I’ve always enjoyed featuring children in my novels — quite often in very pivotal roles. For me, their insights, recorded correctly, can be as deep in their apparent simplicity as anything the philosophical greats had to say. There’s a no-nonsense approach that allows a degree of freedom that adult characters often repress. This, together with the relative lack of responsibility that comes with childhood, allows me to pursue literary avenues that would otherwise largely be off-limits.
But I don’t write children for children. The children I write are quite often influenced by the children I knew, for one thing, and whilst we weren’t exactly the roughest kids on the block, we were alarmingly real — especially when our parents weren’t around. Also, my themes are adult themes (in the nicest possible sense, of course 😉 ). Writing a “Young Adult” novel is something I’ve never wanted to attempt. As realistic as such novels can now be, this latter point largely prevents it; the children in my novels express themes concerning the forty one year old me, not those of a fifteen year old reformed twocker.
So how do I approach writing child characters for adult consumption? This is a difficult one to answer. My way of writing is fairly instinctual. I’ve been doing it so long that I no longer think about it (that’s a joke, incidentally… more or less). Nonetheless, a few points occurred to me earlier today that I thought I’d share with you. Feel free to add your own.
- A child is as multi-faceted as any other character. The expression of these “facets” will differ in many cases to those of an adult, but they will nevertheless possess common roots in the reality we all share. Their interpretation of the world around them may at times be unique, but it’s the same world your adult characters inhabit.
- Writing completely from a child’s point of view can rob the work of necessary perspective. Try to allow for adult exposition etc. (for example, I tend to have my narrator looking back from a future place, slipping the odd insight in here and there — though there are other methods).
- Don’t overplay the “childishness”. Be selective and remember that fiction is merely real-life with form and well-defined boundaries.
- Toys, favourite TV programmes, pop groups — all these can give a good sense of time, place and character. But don’t do it on every page! (See David Mitchell’s Black Swan Green if you want to read a great book on childhood that almost falls into the Space Invader Syndrome trap).
- And finally… child characters are not adult characters, but they deserve to be treated/represented with the same degree of honesty. Childhood can be a terrifying, confusing place — even for a child with a stable background. Don’t fudge it. Be prepared to revisit those childhood nightmares and ask yourself, Did they ever really go away?
If you are interested in how I applied this knowledge, you might want to check out my coming of age story, Children of the Resolution.
Bill Watterson always managed to write children with alarming accuracy without making them stupid or nonsensical. I think the way he once put it (and I paraphrase) was that he inserted every immature thought that he’d ever had. I always thought that that was excellent advice for figuring out kids.
I’m not familiar with Bill Watterson, but will check him out Eliza(?).
It sounds like an interesting approach… the problem for me would be that I’ve had far too many immature thoughts for one novel 🙂 My approach is to drift along on the childhood thoughts but rein them in a little. Kids have remarkable insight but can’t always express it — I try to play with these elements. How successfully I don’t know.
‘Peter Pan’ is the best example of a book about children that was definitely written for adults that I can think of. Like ‘Frankenstein’, it’s a novel that suffers from having a movie version of the story that is more famous and much less interesting than the original.
Don’t overplay the “childishness”. Be selective and remember that fiction is merely real-life with form and well-defined boundaries.
Good one! Levi says some of the most profound things and is brutally honest.
I know exactly what you mean, jimsmuse… though I’d never though of PP as being for adults. It is, though. It’s obvious now you mention it.
Yes, that’s kids for you, Selena! Why I love writing them 🙂
I showed my seven-year-old “Searching For Bobby Fisher” because she enjoys chess, but about halfway through it I realized that although the children in the movie are seven, the movie is written for adults… from the perspective of the parents.
My daughter said she thought the movie was “okay,” but she prefers “Spy Kids.”
– Sean Hood
Excellent example, Sean, thanks.
Spy Kids is pretty cool, though… you didn’t write that one, did you? 😉
I once tried writing a child based on myself as a kid. I struggled with it because in order to tell her story, she had to be wise beyond her years. So much so, that she wasn’t at all believable.
Maybe I’ll try again one of these days, using the method you describe, and see how it goes.
The trick is to make it a retrospective, reflective piece — that allows the child to be a child whilst the adult author observes and interjects, adding weight. Give it a try 😉
A great blog entry! Keep up the good work, and keep dishing out the advice. This may come in handy for many of us, including myself!
Thanks, Christopher — glad you think it potentially helpful.
Hello,
I’m writing an essay on the use of child characters in delivering key morals and themes in novels. Would you mind if I used your post as a source?
Not at all. Be my guest. I’d also be interested in reading the essay, if you feel like sending it to me.
Sure I’d love to. I’ve actually narrowed my idea down to the how Hawthorne uses Pearl in the Scarlet Letter
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