Realistic child characters

[dawgofdawgness]

Actually I think people tend to like cynical children more. At least I do
If done correctly, the happy-go-lucky innocent child trope can bring light to a normally dark/gritty story or create an interesting contrast between them and another character who’s the polar opposite (I.e. Flapjack and that blue captain guy, Pursuit of Happiness)
But most of the time the child character is used so that when the protagonist interacts with them it reveals what kind of personality they have... like if the love internet is really nice to their little sister the audience will probably like him more lol. After that the child character is usually recycled. It’s a trope I don’t like
Worst case scenario the happy child character can become super annoying, but I think that really only happens in movies where the actor portraying the child is TERRIBLE at acting

[AmysGames]

As someone who writes young characters a lot, it would be pretty hypocritical of me to say I didn't like child characters, lol.

That said, I feel like a lot of people don't actually know how to write children realistically. Like people treat them as some weird foreign creature when they're literally just small human beings. Unless the kid is SUPER young, the only real difference between a child character and an adult character is that the kid's brain isn't as developed and they don't have as much life experience, so there's a lot of subtle things they don't understand. They still have different personalities just like any other character would, lol.

So, yeah. I don't mind child characters so long as they're, y'know, believable characters.

[azzy-m]

That said, I feel like a lot of people don't actually know how to write children realistically. Like people treat them as some weird foreign creature when they're literally just small human beings.

LMAO I'm actually someone who has no idea how to write young characters, to the point I aged someone up from 6 years old to 14-

[mariusthered]

i have a sidekick who is ten (well 11 now) and i try to keep him young and annoying because that is his job. the trick is trying to keep in touch with your inner child. the problem now is modern age kids are made to abandon childhood too early so the kids of old are much more childish in behaviour (if you can understand what i am trying to say, its less confusing in my head)

[DiegoPalacios]

Sometimes kids make the funniest questions and the most savage unintentional roastings, because they are still figuring out how the world works and because they don`t have as much of a filter as adults.

Not every kid is a "fortnite dancing edgelord". Their interests can vary a lot and their behavior too. They seem to be even more affected by their upbringing than the average adult, so is important to take that into account.

And is important to take into account that they do kid`s stuff and when they hang out it mostly involves an activity.

What age/ages are you aiming to write?, this makes a massive difference.

[MaruExposito]

Such an interesting question! As @joannekwan mentioned, it would be difficult for me to stick to a negative-mindset character like that.

Kid or not, annoying is annoying.

Will your character perform some "good action" in the first chapter? Or have a very pure-relatable reason to think like that? Have a pure/relatable goal? If so, it could be perfectly fine.

As an author of literally hungry kids 8 to 14, I struggled to make them different to each other and feel real. I was really surprised to see how much hate one character got after doing a quite childish/negative action. But then, he is not the main character and needs to grow up. What is the point if there is no evolution?

In my opinion, characters who start the worse can become super loved later on, especially if they have good motives. My comic is still in progress to prove my theory, but beta readers who know more are starting to change their minds towards my "least popular kids".

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Like people treat them as some weird foreign creature when they're literally just small human beings.

THIS!!

I love writing and reading child characters, and it pains me that people impose so many restrictions on how they can behave and what kinds of stories they can actually contribute to. Think back to your own childhood, the things you used to say and think about. I guarantee you it wasn't just candy and video games.

Children have dimensions; they have thoughts and feelings and aspirations. They're capable of learning and adapting to so many things, even more so than us adults. It really isn't fair that they're so often pushed to the periphery in serious fiction...

[snowy]

My comic stars two kids, and I haven't had any complaints yet about them being annoying.

[LilySmash]

Let's say the majority of real life kids are brats. I personally don't like real life brats. I don't like bratty main characters. But, you're creating a story. A main character is usually different from the majority. So with that formula, a main character is usually not a brat. They got some dark past going on, are getting bullied, or something else that's sad.

There could be many reasons for an "unrealistically" mature kid. But, I honestly think it's just our modern society that has made us this way. If we rewind our timeline, we would be all very different people because everything has changed. Struggles bring responsibilities. A kid growing up getting everything they want by default doesn't learn as much responsibility and may go the bratty route. I'm not sure if I should put this comparison here because I barely watched it, but look at the difference between Naruto and Boruto. Both were brats as kids, but one was brattier xD.

But, no matter what I just said. A character going through a dark past or cruel present can still be a brat. It really depends on what CORE personality you want your main character to have, how you want their surroundings to affect them, and how you want their character to grow. Do you want your young character to go from a brat to an awesome character that I like? If so, go for it, but it'll be a challenge.

[vfinnigan]

My problem is that too many people write child characters as either 100% sweetheart, 100% snarky, or 100% brat, when no kid in real life is so easily definable. Write them as multidimentional characters. Let even the most bratty or cynical kid retain a shred of innocence.

And if you have any kids the age of the characters you're writing in your family, it won't hurt to have them read back what you've written. If it sounds weird in their own voices, or they have trouble with a word, make it sound like something they would say.

