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| My son's illustration for one of his stories. It appears I'm being hit by an airplane, or maybe an alien invasion. |
I find that the easiest characters for me to develop are the ones most similar to me, however, I love writing characters that I wouldn't normally relate to. In high school, I loved to play the part of the villain in our school plays.
I think kids are like that too, characters that are a little bit, or even a lot bit, naughty are vicarious outlets for kids who feel like so much of their lives is controlled by overwhelming forces--namely parents. I think that's the appeal, in part, of Roald Dahl's characters. Pippi Longstockings is another and Curious George, to name a mere few.
When it comes to more current children's authors, Mo Willems is one of the best in creating memorable characters with endearing foibles. We love Pigeon at our house, and we were lucky to find available tickets to the stage production of Elephant and Piggy at the Kennedy Center. My kids talked about that experience for weeks. Needless to say, I love the following videos, and I hope you'll find something of value from them too:
Have a great week!
