Stephanie and Diana

The Latest Literary Series . . . (Two) Facepalms

via {note: this is only a picture of someone, not a real model for either of these characters}

Stephanie and Diana co-starred in Lisa Williams Kline’s Season of Change. They were the typical freshman and sophomore of twenty-first century high school: astoundingly immature and fine with having a boyfriend at fifteen years of age. How could they, in their immaturity, advise authors on creating better characters? Well, like Edith Adelon, they may just give that advice without knowing it.

While Stephanie and Diana didn’t have many good character quirks, they did have a past and a future of shaky quality. Both girls suffered from their parents’ divorces—both Stephanie’s mom and dad remarried and thrust her into a precarious situation. Diana’s birth dad may have been a bit abusive, and her mom married Norm, Stephanie’s father, which placed her in another awkward position.

It’s true that Steph and Di, as I’m going to “affectionately” call them right now, were created for the grade school reader, one that could easily be as immature as they were. I learned on Go Teen Writers a while ago that younger-graded fiction focuses less on the person than it does on the plot, which is the case in Season of Change. Still, Steph and Di’s familial problems made their life fairly realistic. Like with Faramir’s strained relationship to Denethor, don’t hesitate to create awkwardness, fear, or anger in your families. It makes for some interest, at least.