WEBVTT
00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.960
Welcome to the Write for Reason podcast.
00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:10.800
My name is Janet Wilson.
00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.880
I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing.
00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:27.120
If you're a Christian and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips, and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer.
00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.679
Today I want to take a little bit of time to talk to you about characters.
00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:47.439
Now your characters are probably the most or certainly one of the very most important parts of your story because if your readers are engaging with your characters, they are very likely to carry on reading the book and enjoy it to the very last word.
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:55.759
If they're rooting for them, if they like them, if they want them to win through the scenario, whatever it is that you've put in your story.
00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:59.280
So here's the first tip that I have for you today.
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:01.600
Don't have too many characters.
00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:10.400
So you will have your protagonist or possibly a group protagonist if you've got three or four children, teenagers who are doing something specific.
00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:17.680
You'll probably have one main character within that group, but then you will have some secondary characters.
00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:32.239
You might have parents or other friends, you may have people from the youth club that they belong to, so there will be other characters around their secondary characters, who mostly will be named and will pop into the story every now and then.
00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:41.599
You may have a kind of a guide figure, so somebody perhaps a youth club leader or a grandparent or perhaps a teacher.
00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:50.400
In Eleanor Watkins' beautiful stories, The Beach Bank Girls, there's Sadie who is the youth club leader for the girls to talk to.
00:01:50.560 --> 00:02:00.959
So they often go and talk to Sadie if they they're in trouble with something or they're struggling with an issue, and Sadie often notices and she kind of draws alongside them.
00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:05.439
She's not there all the time, she pops in occasionally, and she's a great figure.
00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:15.120
There will also be some extras, so you'll have people who are just like passing by or the whole classroom of children or whatever it happens to be.
00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:21.599
So how many characters is too many characters is a question that I'm often asked.
00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:28.400
And honestly, what I can say to you is don't have any characters that you don't need.
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.000
This is the big takeaway from this podcast.
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.479
If you don't need them, don't have them.
00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:49.360
For example, if your protagonist has several siblings, it's going to be difficult for your reader to remember who they all are, who is which age, which one's the baby, which one's the older one, which one does what, which one has ginger hair.
00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.120
If you just have one sibling, it will be a lot simpler.
00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:58.080
So if you don't need a whole bunch of siblings for your story, don't have them.
00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:08.639
This will help you to keep up the pace, it will help your reader to be fully engaged, it will help you as you write to because you haven't got so many characters to get to know along the way.
00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:20.400
Your protagonist of course should be somebody who is around the same age or a little bit older than your intended readers, because they would need to be an inspiring character for your readers.
00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:22.639
They want to be somebody that they will look up to.
00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:31.840
They will probably be some kind of hero with a floor, so they may certainly not look like a hero in the beginning, but they will somehow win through.
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.319
That's the way stories work.
00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:38.240
These are the stories that inspire us, that we love.
00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:53.840
The last thing I want to say about characters is that you will probably have an antagonist, not necessarily, but there probably will be somebody who is trying to put the spokes in the works of your protagonist getting through to their final goal, in whatever way that is.
00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:01.439
Your antagonist may need some minions, some friends to work along with them, but if they don't, don't have them.
00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.000
If they do, just keep them to a minimum.
00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:16.000
As I said before, it will keep up the pace of your story and engage your readers and you're always moving forward in the best way possible without having lots of kind of side issues and things that are not necessary.
00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:21.040
It will help you because you won't have so much to describe, so many people to describe.
00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.920
It will help your readers if there aren't too many characters.
00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.800
I think we've all read books where we start to wonder who's that character again?
00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:31.120
Especially if they don't pop up very often.
00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:37.360
That would be really helpful if they weren't there, or if you could perhaps combine two or three characters into one.
00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.439
So you've just got one neighbour rather than three or four neighbours.
00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.879
You've got one sibling rather than three or four siblings.
00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:49.360
You've got one or two friends rather than seven or eight of them.
00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:53.040
So I hope this has been a little helpful episode for you.
00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.480
Why not look over your work in progress and see if you think perhaps you do have too many characters?
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:00.480
Pray about it of course as well.
00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:04.959
Right, that's all for now, so I'll see you again next time.
00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:12.079
If you'd like lots more free creative writing tips, hop on over to rightforreason.com and you'll find lots of things there.
00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:17.199
We have a membership group, we'd love for you to join us, and I have the Right for a Reason Academy.
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:21.680
So if you want to dig deeper into your writing, that is the course for you.
00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:25.839
So don't forget, today is a gift to use wisely.
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.800
If you've been called to write, someone is waiting for your story.
