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| Photo Credit: Public Domain |
Some of my favorite characters in children's books are precocious female protagonists. Here is a reminder of that word's definition:
Precocious (adj.)
(of a child) having developed certain abilities or proclivities at an earlier age than usual.
As a child, I always enjoyed spunky young girls in books because I could vicariously live their type of lives while reading. (My upbringing was extremely strict.) When I began to write my own MG novel I hoped to create a precocious female protagonist of my own. Here are a few iconic female characters that have offered me inspiration:
When I created my main character, Livvi Biddle, I imagined her as a quirky, precocious protagonist. However, as time has gone by I've realized (like so many writers) that the image I have of my protagonist has not been fully created upon the pages of my novel.
So, what can I do to more fully reveal my protagonist's personality?
As I revise my manuscript I'm attempting to improve these elements:
Dialogue - Does her vocabulary reflect a precocious young girl?
Humor - Do her words & behavior elicit a smile or a laugh?
Appearance - Does her appearance reflect a quirky girl?
Influence - Do the secondary characters notice her unusual behavior?
Effect - Does her behavior affect the plot?
The young Hermione Granger has also offered me inspiration.
Have you fully created your main character within your manuscript?
