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No, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking about little children. I have a lot of trouble writing little kids. The youngest I’ve ever written extensively about is an 11 year old. That may seem weird cause I have four younger siblings age 11 to 2, but it’s hard!
So, if you guys have any advice, information, how you write little people, their thought process, or anything, can you let me know? I also have a feeling this will turn into a place to share the funnythings our siblings do.
One thing I know small children are supposed to have is a natural and deep perception of people. Like, if someone is evil, but doesn’t show it, a child won’t go to him/her. If someone is hurting, disabled, depressed, has mental conditions, or other hand-caps, children automatically sense they need comfort and happiness, especially toddlers.
And one thing I realized is that they have a peculiar kind of wisdom. I told my 5 year old sister we didn’t want Hillary to win because she was a bad lady, and she said,
“We’re all bad aren’t we? Why don’t we want her if she’s bad because we’re not better than her.”
That floored me. I realized that people probably think ‘Hilary’s so bad, and she’s evil, and she’s terrible, but really , even though she has probably done more sinful things, on purpose or not, than a lot of people, we’ve still all got the same problems in our heart. That surprised me how my little sister can teach me things I don’t realize.
@Daeus @hope @writefury @emma-flournoy @kate-flournoy @Bluejay @dragon-snapper @ethryndal @the-bean @jess @his-instrument @anne-brie @anne-swiftblade @sleepwalkingmk @corissa-maiden-of-praise @sarah-h @Mark-Kamibaya Look at me! I did all those by memory!ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
@anne-of-lothlorien I’ve noticed that little kids are cute as well as bundles full of energy. They don’t easily get mad or sad, and are always giving people the strangest things.
When I write little people, they usually end up making people realize what they want, or bringing up painful things that need to be brought up, and yet they are perfectly innocent. Little people/kids are mainly pure at heart because they don’t know about the bad things of the world yet.☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
@dragon-snapper That’s true about being innocent because they don’t know about the bad things yet. I noticed when adults are worried or sad, little children seem to notice it, and it worries them. Think of all the movies where the parent gets a message saying their spouse has died. The little kid climbs in the paretns lap and says in an adorable baby voice ‘Mama/Daddy? What’ wong? Is somfing the matter?”
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
Oh, gee. Little kids are hard. I have a nine year old in my stories, and I’m constantly having to slow myself down to a much more basic view of life when I write her.
Like all human beings, you find such vast differences from one to the next, but they’re harder to write about, probably because their minds and thought processes aren’t as complex as someone older. I think that’s one of the defining things about them. We have much more knowledge, but that can sometimes hinder us from thinking clearly, as opposed to them, who see the world in a much more simple light. This simplicity is probably what lets them see things that we miss because of all the extra stuff in our brains that get in the way of a rational idea. The thing you mentioned about Hillary is a prime example of this.
I hope that makes sense.
They can also be extremely selfish. But I’m sure you’re probably well aware of that. 🙂
@anne-of-lothlorienINTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/
@Anne-of-Lothlorien I shall return more in depth later cuz I’m in a rush, but if you learn well by studying the work of other authors READ LADDIE BY GENE STRATTON PORTER. The story is told from the POV of the protagonist’s younger sister, and Gene Stratton Porter absolutely nailed the perspective of a ten-year-old girl.
I shall return. *vanishes in swirl of silver cape*
I read a story called Yellow Star about a Jewish girl during WWI and it was amazing how the author followed her thought process from a five year old’s persepctive of not udnerstanding the war, or what was ahppening, to a tween who was starting to understnd all the terror and horror. You should read it @kate-flournoy. I have to go too, that’s why there’s so many typos in my big words. See ya’ll next Monday!
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
@Anne-of-Lothlorien Something I’ve noticed in books with little kids (and I can currently pull zero examples from my memory. 🙁 I know I’ve seen it somewhere.) is that they seem to be too stereotypically good. That might sound ridiculous, but what I mean is, they seem too wise, and too un-foolish, and too sweet and helpful. I know children are more innocent, but it seems unrealistic. I know from living with lots of little siblings that they are most certainly not fountains of goodness and unselfish concern for others. That’s not an insult to them, that’s just how it is! I’m sure I was a selfish brat at one point in my life. 😛 Of course that’s not how it always is, and yes they can be very, very sweet and concerned for others when they decide to. That’s not the norm though.
