Little kids…
I make a distinction between young adults who are twelve- to eighteen-years-old and anyone younger than that. I can write about the former, but evidence indicates that I have trouble writing about the latter.
Writing about little kids in an adult novel with adult themes is even more difficult. They usually appear as secondary characters in my stories. And sadly, they occasionally appear as victims.
My hang-up might be a common one: I can remember events in my own childhood all the way back to around when I was three-years-old, but it’s hard to put myself in the mind of that Stevie from so long ago. It’s even harder to create childlike character. I can rarely identify with and get into their minds enough to write a meaningful story.
Young adults have childlike and adult characteristics. It’s easier for me to remember how difficult that time was and create and identify with my young adult characters. Little kids are big trouble, in real life and in fiction.
Most authors aren’t child psychologists or pediatricians. Readers shouldn’t blame them for not creating good child characters. Children, young adults, and adults all react differently to Dr. Seuss. The adults’ Little Mermaid isn’t the kids’ Little Mermaid—Ariel is the same character, but they react differently to that character.
I see this in many animated films. The jokes many times are only understandable for adults because little kids don’t have the life experiences an adult has. So the writers just resort to slime and farts for the kids. Kids get jokes, but maybe not adult jokes.
I have to make a confession: I only have one little kid as a major character in my many novels. I often challenge myself in my writing, and I did so that one time. The result might contain evidence about my struggle, but I hope not. What spurred me on was my observation that the autistic spectrum is wide, a lot wider than most people think, so I created a child character at one end of that spectrum. That character is Manuel, an autistic boy in Silicon Slummin’…and Just Gettin’ By from the “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries.” He’s almost a main character, and Mary Jo Melendez would be dead if it weren’t for him.
Readers can determine if I successfully met that challenge. Will I write about another child character in an adult novel? The answer is the same one I give to all writing questions: If a little kid fits into the plot, why not? Having done it once, it should be easier the second time, right? But Manuelito is a tough act to follow, so we’ll see.
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Comments are always welcome.
Soldiers of God. In this sci-fi thriller, FBI agent Caitlin Murphy is the handler for Father Juan Pablo Gomez, who’s working undercover in a fanatical religious group. Her main problem? She’s in love with the priest! They work together to thwart the group’s plans to attack famous sites in the Washington DC area. But is that group only part of a broader conspiracy with a bigger agenda? Available in .mobi (Kindle) ebook format on Amazon, and in all ebook formats on Smashwords and at all the latter’s affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) and library and lending services (Scribd, Overdrive, Baker & Taylor, Gardners, etc.) An “evergreen book” as current today as when it was published, if not more so.
Around the world and to the Stars! In libris libertas!
