Emotion is what drives a character. It's highly unlikely that a twelve year old will be a fearless monster fighter. He's afraid. He knows he's not likely to turn thirteen. That's terrifying. He would be running away sometimes. It's a matter of survival. It surprises me the number of authors who think that a kid would be ready to die for his friends, because most of the time they won't be.
My point is that they need realistic emotions. If the character's mom dies, they're not going to be all 'oh look at this cool camp,' they're going to be really upset. For a long time. Same if one of their questers dies. They can't just move on all of a sudden. They will feel it. Think about how you would feel. And how what they're feeling influences the character.
Basically, you need to make them feel. Depressed, joy, grief, fear. We want to be there inside their heads, not watching them on a movie screen. There's nothing worse then a story lacking in emotions. And their emotions affect how they respond to others. A grief stricken teenager will either lash out or be quiet. But their behavior will reflect the turmoil within.
Another thing, everyone is a little selfish. They should have a couple selfish acts, then, if one of the acts is horrible, they will feel guilty about it later. Or if they let their friend die to save themselves or something.
Which brings up guilt, my personal favorite character emotion. Guilt is amazing. So much potential! So tragic! There are so many plots that can be born out of guilt alone. Think about it. The character is in extreme distress, constantly fighting inside their own head, wanting nothing but to redeem themselves. People do crazy things when they're guilty of something.
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My Guide To Writing
Non-FictionI automatically leave a story when it starts out, “i wuz 10 wen i fell in LOVEEE.” It literally burns my eyes to read something like that, so one time I asked a person why they would write like that and their answer was, “I’d rather get my story out...
