The Premier Listicle.

Today, I found out what a ‘Listicle’ is.

Spoiler alert: It’s just a list, people. Well, it’s an article in list form, to be exact. Isn’t that the most ridiculous name? Listicle. It sounds like something dreamed up by Dr Seuss;

 

I will tally the jobs of bother,  

I will write them one below the other.

I will write them in a line,

I will write them up to number nine.

So that my day isn’t too unpredictable,

I will write my very own listicle.

 

Today, I also found out it is very hard to find a word that rhymes with Listicle (well, one that isn’t a bit inappropriate for a kid lit website anyways….).

 

So, based on my notes from the Picture Book Writing course I took last year, here it is, here is my very first Listicle. Hold on to your hats people!

Five tips to help create loveable characters:

 

1. Flawed: Be honest now, how dull would it be to spend time with someone who is always saying the right thing, doing the right thing and thinking the right thing? The perfect person; lovely in theory, truly dull in real life. Same goes for the main character in a story. Human nature is such that more often than not, we are drawn to the character with flaws (how else can you explain the popularity of Mr Darcy?). Maybe it makes us feel better about ourselves? Better yet, the person with issues they manage to overcome. Whether they’re a bit selfish or impulsive, they’re a multidimensional character people can root for.  Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild! (Mem Fox) is a favourite book over at Casa Fletch, for that very reason – Harriet doesn’t mean to be a pesky kid, she just is. And her Mum doesn’t mean to lose her temper so much, sometimes she just does. A lot like real life and very relatable.
2. Empowered: How frustrating it must be to have other people make all your decisions for you. Telling you what you can and can’t do. Must be how kids feel every day, I’m guessing. How refreshing it must be for them then, to read about a character who is able to make decisions for themselves. Sort their own problems without a grown-up to help. To do exactly what they want to do. Eat cake, have a shower instead of a bath and watch TV on the roof, if that’s what they choose to do.
3. Tries Hard: See point #1 – just as it would be fairly dullsville to read about a character who acts perfectly, so too would be reading about one who doesn’t have to work hard to change their situation or mindset. Take George from, Oh No, George! (Chris Haughton). He makes one bad choice after the other, but the warmth in the story comes from his attempts to try harder to make better decisions. Little readers will see that willingness to try and be better and do better, in their own little lives. As a parent I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard my own kids promise to try to be better next time. Heck, I’ve even promised it myself. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not, but it is the trying that counts and what we relate to.
4. Believable: Or so completely and utterly unbelievable they’re totally loveable. Pig the Pug, I’m looking straight at you here (also, how’s that answer for sitting on the fence??).
5. You need to like them, too: If you expect readers to willingly – and hopefully, repeatedly – spend a chunk of their time with a character of your creation, you need to create someone that you like spending time with, too. The time you take to craft their imaginary back-story (even if it isn’t included in the main story), their foibles and personality will help to draw readers in. It also helps if you like to spend time with them, because spend time with them you will – through countless revisions, edits, rejections and setbacks, it’s nice to have a character worth the slog writers go through, until they (hopefully) see them in print.