8 Embarrassing Mistakes When Writing Child Characters

Comments · 1.8K

• TA

  @tarawalkerwrites · 1 year ago · pinned

  You missed one, and it's the one that drives me absolutely crazy and is in pretty much every book I read with kids: the Background Child. These are the kids who exist in the background of their parents' lives, who play quietly in their bedroom, who allow their parents to have their own conversations at the dinner table, and most egregiously, who come second to whatever the main plot is in their parents' minds. I don't know, maybe this is more normal than I think and I just have especially present children. But when I read a protagonist doing their own thing, living their own life, and here and there a kid will show up at breakfast or be dropped off at school—almost completely silently, because you know, kids rarely ever talk—it seems like it's just to remind the reader that the protagonist has kids. You'd never know otherwise, because the protagonist rarely thinks about their own children or practices parenthood in their daily life. God forbid they actually play with their kids, or talk to their kids, or fight with their kids about tidying up or going to bed! My kids are the biggest part of my life so it infuriates me to read about kids who are just background noise to their parents.

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• AM

  @Amicias_Hateclub · 1 year ago

  "if you don't have access to a child" is possibly the strangest way that sentence could've been worded

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• KA

  @karatekoala4270 · 1 year ago (edited)

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuvWeRC7Xug&amp;t=263">4:23</a> my kid once said, &quot;this season is called fall cause all the leaves fall off the trees. Then in the spring the wind blows all the leaves back on the trees and we need a lot of tape.&quot;

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• CA

  @canelastix4809 · 1 year ago

  Was making dinner when my two-year-old said, &quot;Mom, I know the world doesn&apos;t appreciate how hard you work. But I do. You are a testament to the tireless stoicism and sacrifice of motherhood. I love you.&quot; 🥲 Those were his first words!

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• MA

  @matheusmariani3108 · 1 year ago

  This is why I&apos;ve come to enjoy the Lilo side of the story in Lilo and Stitch. Lilo might be one of the best child characters in all of fiction: a bit awkward and somewhat explosive, but dealing with grief.

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• JA

  @jacobjames5727 · 1 year ago

  Another one that happens a lot is that writers make children completely incapable of being logical or serious, even in extremely scary or dangerous situations. If you are writing about a hostage situation for example, your 10 year old kid character is not going to be happily playing 30 seconds later. Just like an adult, they are either going to be panicking or attempting to problem solve. People forget that kids have developing brains which they can and will still use, especially in crisis.

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• SN

  @SnarkReader · 1 year ago (edited)

  The best child-logic moment from my kid: I was explaining ultrasounds and told him, &quot;That&apos;s how I knew you were going to be a boy even though you weren&apos;t even born yet. Because I got to see you when you were still in my tummy.&quot;<br>Him: &quot;And what kind of hat was I wearing?&quot;<br>Me: &quot;Well, actually, did you know that when babies are in their mom&apos;s tummies, they&apos;re naked?&quot;<br>Him (horrified): &quot;So I was wearing ONLY a hat?!?!?&quot;

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• NY

  @Nyzahnewton · 1 year ago (edited)

  After my little brother was born watching him grow made me realize just how much personality children actually have. Your personality doesn’t just “form” later it’s already there, just developing. That’s why it frustrates me when media portrays kids as one-dimensional brats.

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• DA

  @DarthBiomech · 1 year ago

  I&apos;m surprised the &quot;kids are morons&quot; haven&apos;t been mentioned. So many stories have underage characters be <i>completely</i> devoid of any kind of logic or rational thinking and just do infuriatingly stupid shit just for the sake of getting in trouble so the plot could move on...

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• NI

  @nijuuroku · 1 year ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuvWeRC7Xug&amp;t=176">2:56</a> For these writers, it’s like they completely forget that kids are also people who have motivations for doing things and don’t just misbehave to misbehave 😭

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• BL

  @blastlightstar · 1 year ago

  Also, remember that kids don&apos;t know things. They&apos;ll take scraps of information, and without the experience and knowledge to fill in the gaps, fully <i>guess</i> what&apos;s going on. This usually results in a funny misconception or an unexpected mistake. They won&apos;t know a lot of words or phrases, and will sometimes try to assume the meaning instead of asking for clarification (especially if they expect to be mocked or dismissed for asking). &quot;Common sense&quot; is a learned skill.

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• NE

  @newscoulomb3705 · 1 year ago

  One other interesting bit of child psychology is that many times their tantrums are a result of failing to communicate with words. That&apos;s why the &quot;terrible twos&quot; are so terrible. The child literally knows the words they want to use, but they are struggling to articulate those words in a way that solicits the response they are hoping for. That frustration when communicating with adults is a very realistic quality.

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