It can also depend on the child’s raising and family, too. Obviously the kid’s going to be more kind and good if he was raised correctly and in a happy family, but he still won’t be perfect. 😛And do read Laddie. Heh..the children in there aren’t…exactly fountains of goodness. 😀
Another book written from the view of a nine to ten year old is To Kill a Mockingbird. It specifically shows the innocence, wisdom, and attitude of a young girl.
Something I find hard to remember is that the littler the child the harder it is to tactfully explain hard subjects, and the older we get the more “foreign” vocabulary we use. For example, it may be hard to simply explain things like war, divorce, death, or the buying of a fancy car for no reason other than you liked it a lot; they may, or in most cases, may not understand the meaning of words like exceptionally, tragic, continuous, etc.
One last thing 😉
Have fun when you write from their view. Even if the world around them is full of war and turmoil, kids are, at times, completely oblivious (more so the younger they are).Sorry, forgot to tag you @Anne-of-Lothlorien!
I’ve got 8 of the little things running around the house, so I’m open to whatever questions you have. *bows* Fire away!
The most helpful thing I can probably say that hasn’t already been said is that too often little ones are written as adorable angels— cute for cute’s sake, which is not cute in the least. It’s shallow. Kids are complex humans in the making, and if you focus on that they’ll be cute as a side effect anyway.
Also, because they are still growing and their understanding is not complete, they can make wrong choices and decisions with the utmost sincerity and good intentions, which is to the writer’s advantage. A child can get away with something the reader would never tolerate in an adult. Children are less responsible, therefore they are judged less. So you can have a kid make a bad decision and the reader will probably not judge them for it at all. I guess the key, really, to a kid’s POV is to realize that they understand the world in black and white (for the most part) and find it difficult to process the finer nuances of right and wrong. The paradox here, however, is that kids ARE extremely perceptive, and they can usually feel right off when something isn’t right. This confuses them. They see a simple world, and feel an impossible one, and between the two they don’t know which is real.So… yeah. Random dump. 😉
Well, lord of the flies is a good example of a story about kids.
I was about to say I’ve never written a kid, but I guess I’ve actually written two. Their POV wasn’t very strong in those scenes though.
If I were to do a deep POV child character, however, I would start by looking back at how I thought when I was younger. If you don’t remember anything from when you were younger, maybe you could interview people who remember those times
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Man, there’s some really good advice here. *takes notes*
@anne-of-lothlorien I’m the youngest, so I don’t have any little siblings, but I have some young cousins and close young friends who are practically family.I agree with what everyone else has said. Little kids are bundles of energy and love. Their minds are more underdeveloped, so they see the world in black and white. Their wisdom comes from watching and listening and asking. They watch us and see more than we think they do. They ask what we assume or pass over, and make us think. But on the other hand, sometimes they’re selfish. Bratty, even. It does depend on the situation as well. If the kid has loving parents who discipline him, he’s probably going to be more respectful and obedient than not. But if his parents let him do everything he wants, then he’ll probably be selfish.
Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
But if his parents let him do everything he wants, then he’ll probably be selfish.
Yes. And this is another thing about writing kids. They interact with the world however they have been allowed to interact. When they’re young they can’t see the reality of everything, so if left to themselves they shape their way however it feels best for them; on the easiest path. If they have no one to check that, it continues into adulthood. See, every single thing that happens to a child builds on their foundation, whether good or bad, right or wrong. They don’t naturally have the experience to distinguish one from the other. If there’s no one to teach them that, say, selfishness is wrong and harmful, they grow up selfish and find it perfectly acceptable… then go off into the world and wonder why people don’t like them. 😛 This is actually a good thing to keep in mind writing characters, period. Their childhood, whether you write it or not, literally shapes the way they view life. There’s nothing to say they can’t change that view, (what is a character arc but that) but it’s gonna take a lot of doing.
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