Now if your character is a preliterate child, pay attention to age appropriateness. You do not want to write a 24 month two year old like a 34 month two year old, because yes, those ten months make a huge difference!

Now if you're going for full on comedy, that matters far less.

[MaruExposito]

Now if you're going for full on comedy, that matters far less.

Good point! The genre is super important.
Also, the message you want to convery and for who are you writing for (other kids, teens, adults,...).

[Felia]

I know it's easy to label young people--especially kids--as "bratty", but that's hardly the truth. My best advice is to take from real life experience. Take a look around you. Try to remember your younger days back then--what sort of conflict did you have? People go through different kinds of internal and external conflict throughout different stages of their life.

It also helps if you read some books about younger people. Study the characters. I illustrate mostly for young people's books (children's books, middle grades, educational), and these "kids" characters are quite endearing, brave, complex, and inspiring. They are not one-dimensional at all!

[Darkstrong]

Our main cast is composed completely of kids of 9-14 years. When writing them I tried remembering how I and my friends were that age. The main difference I could think of - we were not thinking of consequences all that much, other then that we were basically the same: we were talking about things that were important to us, we tried to rationalize things that didn't make sense, and we thought that we we as smart as we could get. Not much have changed since then =) "Highschool Never Ends" by Bowling for Soup starts playing in the background.

[Atarun]

Would an "adults sucks, everything is hard, but they don't get it" character that is under 13 be too annoying?

Ha. Perfect description (imo) of the three protagonists of two of my favorite novel series: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and The Demonata by Darren Shan.

I think children who are too naive to realize how hard adult life is, but smart enough to realize a lot of adults are full of s--t make for really good narrators and protagonists. Of course, that's just my tastes.

Btw, both series I mentioned are classified as teen lit, but I wouldn't recommend them for actual children (or immature teens)... I get this feeling that the logic often goes: "Oh, the protagonist is a child? It's for children, then!" and not much beyond... Hope it's just an impression.

[sarrowsmith10]

That said, I feel like a lot of people don't actually know how to write children realistically.

I agree, sometimes I wonder- has the writer ever spent more than 10 seconds with a child? And how a 3 year old acts, is FAR different than even an older 4 year old. A 10 year old is going to be very different than a 14 or 15 year old.

Children have dimensions; they have thoughts and feelings and aspirations. They're capable of learning and adapting to so many things, even more so than us adults. It really isn't fair that they're so often pushed to the periphery in serious fiction...

Sometimes I feel like children are used more like plot devices than actual humans. I think thats why we see a lack of dimension. Although the new Spiderman Movie with Miles Morales was A+. Talk about seeing a youth go through some serious stuff and still be 10000% lovable and enjoyable to watch.

A character going through a dark past or cruel present can still be a brat.

It's so interesting that people have mentioned bratty behavior multiple times in this thread. I interact with youth ALOT through my church youth ministry and I got to say, bratty behavior seems to be the exception to the norm. Kids are always learning what the boundaries are for acceptable behavior, but rarely are they bratty just to be bratty. It's kind of sad that children are given that stereotype in media.

And if you have any kids the age of the characters you're writing in your family, it won't hurt to have them read back what you've written. If it sounds weird in their own voices, or they have trouble with a word, make it sound like something they would say.

THIS. I've worked with now 4 children's book writers, and its so surprising how different their view of what they think kids will like based on if they actually have children or not. My boys are a bit too little to give me feedback other than they if they are bored with the book or not. But my little cousins are great at "re-writing" my kids stories to sound better to them. I highly recommend following @vfinnigan's advice to have actual kids look at the kid characters and get feedback.

[Lucca_Vendramel]

My MC is a 10 year old kid. She is put through many consequences due to her reckless actions and has to mature to cope with the changes in her life. I just try to think like a child when I write one, which is not hard to do: Just think of the world in a simpler way.

[vfinnigan]

Ha! The first story I'd published that had a child protagonist definitely wasn't for children!!!

[Freemints30]

Here's the thing children are people with little life experience. I HATE kids that are written as completely innocent angels because from what I remember and my parents recounting their own childhood that's the biggest lie ever told. Alot of authors either fall into this or "they are all brats" which is very untrue as well(those are the more exceptions than the rule). Just think of a personality and now imagine how they act with little experience.

The background the child was raised in should also affects their personality and behavior. For example a child raise on a farm with no tv or internet should view the world through a different lens than one raised in the suburbs.(and I don't mean one would be humble and the other spoilt that's just stupid_)
I am currently trying to script of children 12-13 who range from happy and easy going to rebellious and wild.

[OttoGruenwald]

I turn to the venerable John Ford here.

Never work with children or animals. And never write them either.

[DiegoPalacios]

another important fact to consider when adding kids in a story, is that for lighthearted stories, it makes them more lighthearted and for dark stories, it makes them way darker. (specially if they suffer an horrible fate).

Because of this, they can work as an intensifier in tone. Which may or may not work depending on how dark or lighthearted is your story.