Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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.

6 comments:

  1. Books with tension from stuff like that can make a story interesting, and if it is solved cause a very happy ending. If not, it can make you think, or cry. I'll need to remember this for my writing.

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  2. I like troubled characters - they are the most interesting! :) I've been away a while and missed a good many posts! Our computer shut down without warning, and mom just ordered a part and fixed it yesterday. Yay! if it hadn't come back up, I would have lost thousands of pics, and dozens of stories and videos because I hadn't back them up yet. Guess what I am doing this morning? ;)
    Glad to get back to reading your blog!

    Rebecca

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    1. Oh, I know! I love troubled characters! They're so awesome.

      That's horrid about your computer. I'm sorry. Our old one used to have huge difficulties too, and I'm so thankful that we got to get a new laptop last September. Have fun backing up everything--ugh. That must take you a long time.

      I'm glad you're glad :) I've posted quite a bit and about some uninteresting stuff, so.... Well, I don't know if everyone thinks it's uninteresting, but I don't like it that much.

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    2. Do you enjoy a laptop or a desk top more? Or is it just the newness that makes it better? Ours isn't terribly old, and though a lap top is fantastic for writing, I do like a good desktop the best. :)
      It is NOT uninteresting. There is few blogs I bother to follow anymore, but you're not leaving the list. :)

      Rebecca

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    3. I like both, but laptops seem more confidential somehow :) At least when you have them on your lap! ;) Argh, I wonder what the problem was with your computer then if it wasn't old. But I'm sure there are more problems than that to be had with computers.... I'm not very good with mechanical things unfortunately.

      Oh, you are so sweet. Thank you!

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