Parents (Which I sort of already did but whatever)

Number 1: Yes, I know I haven't updated in a little while. Life happens :P

Number 2: I know that I've already sort of talked about this character in my post about mothers but hey, fathers should be thrown into the mix as well.

Parents are tricky in all genres of fiction, but especially in Young adult. That's because most people think that the best way to capture the mind set of a teenager is to pit them against their parents who totally don't understand them. They're, like, so old fashion.

This gets under my skin, of course, but that's not to say it can't be done well. So let's take a look at stereotypes vs. 3D characters for parents!

Stereotype: This can go several different ways. First, the parent can be there just to be a part of the conflict. They hold the MC back, cause drama in their life, or just don't understand. This usually falls short when the issues they get in fights over are trivial, as opposed to something really debilitating (Like physical and emotional abuse). Bad parents in fiction aren't bad, per say  unless their arguments with their child are trivial and, like, so old fashion. (Ok I'll stop with the 'like' bit).

The other stereotype is the dead parent... yeah. YA books have crazy 'kill off the parents' syndrome, often because they just don't want to have to deal with writing their characters. This can work too, so long as it has purpose in the story. Like the death of the MC's parents come into play or effect them throughout the book.

3D characters: This can go several ways as well. First of all, if you're going to make your parents emotionally or physically abusive, they should have a reason. No one is abusive just to be abusive (Outside of psychopaths but we will get to them later) so every parent who hurts their child must have some kind of reason to do so. There should be an attempt at understanding why the parent does what they do. They shouldn't just be villainized.

The dead or missing parent should also have a reason, as I said, for being dead or missing. At the start of my book, the father is dead and left the MC at a young age. But he plays a really major role in the story both plot wise, and in developing my MC's character.

Or, crazy thought, you could make the parents nice.

Mind blown? I'll give you a moment.

Done? Ok good.

You see, I like reading books about genuinely helpful parents. I love Mo in Inkheart as he is such a carrying, awesome dad. I love Molly Weasley. I like Tris' mom in the Divergent books. Nice parents can be really awesome. They don't have to be the source of conflict. They can help the MC.

That's jut my personal thoughts on 3D vs. stereotypical characters. Of course your opinion is your opinion and I can sometimes be guilty of that 'dead parent' stereotype.

In other news I got another partial request, and then rejection. True I've gotten two partial rejections, but at least I got requests in the first place!

Now I'm kind of a contest guru. I'm obsessively entering in whatever I can find, so fingers crossed for good results!

Not sure what my next special will be on but see you then!

-Authoress Anonymous

The Bullies (Those soulless brats we deeply resent)

Let's face it: Writers love throwing in bully characters for the sole purpose of humiliating them. Probably because a lot of us were made fun of in school so we want to get back at those bullies by making fun of them for all of the world to see.

Believe it or not, I don't hate this one, depending on how it's done. If the stereotypical bully is a recurring, important part of the plot I will hate their guts. And not in a good way. I don't like one dimensional recurring characters. If you're going to keep the bully around, give them some development.

However sometimes bullies are very minor parts  of a story and only present for a few scenes. In that case, I'm willing to overlook them.

So let's take a dive into the stereotype and the 3D character.

Stereotype: This all depends on the gender. The male bully will usually be a popular jock who everyone loves but who is so mean and evil and shallow and all that bad stuff we're supposed to dislike. He beats up on the male MC, teases the female MC and is just a bastard. He doesn't have any real motivation for doing this outside of maybe, I don't know, the MC is new or different or something.

Same with the female bully except they are usually a super popular, beautiful gossip who uses emotionally crippling scenarios to ruin the MC. (Though wouldn't it be funny to see it the other way around? The male who gossips and the female who beats people up? But I digress) Whatever their gender or their look, they are pure evil.

The 3D character: Again, this depends on handling the bully. If the bully is a small part of your story, why spend time developing him? I personally have a bully around for two scenes and both are used to establish the violent personality of my MC's best friend. He's a tool and I didn't really mean for him to be an important part of the story.

But if the bully is a long term thing, give them something to redeem them. Tragic back story, motivation, it doesn't matter but they need a reason for hating you MC so much. Maybe the MC reminds them of their sibling who died in an accident they caused and because of their crushing guilt they feel a need to pick on the MC for bringing up such terrible memories.

That's just an idea, but I don't want to spend a huge portion of a book with a character who is jut cruel. I know that some kids really are cruel. I knew kids like that. But there's always a reason and that reason should be explored.

Bottom line, keep the bullies in but try to put a new twist on them. Depending on how you use them, they can be very interesting tools.

-Authoress Anonymous