Free Writing and Selling the YA Novel by K. L. Going

come before yours and how many different characters readers have already seen and interacted with. You want your characters to be one of a kind, not only so you're not copying what might already have been done, but also because unique characters will make unique choices that will drive the plot in directions no one expects. Including you!
    The times you can use stereotypes without subverting them are when you're developing minor background characters you want your reader to be able to recognize without taking the time to tell that character's entire story, or when you're using parody or humor and want to poke fun at the stereotype itself.
    Orson Scott Card says in his book Characters & Viewpoint:
    If we think that a particular stereotype is unfair to a group it supposedly explains, then we're free to deliberately violate the stereotype. But the moment we do that, we have made the character strange, which will make him attract the readers' attention. He will no longer simply disappear—he isn't a walk-on anymore. He has stepped forward out of the milieu and joined the story.
    Stereotypes can be a tool, allowing the reader to feel like he knows a minor, insignificant character, or they can be a launching pad for creating an against-type character, but either way they must be used judiciously. When you choose to use a stereotype, you not only
    risk boring your readers, you risk offending them. Choose your risks wisely.
    YOUR MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS _
    No matter what type of characters you decide to create, remember that, when done well, characterization can be your most valuable tool. It's the characters your readers must root for, sympathize with, or despise, and the more real your characters seem, the more real the story will become to your audience.
    Take time to study the teens you interact with in your daily life. See if they have traits you can use. Human beings are complex, and this complexity makes us endlessly fascinating. Characters you vividly portray, exploring their nuances and delving into their motivations, contradictions, and emotions, will draw your teen readers in and allow them to gain insight into themselves as they recognize pieces of who they are in what your characters do and say.
    Our teenage years are characterized by exploration of the world as we transition from childhood to adulthood. Experiences are new and intense, and our passage to self-discovery is at a critical juncture. As teens recognize the places of darkness and light within the characters we create, they will also begin to recognize those places within themselves. We owe it to them to dig deeply, offering more than what is on the surface of human nature.
    As an author for young adults, you have the opportunity to bring to life characters that will stick with your readers long after they have closed your book, illuminating aspects of human nature that might otherwise have remained in the dark. You have the chance to influence your readers at a time when they are still forming their worldviews and discovering themselves. This is both the solemn responsibility and the great joy of writing YA novels.
    because he allows her to connect to the world instead of shunning it. For the young man who yearns to be on the football team, the teacher might also be the football coach. Pay special attention to which characters seem most interesting to you. Which ones do you feel you could most easily develop? What draws you to them?
    If there's one thing that remains vivid from my teen years it's the school lunchroom. I can still recall the smell—it was never a clear smell, always an amalgam. For me, there was a feeling of nausea that was both related and unrelated to that scent. The odd thing is, I spent very little time in the lunchroom because most days I wiled away my lunch period in the choir rehearsal rooms. So why does the lunch experience stand out so vividly?
    I can answer that in one word: drama. There was always something happening in the cafeteria