Creative Lab: Creating Characters Your Readers Love with Erin Entrada Kelly

Erin Entrada Kelly is the author of several NYT bestselling books, including THE FIRST STATE OF BEING, a Newbery Medalist and National Book Award finalist.  

What a treat to dive into character with the most recent recipient of the Newbery Medal.

Erin takes attendees on a journey back into childhood memories, character building, and the ways in which building character allows plot to unfold. 

The session was packed with gems. Here are a few:

Create conflict and tension using the contrast between your character's interiority and what they say. The reader will anticipate the moment when the character will finally speak their true thoughts. 

Make a list of "good" character traits (eg. honest, loyal, confident...)

And then find the flip side of that coin, for example:

honest ---> blunt

loyal ---> codependant

confident ---> arrogant 

This is where Erin starts. With a character name. And age. And a handful of these traits. Add some wants and fears, and then starting asking the most important question "why" and the whole plot unfolds. 

Creating Memorable Characters That Readers Can Cheer and Celebrate: Ernesto Cisneros

 

Ernesto Cisneros is the nationally acclaimed author of Efrén Divided. Ernesto shares how to create memorable characters that readers can cheer for and celebrate!

Ernesto begins the presentation with thinking about your circle of your friends. Who are your friends, best friends, acquaintances? What are their positive/negative quirks about them? Do they put ketchup on all their food? Do they never tie their shoe laces? 

 

Ernesto reminds the participants that you can mesh the quirks and characteristics of different people throughout your childhood! You can take something as simple as a name and then develop the personality from other references. 

We all have quirks, these quirks make characters memorable. When you're thinking of a scene, Ernesto shares the importance of making the scene exciting, confusing, or dramatic. For example, when your characters are in the kitchen washing dishes, incorporate a leaky faucet, or something the audience will remember about the character. 

When it comes to creating other characters within the story, Ernesto draws from unfavorable experiences. Think of the people you didn't get along with in school. Why didn't you like them? Brainstorm their traits. Maybe they teased you, maybe they hogged the ball at recess. This can be a character that is disliked in a book. 

Here are three takeaways to creating memorable characters: 

• Avoid stereotypes 
• Write from the heart
• Remember your childhood

Ernesto Cisneros is the nationally acclaimed author of Efrén Divided. He was born and raised in Santa Ana, California, where he still teaches.  As an author, he believes in providing today’s youth with an honest depiction of characters with whom they can identify. Efrén Divided is an Indies Introduce/Next Pick, Amazon Top MG of 2020 So Far list, and is a ProjectLit Selection, and winner of the 2020 Poppy Award in MG, 2 International Latino Book Awards, as well as the prestigious 2021 Pura Belpré Medal and an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award in 2021. 

Instagram: cisne.writes 

Twitter: @Author_Cisneros 

Website: www.ernestocisneros.com

Missed this workshop? Check out the video archives here. https://www.scbwi.org/event-summer-conference-2022/video-archive/

Enjoyed this recap? RT the post on Twitter so others can check it out.