Secrets of Best-Selling Children's Picture Books

The holiday shopping season is starting in earnest, and I'll be hunting for children's picture books for the youngest members of the clan. Can I fall back on my own kids' favorites, or has time eroded their appeal? Well, I was happy to see that the list of the top 100 picture books for the 21st century, chosen by the readers of the School Library Journal, did include my own children's faves with Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown at spots No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 respectively. That got me to thinking about what factors give these books their timeless appeal. Studying the comments of numerous editors, publishers and educators, I put together the following list of secrets to picture book success: illustrations that are colorful, varied and original; interesting, lovable, iconic characters to whom the child relates; humor or emotional appeal; an engaging and authentic concept or story line; text that is well written and plays with word meaning, repetition, rhythm and rhyming to fit the story context; interactivity that encourages the child to participate in story-telling; learning that is subtle and not didactic or boring; and re-readability, because little children engage with a book by repeating the experience again and again (so it better not be a book taxing adult patience). Looking at the list, you realize that, except for illustrations, classic picture books and classic adult literature share secrets to success: strong characters, engaging plot, good writing, and emotional connection. Perhaps an early diet of enriching picture books promotes adult reading enjoyment. Can't hurt! Shop the top-100 picture books at http://www.slj.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/SLJ_Fuse8_Top100_Picture.pdf

Mysteries Need to Kill Off These Clichés

Many mystery fans probably share my unhappy experience: By a few chapters into a mystery novel, I'm bored. The main culprits are cliché characters and cliché plot devices. Here are some of the cliché characters that I would like to see mystery writers kill off for good. First on my list is the sardonic, hard-boiled detective who drowns his or her problems in alcohol but still shines at sleuthing. Authors, if you think excess alcohol consumption is de rigueur to show the inner pain of the hero/heroine, don't forget to show how that alcoholism also undermines clear thinking as well as romantic performance. Next on my list is the omniscient Sherlock Holmes-type who lacks people skills but is endearingly quirky as he/she outwits criminal masterminds. Really, these characters are both too fey and too infallible to operate believably in the real world. Finally, there's the tough, cool sleuth who has a secret soft and sexy side just waiting to be awakened (once you can get past the old personal trauma or "daddy issues" or injustice that's hardened his or her shell). I think these protagonists are created simply to justify sex scenes and often borrow from romance novels: sexy bad boy, noble warrior, damsel in (secret) distress. When it comes to villains, No. 1 on my list of overused devices is the insane serial killer genius. These people are driven by bizarre motives and macabre urges but somehow remain mentally astute enough to engage in elaborate plots, ruses and false personas. These characters proliferate in novels because they commit difficult-to-solve crimes (plus crimes that are especially gruesome), but the insane-killer ploy comes at the expense of emotional connection and intellectually satisfying mystery-solving for me. Another trite character that I could do without is the proud and dominating matriarch or patriarch who will do anything to protect the family honor or family secrets. As soon as these characters appear, you know they are guilty -- if not of murder then of driving someone else to commit murder. For more clichés that can kill good mystery writing, check out the Booklist article on "Criminal Clichés" at http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=6162402

Archetypes, Stereotypes and Character Creation

Good fiction writing relies on the creation of believable and compelling characters. It's a challenging task, but writers can fall back on some tried-and-true models -- as long as those models are a starting point not a substitute for character development. Most characters can be traced to an "archetype," which, if properly developed, adds cultural and psychological resonance. An archetype is a model or prototype, often symbolic and thematic. Think of myths and fairy tales. Examples would be The Hero, The Sage/Mentor, The Damsel, The Fool/Jester, The Femme Fatale, etc. Within each category may be more detailed archetypes. For example, in a previous post, I discussed The Bad Boy Hero archetype (your James Dean model), along with other options such as The Lost Soul Hero (those sexy vampires) and The Best Friend Hero (read Tom Hanks). The key is to take the archetype's basic outline and fill in unique personality traits and a colorful back story to create a character with depth and originality. You will otherwise end up with an uninteresting, cookie-cutter cliché. Worse, you may lard your story with stereotypes. "Archetype" and "stereotype" are terms that are often confused. A stereotype is an oversimplified representation of a group of people based on social conventions and often biased assumptions about race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. TV series are rife with stereotypes, such as the computer geek, the dumb blonde, and the effeminate, wisecracking gay sidekick. Stereotypical characters are not only trite and overdone, they risk offending readers. As one article explained, "Although both archetype and stereotype draw from a 'type' of person to create character, the difference is that archetype will use the template as a starting place, and stereotype uses it as an end point." Here are some examples of archetypes, from the Jungian at http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html to the more contemporary at http://www.squidoo.com/11-common-character-archetypes.

