What Does Your Character Want?

Guest Post by Claudia Mills

            One of the most powerful questions for launching a story is: what does my main character want? So simple and obvious - and yet even experienced authors can forget this.

          

            As I was writing my most recent book, Nixie Ness, Cooking Star, set in an after-school cooking camp, at first I focused only on Nixie’s predicament. Now that her mother has a job outside the home, Nixie has to attend an after-school program, which means she’ll no longer be spending afternoons at home with her best friend, Grace, which means Grace will be spending afternoons instead with Nixie’s nemesis, Elyse. But what should happen next? I was stuck until I asked the crucial question: what does Nixie want? Well, she wants her life to be the way it used to be. But this is such a vague and hopeless desire. The story came into focus for me when I gave a different answer: Nixie feels she is losing her best friend, and she wants to get her best friend back again.

            Once we know what our character wants, the plot is driven by what she does to get it. If her first attempt succeeds, we have a very short and skimpy story. But if her first attempt fails, and her second attempt fails, and even her third attempt fails, her ultimate success is much more satisfying.

            If your students are stuck for a story idea, encourage them to think of what a character might want. They might start by thinking about what they want. A bike? A dog? A sleepover with a friend? A special family vacation?

            Then lead them in brainstorming how someone could try to get this thing. With brainstorming, even preposterous ideas are welcome. Remember it’s good if the first ideas end up failing! One of Nixie’s failed friendship-saving ideas is to get fame and fortune by starring in the cooking-camp video. Another is to bribe her friend with yummy camp-baked treats. A third is to pretend to be sick at camp in order to guilt her mother into quitting her job.

            For young writers, simple wants, simple strategies, and simple failures can work best.

            Your character wants a bike.  How could he get a bike?

1.     Find a job and save up money to buy one.

2.     Win one in a contest.

3.     Get a friend to trade his bike for something he wants even more.

Then, the really fun part: How could each of these ideas go wrong? Failure can be one of the most comical things to write about – and one of the saddest. And then the success that follows is sweeter still.

Nixie ends up keeping her best friend, but in the process she realizes Grace can still be her friend even if Grace is now friends with Elyse, too. It’s fine if a story ends with a character coming to a new understanding of what she wants.

But knowing what your character wants is where a story begins.

Claudia Mills is the author of almost 60 books for young readers, including most recently the Franklin School Friends series from Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and her new After-School Superstars series from Holiday House.  In addition to writing books, she has been a college professor in the philosophy department at the University of Colorado at Boulder and in the graduate programs in children’s literature at Hollins University in Roanoke. Visit Claudia at www.claudiamillsauthor.com.

WRITING CONNECTIONS WITH ERIN HAGAR

by Mary Quattlebaum

Julia Child: An Extraordinary Life in Words and Pictures (DuoPress, 2015) brings culinary pioneer Julia Child to fascinating life. Author Erin Hagar and illustrator Joanna Gorham create an innovative biography that combines vivid, informative prose with wordless double-page spreads that dramatize key moments in Julia’s life.

Below are a few writing prompts for the classroom or for individual writers ages 8 and up.  (The biography’s engaging form is similar to that of Brian Selznick’s Caldecott-winning novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret.)

Writing About Professional Hopes:  Many young people seem to have only a vague idea of what a specific profession involves, or they are starstruck and seem to think that being a professional singer or athlete means doing so only at the top.  This biography takes a close look at someone with an expertise—cooking, food writing—that may intrigue young people.

Classroom Discussion:  Ask students to read this or the biography of another noteworthy figure from the 20^th or 21^st centuries.  Have them jot down answers to the following:  Why does this person intrigue you?  How did the person become involved in his/her life’s work?  What were setbacks?  How were they handled?

Research:  Have students do some Internet research on professions/jobs they may be interested in.  Why does this work interest them? What does training involve?  What are some tasks/activities involved on a regular basis?

