Good excercises for getting to know my MC?

Mystic Blossom · Jul 15, 2008

Because the character is a teenager in the first book, and it's undeniably a YA novel, I decided to put it here. Sometimes I think you have to take a slightly different approach to MC's of YA novels than to MC's of other novels anyway, but that's only my opinion...

Anywho, I have an MC for a YA fantasy novel. I love her, but the problem is, I love her more in the second book, but if I'm not enthusiastic about her in the first book, no one will bother to read that or the second. In the first book, she's 15 and in the second book she's 20, and since I'm 20 myself, I have a lot less difficulty sympathizing and connecting with her when she's that age. My biggest issue is that in the first book, when she's 15, she is completely against embracing her "destiny" for lack of a better term, and a lot of it has to do with the age she is and other circumstances. The problem is, I don't think that she's easy to connect to because I don't know her fifteen year old self that well, because I didn't like myself that much when I was her age.

So I think the best way to solve this problem is to jump right into it. Get to know her as much as humanly possible. At this point, she has less personality than the villains, but I want her to be the one people connect with the most. So, lay it on me. Give me your toughest questions, the most complex character questionnaires you can find. Let me have it all, so I can have a crash course in finding out who this girl really is.

susannah · Jul 25, 2008

I'm currently developing a new MC as well, and these are some of the things I've tried to flesh out about her. Some of them seem really silly, but they usually lead to "deeper" discoveries.

- What food she eats
- What her living environment is like -- house, room, town -- and how she views them
- How she dresses
- What she hopes for
- What she would be embarrassed to have people know about her
- Who her friends are, who her ex-friends are, etc. (Especially crucial for her at age 15, I bet)
- What secrets she keeps
- What she'd change about herself if she could.

If I'm stuck, I sometimes journal from the viewpoint of my MC. Most of that never comes close to the manuscript, but it does help me get inside her mind and unlock some of her issues in a more organic way.

I'm enthusiastic to see what other people suggest.

regdog · Jul 25, 2008

Maybe tweens and teens will be able to relate to her better because they are around her age and can understand why she acts and thinks they way she does. So even though you don't quite embrace her at 15 those your writing for might.

Jeffery E Doherty · Jul 30, 2008

I think you have already come up with the angle for your MC. She doesn't want to embrace her destiny - that opens a lot of plot oportunities and allows for so much growth by the end of the book.

Secondly she doesn't like herself all that much. I don't think the MC has to be super likable and the fact that she doesn't like herself would soften the readers opinion of her. The other good thing about this is that there are a huge number of 13-15 year olds out there that don't like themselves either so they will relate to the character.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Regards

Jeff

lm728 · Jul 30, 2008

--Whose opinion does she look to the most?
--How does her past affect her present?
--What doesn't she like about her?
--What are some unusual characteristics she has?
--Howis she different from all the rest of average teens?

Angela_785 · Jul 31, 2008

Read a ton of YA. Too, I agree with doing a character outline as Susannah suggested. It will help you better understand your character and what motivates them.

Also, write some sample scenes where a major emotion is exposed. Try a scene where your character becomes embarrassed, where she feels threatened, where she is trying to keep others from discovering a secret, where she has to face a weakness of hers. Write them and see how she reacts...it will lead to a better understanding of who your character is and allow you to create a stronger voice.

mirrorkisses · Aug 1, 2008

I don't think any of us liked ourselves at fifteen....

Try watching a few teen movies and tv shows:
Breakfast Club
Pretty in Pink
Sixteen Candles
Say Anything
Freaks and Geeks
My So-Called Life
Mean Girls

here's a list from imdb:
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/teen/high-school/?sort=alpha
You'll probably see titles you recognize, and it might help to re-watch them.

Good excercises for getting to know my MC?

Mystic Blossom

My heart's a battleground

susannah

regdog

The Scavengers

Jeffery E Doherty

lm728

i'm baaaacccckkkkkk

Angela_785

mirrorkisses