00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.960
Welcome to the Write for Reason podcast.
00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:10.800
My name is Janet Wilson.
00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.880
I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing.
00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:27.120
If you're a Christian and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips, and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer.
00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.679
Today I want to take a little bit of time to talk to you about characters.
00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:47.439
Now your characters are probably the most or certainly one of the very most important parts of your story because if your readers are engaging with your characters, they are very likely to carry on reading the book and enjoy it to the very last word.
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:55.759
If they're rooting for them, if they like them, if they want them to win through the scenario, whatever it is that you've put in your story.
00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:59.280
So here's the first tip that I have for you today.
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:01.600
Don't have too many characters.
00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:10.400
So you will have your protagonist or possibly a group protagonist if you've got three or four children, teenagers who are doing something specific.
00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:17.680
You'll probably have one main character within that group, but then you will have some secondary characters.
00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:32.239
You might have parents or other friends, you may have people from the youth club that they belong to, so there will be other characters around their secondary characters, who mostly will be named and will pop into the story every now and then.
00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:41.599
You may have a kind of a guide figure, so somebody perhaps a youth club leader or a grandparent or perhaps a teacher.
00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:50.400
In Eleanor Watkins' beautiful stories, The Beach Bank Girls, there's Sadie who is the youth club leader for the girls to talk to.
00:01:50.560 --> 00:02:00.959
So they often go and talk to Sadie if they they're in trouble with something or they're struggling with an issue, and Sadie often notices and she kind of draws alongside them.
00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:05.439
She's not there all the time, she pops in occasionally, and she's a great figure.
00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:15.120
There will also be some extras, so you'll have people who are just like passing by or the whole classroom of children or whatever it happens to be.
00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:21.599
So how many characters is too many characters is a question that I'm often asked.
00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:28.400
And honestly, what I can say to you is don't have any characters that you don't need.
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.000
This is the big takeaway from this podcast.
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.479
If you don't need them, don't have them.
00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:49.360
For example, if your protagonist has several siblings, it's going to be difficult for your reader to remember who they all are, who is which age, which one's the baby, which one's the older one, which one does what, which one has ginger hair.
00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.120
If you just have one sibling, it will be a lot simpler.
00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:58.080
So if you don't need a whole bunch of siblings for your story, don't have them.
00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:08.639
This will help you to keep up the pace, it will help your reader to be fully engaged, it will help you as you write to because you haven't got so many characters to get to know along the way.
00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:20.400
Your protagonist of course should be somebody who is around the same age or a little bit older than your intended readers, because they would need to be an inspiring character for your readers.
00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:22.639
They want to be somebody that they will look up to.
00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:31.840
They will probably be some kind of hero with a floor, so they may certainly not look like a hero in the beginning, but they will somehow win through.
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.319
That's the way stories work.
00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:38.240
These are the stories that inspire us, that we love.
00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:53.840
The last thing I want to say about characters is that you will probably have an antagonist, not necessarily, but there probably will be somebody who is trying to put the spokes in the works of your protagonist getting through to their final goal, in whatever way that is.
00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:01.439
Your antagonist may need some minions, some friends to work along with them, but if they don't, don't have them.
00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.000
If they do, just keep them to a minimum.
00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:16.000
As I said before, it will keep up the pace of your story and engage your readers and you're always moving forward in the best way possible without having lots of kind of side issues and things that are not necessary.
00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:21.040
It will help you because you won't have so much to describe, so many people to describe.
00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.920
It will help your readers if there aren't too many characters.
00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.800
I think we've all read books where we start to wonder who's that character again?
00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:31.120
Especially if they don't pop up very often.
00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:37.360
That would be really helpful if they weren't there, or if you could perhaps combine two or three characters into one.
00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.439
So you've just got one neighbour rather than three or four neighbours.
00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.879
You've got one sibling rather than three or four siblings.
00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:49.360
You've got one or two friends rather than seven or eight of them.
00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:53.040
So I hope this has been a little helpful episode for you.
00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.480
Why not look over your work in progress and see if you think perhaps you do have too many characters?
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:00.480
Pray about it of course as well.
00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:04.959
Right, that's all for now, so I'll see you again next time.
00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:12.079
If you'd like lots more free creative writing tips, hop on over to rightforreason.com and you'll find lots of things there.
00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:17.199
We have a membership group, we'd love for you to join us, and I have the Right for a Reason Academy.
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:21.680
So if you want to dig deeper into your writing, that is the course for you.
00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:25.839
So don't forget, today is a gift to use wisely.
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.800
If you've been called to write, someone is waiting for your story.