The Challenge of Writing Sex Scenes

Sex sells. Would anyone read Fifty Shades of Grey without the sex? Luckily, I write mysteries rather than romance novels or erotica, so explicit sex is not the centerpiece of my stories. Still, as long as characters are not solitary beings, love and lust will come into play, and sex will have a role. I recently looked at several articles of the "10 Steps to Writing Great Sex Scenes" variety to help guide my creativity. The first step in one article was "Get drunk." I assume the point was to lose inhibitions without losing coherence. The first step in another was "Decide what you're comfortable reading and writing." Agreed: Uncomfortable writing makes uncomfortable reading. The first step in a third was "Consider the genre." Yep, romance readers demand love scenes. Those were all good pieces of advice. But I realized I needed to step back and start with more fundamental decisions. First, did I really need sex to advance my plot, flesh out characterization, or create a mood or foreshadowing? Tossing in an extraneous sex scene can bog down a novel as surely as padded dialogue and dead-end plot detours. Second, did I need to describe a love scene, a sex scene, or sexual acts? A love scene may include explicit descriptions, but it is first and foremost about emotions and the romantic relationship. In contrast, a sex scene spotlights sensual pleasures; a "What's love got to do with it?" moment can be a thrilling read. Once you talk about depicting "sexual acts," you veer into a darker place, with a focus on disappointment, conflict, and emotional and physical sadism (and I don't mean the kind with a "safe" word). Third, what style -- subtle or graphic -- fits the purpose of the scene and the characters? By the way, "subtle" doesn't mean hokey euphemisms (his rod) or hyperbole (the earth moved), and "graphic" doesn't mean crude slang or anatomical accuracy. My thanks to one writer who helpfully put together a list of words to avoid, such as turgid and purple. For one of the more detailed guides to writing love scenes, check out http://www.writing-world.com/romance/love.shtml

The Challenge of Creating a Good Villain

A traditional mystery, especially a murder mystery, requires a proper villain or two. Like a spider in a web, these antagonists are the prime movers at the heart of the mystery -- murdering, abetting, lying, betraying, and generally causing pain, grief and turmoil. Usually, the protagonist, who seeks to solve the central secret of who did what and why, can be flawed or tortured but must ultimately be on the side of justice if not the angels. And the villain can be sympathetic, even admirable, but must ultimately pay for choosing the wrong/evil path. So creating a foil or nemesis of the protagonist is central to my plotting, and crafting "evil" motives and characters is always the most challenging start of my writing process. The deadly sins are always handy motives -- wrath, greed, pride, lust, and envy being trusty root causes of many criminal downfalls. Or, antagonists can simply be monsters driven by insane or amoral cravings.  But I find such baddies too simplistic; interesting villains are more complex and more conflicted. They are guides to the darker corners of our own psyches where we can understand the allure and power of immoral choices. It is disturbing to see a common experience -- injustice, insecurity, manipulation, grief, love, fear, shame, lust -- unite with a common character flaw, such as selfishness, impulsiveness or ego, with tragic results. It implies that there is a potential villain in all of us. However, the most fascinating adversaries also have an X factor, a character trait that raises them above the ordinary sinner and makes them especially dangerous. Ironically, it is often a quality of greatness: charm, intelligence, beauty or courage. For more on creating villains, see http://theeditorsblog.net/2011/05/04/the-mean-the-bad-and-the-nasty-writing-villains/