For Christians new to writing novels for kids and teens. Creative writing tips, encouragement and inspiration from Janet Wilson, writer, speaker, and publisher of Christian fiction for young people. Get ready to take your writing to the next level! You can do it - all you need is a bit of help. Don't miss out!
We all love to root for the underdog, don't we? In this week's episode of the Write for a Reason podcast we talk about several different ways you can make your readers feel so angry for your protagonist, because of what they are being put through unjustly, that they won't be able to put your book down!
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SPEAKER_00
Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson. I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you're a Christian and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips, and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer and get your books out into the world. So on to this week's writing tip, which is all about your protagonist and underdogs and how to get your readers engaged as best you can with your main character. Now, according to research, most people root for the underdog. And as their own team is directly involved, football fans love it when a lower league team beats one of the giants. We all rejoice, don't we, when an Erin Brokovic gets the better of a big, nasty corporation. We love stories of insignificant people overcoming proud, mighty, violent, uncaring big people. People like it when fairness and justice win the day. And quite right too. Now, children also have a very strong, inbuilt sense of right and wrong. They know what's fair. They know that if somebody takes something out of their lunchbox, it's not right. If they know the Bible stories, they know that David, with his faith and slingshot, should win over Goliath, that the downtrodden should overcome bullies, that those who abuse those weaker themselves should definitely get their comeuppance. They know this. So remember this in your stories. Make your villains dastardly. But give your hero courage, ingenuity, faith, perseverance, and whatever it takes to vanquish evil. Your readers will love it, and it is biblical. Maybe your story will inspire them to realise that they too, however insignificant they may feel, can be an overcomer. What could be a better reason to write than that? Now, recently I watched the 1993 film The Fugitive. I don't know if you've seen it. It's set in Chicago and features a doctor, a very young Harrison Ford, who is wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife. He escapes from custody and sets out to prove his innocence, but is relentlessly pursued by the law in Tommy Lee Jones. The producers and the writers they did a great job increasing viewer engagement with the innocent doctor in the following ways, and think about these to think about how you could also increase your readers' engagement and wanting your protagonist to win through. So his wife was murdered. Now that evokes sympathy right at the very beginning. He has lost the person who is the most dear to him. He was shown to be a caring person, risking capture and even his own life to save others. There was at one point in the story when he as a doctor was helping somebody else, and this gives him hero status in the eyes of those who are watching the film, or in your case, who are reading your book. So make your protagonist a caring person. The character was wrongly accused of his wife's death, so we are totally indignant on his behalf over this. At a time when he should have been allowed to grieve and been looked after, he was being chased. The police and legal system were shown to be negligent, and what an outrage that is in our minds. If you can bring in something like that, that's great. And he was also shown to be resourceful and courageous, which increases our admiration for him. In fact, the whole world seemed to be against him. And as I've said at the beginning, we all love to root for the underdog. So have a think about all these things. If you can bring in some of these with your protagonist, you will have your readers grip to the last page hoping for a just ending. They want justice, they want fairness, they want the baddies to get their come-uppance. So if you'd like lots more free creative writing tips, hop on over to WrightforReason.com where you'll find loads of more resources and encouragement to help you write excellent, relevant, fun novels and get them into your readers' hands. If you haven't yet done my free course, Gripping Beginnings, you can sign up and start immediately. And we also look at characters in a lot more depth in the Write for a Reason Academy. Do take a look at that. Don't put it off, folks. Today is a gift to use wisely. Only you can write your book, and if you've been called to write, someone's waiting for it!