Classroom Writing:  Brainstorm questions to ask someone who does this type of work.  (How did you get started?  When did you know this job/profession is what you wanted to do?  What’s the funniest/most surprising thing that ever happened to you on the job?  The most challenging?  Have students ask these questions of someone (preferably not in their immediate family).  In addition to adults in the neighborhood or extended family, youngsters might look at websites for organizations or professional associations.  Many have public relations departments or do educational outreach, and the websites can be helpful sources when students are doing research or trying to identify possible interviewees.  Ask students to write what they discovered in a few paragraphs.

Sharing:  Mount the writing on a bulletin board, and give youngsters a chance to share more information or ask questions of one another.  What was the most surprising or favorite thing they learned about this job or person?

For More Information:  To learn more about the professions of chef, author, and illustrator, check the official website for Julia Child , Erin Hagar, and Joanna Gorham,

Erin Hagar 

Related Projects/Reading: This biography of Julia Child makes a wonderful book for a classroom library.  Or educators might check this one and other biographies of recent figures out of the library and display them in the classroom.  Even a kid picking up and briefly leafing through a biography can learn a lot.  It’s hard for kids to imagine possible life paths unless they “see” them, whether on TV, in the neighborhood, in their family or those of their friends, or in books.

Too often, biographies for youngsters highlight worthy artists, writers, activists, athletes, and politicians.  They’re all important to the historical landscape, of course, but where are the biographies of those with recent accomplishments in the fields of science, agriculture, the culinary arts, business, and engineering?  Where are the life stories that might guide and inspire youngsters with an interest in professions beyond those usually featured?

  

www.maryquattlebaum.com

FICTIONAL FOODIE

by Mary Amato

Have you ever read a novel in which the character talks about his or her favorite food? Or perhaps the emotional climax of the novel takes place over a plate of steaming dumplings. One fun way to make the experience of reading a picture book, chapter book, or novel even richer is to prepare and share a food that was a part of the book.

In my book Stinky and Successful: The Riot Brothers Never Stop, a puffy breakfast treat called Dutch Babies play a starring role. I received so many letters asking about this home-cooked dish, I decided to create a how-to video for my recipe. http://www.maryamato.com/how-to-make-a-dutch-baby

Make some pasta after reading Strega Nona! The next time you read a book, look for a culinary opportunity and get out that bowl and spoon.

www.maryamato.com

COOKING UP SOME WRITING FUN

by Mary Quattlebaum

We’re now in that “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,” so beautifully described by John Keats; and with pumpkins and Halloween candy highly visible, many a person’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of food (to adapt Tennyson’s spring-time line to autumn).

Food is a great connector, joining people within and across time, regions, countries, and ethnicities.  Nothing can generate a spirited classroom or family discussion quicker than mention of a favorite (or detested) food.  I’ve done the following prompt with kids and adults alike.

Favorite Food

1.  Ask students to name their favorite food.

2.  Have them close their eyes and call to mind a time when they prepared or ate it.  With their eyes closed, have them focus on each of the five senses, one at a time:  What do they notice about this particular food, on their plate or in their hand?  Are there any particular sounds associated with this food or with the eating or preparing of it?  What about smells?  Taste?  Touch, as in the temperature of the food and the texture in the mouth?  Ask whether they are eating alone or with a group and what else they might notice about the setting or occasion.

3.  Have them open their eyes and write, using at least three of their five senses, and trying to give a sense of where and when the food was eaten.

4.  Share some descriptions with class.  For students writing about the same food, have class point out differences and similarities in descriptions.  Discuss how each person brings something different and unique to the description because each writer is unique and will notice different things/have different experiences to draw from.

Resources

Two helpful websites and their attendant blogs link food, children’s books and writing and education:

http://jamarattigan.com/ -- Jama’s Alphabet Soup, written by children’s author and foodie Jama Kim Rattigan, is self-described as “an eclectic feast of food, fiction and folderol.”  It’s a delightful feast, indeed, with recipes, writing reflections and interviews with children’s authors and illustrators.

http://jeanraiford.com/ -- Preschool Parfait, developed by preschool teacher Jean Raiford, provides seasonal activities and recipes that playfully enhance the early learning environment in reading, science, math and social and physical skills.

www.maryquattlebaum.com