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Give each character a role in your story, even adorable kittens! |
By Linda Wilson @LinWilsonauthor
Animals and humor: two tried-and-true—and beloved—additions to children’s stories. Most children’s stories have them. Personally though, when I first started writing for children, I didn’t single out their importance. Not until my students enlightened me.
While teaching elementary school, I would read some of my very first stories to my students. I’m afraid one story that I read turned out to be pretty bland indeed. I asked my students for their thoughts. One boy, about eleven, raised his hand and said, “Your story doesn’t have any animals in it.” What a revelation! He went on to say, “Always include animals in your stories.” I never forgot his advice. Since then, animals have taken on big roles in my stories.
It goes without saying that children love to laugh. Humor can fit into most stories, when appropriate.
Incorporating Animals in your Stories
In my first book, Secret in the Stars: An Abi Wunder Mystery, I included the most adorable kittens. I knew my readers would just love them. I believed in this idea so strongly that I went to my local pet store and had a photo taken of me with kittens that were for sale.
I’ll now put in a plug for one of my most trusted professional editors, Chris Eboch, https://www.chriseboch.com. Chris understood my desire to include the kittens in my story. But she suggested I take out an entire chapter about them. The fateful chapter didn’t move the story forward. And worse, the kittens didn’t take on an important role in the story.
You can imagine after all the effort I’d put into those kittens how unsettled I felt. After thinking it over, though, I realized Chris was right. It wasn’t that hard. I just deleted the chapter and rewrote the chapter numbers. Not to worry, I saved the chapter for possible future use, although so far I haven’t found a way to fit it in.
The same principle held true for one of the main character’s adorable younger brother, Ryan. Ryan added cuteness and lots of humor (more on humor in a minute). But the same principle applied. Ryan didn’t move the story forward nor did he have a role. Giving Ryan a role wasn’t hard. I gave Ryan a key role in finding a glove that had been missing throughout the story, therefore, having him help solve the mystery. And as an added bonus, Ryan had Star, the dog in the story, hold the glove in his jaws and lay it at the sheriff's feet.
Finding a Way to add Humor
In my current Work-in-Progress, WIP, Secret in the Mist: An Abi Wunder Mystery, I’ve worked in as much humor as possible, keeping in mind the principles of moving the story forward and giving each character a role. Here are some tips for hilarity:
- Breaking wind is always funny to kids.
- Smelly stuff, too.
- Made-up words are fun.
- Underwear is funny, take it from Dav Pilkey, who figured that out in elementary school where he created his Caption Underpants character.
- Little-kid antics like ringing the doorbell and running away, and listening in on older siblings’ conversations.
Most of the advice and suggestions I’ve learned have been hard-won. Maybe that’s what it takes for improvement. Most important: that your creations are meaningful for children, and you've made your stories so intriguing that kids keep coming back for more.
Additional reading:
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/how-to-mix-humor-into-your-writing
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| Two of my picture books, Tall Boots and Cradle in the Wild are now available in Spanish |
Linda Wilson is the author of the Abi Wunder Mystery series and other books for children. Her two new releases are Waddles the Duck: Hey, Wait for Me! (2022) and Cradle in the Wild: A Book for Nature Lovers Everywhere (2023). You’ll find Linda on her Amazon author page, on her website at LindaWilsonAuthor.com, and on Facebook.
2 comments:
Linda, thanks for these tips on adding animals and humor to our stories. And leave it to kids to give needed advice: out of the mouth of babes!
It's some of the best advice I've ever received!
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