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Marsha Diane Arnold on Character-Driven Books

Knowing many of you are illustrators as well as writers, I’ll begin my blog series with a wordless book illustrated by the brilliant Molly Bang.  It was one of my children’s and my favorites some twenty-five years ago, but we’ve never forgotten the unforgettable characters. Without any words at all, The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher, is character-driven from start to finish.

Before we explore the book, may I say I’m delighted to be writing alongside such amazingly talented writers and illustrators on The Picture Book Academy’s group blog. I look forward to hearing their wisdom, sharing my thoughts, and hearing your thoughts.

Character-driven picture books are what I’ll focus on. I’m comfortable here for three reasons: I recently completed creating the self-paced Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books e-course for the  Picture Book Academy, my books are known for engaging characters, and I adore quirky, eccentric personalities (some people might even describe me that way :).

Environmental picture books will have a supporting role. If you’ve seen my emotional Facebook posts about black-footed ferrets and other animals or read my writing on my earthsvoices blog, you know I’m a nature and animal lover. 

Back to our character-driven book of the month.  An important element to writing character-driven stories is to have them revolve around 3 P’s: Problem, Passion, and Personality. If your character has a problem, but no passion to solve the problem, then the story’s not going far.  But if the character is passionate about solving his or her problem, you’ve started our engines.  The personality of the character also factors into the story.  The type of personality your character has directs the manner in which the problem will be solved.

The Strawberry Snatcher has a passion – strawberries. He also has a problem. He doesn’t have any! The Grey Lady has those bright red, luscious, fragrant strawberries in her basket.

So yes, our strawberry-loving fellow has the passion to solve his problem. He also has a personality that directs his actions. He’s a snatcher! One might wonder why he doesn’t buy his own strawberries. Is he penniless, thoughtless, or just a thief? Or does he love strawberries so much that when he sees the beautiful basket filled to the brim, he can’t think straight? Note the Strawberry Snatcher’s nose. Large and long, all the better to smell those strawberries. And the tips of his fingers are red. I suspect from strawberry snatching.

The other character in the story is the elderly Grey Lady who, soon after purchasing the basket of strawberries, realizes she also has a problem. She’s being followed by the Snatcher. She runs onto a bus, but the Snatcher follows her on his skateboard. He snatched that too, from the lady he ran into! The Grey Lady’s passion, if we follow the story to its end, is to share the strawberries with her family. That’s a strong incentive for getting the strawberries home safely.

Immediately we see how the characters are driving the action. The Grey Lady bought something that the Strawberry Snatcher wants. The Snatcher tries to grab the strawberries and a chase ensues. The reader wonders what will happen. Will the Grey Lady get away with her precious purchase or will the Snatcher steal the bounty? An exciting chase ensues into the mysterious forest where the Grey Lady all but disappears…into grayness.

The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher is a unique picture book. It is wordless, it has two main characters, and in many ways we care about both of them. We want them both to have their berries and in the end you will see that they do. But the Snatcher discovers a new kind of berry. Perhaps we also have a little lesson about readers trying new foods here.

My mind is filled this month with Prancing Dancing Lily, as it was just released as a storybook app for iOS, Android, and Kindle. It’s surprising to me how Lily can be any more lovable, but bringing her to life on the app, through whirls, twirls, moos and clangs, seems to have made her story even more character-driven.  Here’s Lily’s high-kicking trailer along with links.

The reader immediately knows that something is different about Lily (it’s stated on the first page) and that it must have to do with that prancing and dancing, something most cows do not take part in. Lily drives the story forward as she hoofs around the world, searching for her perfect dance, a place to fit in.

Character-driven stories possess another important element - the readers must relate to the characters and like or be interested in them.

Truth be told, I never really liked the Strawberry Snatcher or the Grey Lady, who would not share one measly strawberry with the snatcher. But I did find them intriguing, enchanting in a mysterious, other-worldly way. I have found most fans of Lily like her very much indeed and would follow her around the world in a heartbeat. The readers often say, at least subconsciously, “I know how that cow feels. I once felt different from my friends.” They relate.
How does Lily’s personality drive the type of action in the story? When a magazine flies into the pasture, filled with photos of dancers, I have already set her up to go find them. If Lily was too shy or too unsure of herself, she would never have left the pasture. Her personality assures us that she will.

Whether writing a picture book manuscript or creating a wordless book, remember the 3 P’s your character requires: passion, problem, and personality. If you have those, your readers enjoy following your character and will, perhaps, even want to be their friend for life.

Please read Molly Bang’s story behind her story. It’s a tale of rejection, hard work, perseverance, and patience, and…a bit of serendipity.  It’s inspiring how she continued after the great and powerful…and wonderful…Ursula Nordstrom “scolded” her. But she did and she has a Caldecott Honor Book to show for it. Remember her story on your own writing pathway.

Marsha  Diane Arnold is an award-winning children’s book author with a heart of gold. Besides writing, she enjoys visiting schools internationally, nationally, and through Skype, sharing her love of books and writing through presentations and writing “funshops”.  In 2008 Marsha was honored as one of seven artists invited to be part of Sequoia National Parks Foundation’s Artists in the Back Country, the only children’s author ever invited. The program’s goal is to rekindle the American tradition of enhancing public appreciation of our natural world through the arts. She shares her adventures in the high Sierras at www.earthsvoices.com

When not creating imaginative worlds and wacky characters at her home in northern California, Marsha also enjoys traveling the world, scuba diving, and (like her characters) always trying new things.  To learn more about Marsha’s books or to contact her, visit www.marshadianearnold.com.