Friday, April 28, 2017

Storyteller's Journey

Photo Credit: Public Domain
Precocious Female Protagonists

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?