggles/hardships/doubts/joys that teens/kids have. The second tip is to not be condescending to your readers. This really goes hand in hand with the first tip: kids can understand complexities, it shouldn't look down on kids, it should build them up. The next tip is to read young adult fiction because it'll teach you further about the diction of children, what is popular, and the complex plots writers are using. The next tip is to silence commercial thoughts because that will limit your self and you will focus on what is 'mainstream' or trends or what you think people will like rather than the originality of the story. This ties into tip number five: to forge a new path--to blend genres, use off the wall but relatable characters or something of the sort. This will set your book as the proverbial city on a hill, a light that shines a different hue from all the rest of the lamps.

Okay Donald, you can go to your spa.