One of my favorite parts of writing is getting to know my characters. The best way that I’ve found to do this, is to write. As I write I learn what they would and wouldn’t do, say, and think. That said, there are always characters I know better than others.
Someone once told me about a writing exercise for getting to know a character when you write down twenty things you know about that character that may or may not have relevance to the plot of the story you’re writing. In all honesty, I’ve never actually done it. But it sounds like a really good idea.
One of the challenges in creating realistic YA characters is that often we’re writing about these characters at a very confusing time in their lives. It’s easy to say; “Oh my character is still figuring out who s/he is.” However, this should not be an excuse for the author not knowing their character. If your character is confused about their identity, wants, needs, dreams. It’s your responsibility as the author to have a pretty good understanding of where the confusion lies.
An author I think does this particularly well is Sara Zarr. She creates really authentic well drawn teen characters. Her characters can be confused without giving the idea that it’s the author who is confused. Can you think of other authors who fit that description? How about books you put down because the author didn’t seem to have the first clue who their characters were?
Ideas In Things 