One of the greatest
challenges for a writer is to get inside the heads of
characters of much different background than yourself. It takes great empathy to understand those of differing gender, age,
ethnicity, or orientation in order to portray such characters with
authenticity. However, there is one type of character with whom we
should all be able to relate. After all, it is the only group that
every person has at one time been a part. I am referring to child
characters. Yet strangely enough, child characters are those that
most often come off as inauthentic. Many writers treat child
characters as if they were simply small adults. This explains the
overabundance of “precocious” children found in film and
television. But the precocious are a rare find in real life. The
great majority of children do not behave like adults. They think,
act, and see the world in a much different way. As we mature, we tend
to forget the unique ways our minds worked when we were young. Unless
a writer can get back inside the head of a child, such characters
will not ring true.
Whether a
child be four years old or thirteen, his or her mind is a project
still under development, one that changes a great deal as the child
grows. To help the writer learn where his or her particular child
character is in this process, this article presents a brief look at
certain concepts found in developmental psychology that can be adapted
into character behavior. This begins with the manner in which
children view reality itself.
1.
Concrete to Abstract Thought
The youngest of children live in a world made of only what their five
senses can tell them. They only understand that which is real, solid,
and physically present. If it cannot be directly observed or visually
imagined, it might as well not exist. Children then turn those
perceptions into inflexible notions that landmark psychologist Jean
Piaget referred to as “false absolutes.” Things can only be the
way the child believes them to be. This means hypothetical thought is
impossible. Consider this experiment: Children of various ages were
asked, “If all dogs are pink, and I have a dog, what color is it?”
Older children recognized they were being asked to consider a
hypothetical fantasy world. Young children however did not even
entertain such a notion. They knew from their personal experience
that a dog could NOT be pink. Since the question ran counter to what
the children believed as fact, they argued or even rejected the
question since their minds could not yet consider a notion so
disconnected from their concrete reality.
Thought becomes less rigid as children reach middle childhood (age
7-11). They advance beyond judging situations by appearance alone and
develop the ability to logically infer what cannot be seen. Children
begin to recognize that events can have multiple causes or multiple
outcomes, and then use available evidence to find the most reasonable
conclusion. Yet even at this stage, children often fail to grasp any
meaning beyond face value. Metaphors, symbolism, and other
non-literal forms of meaning remain lost on them. Such things belong
to abstract reasoning, something for which most children are not
ready until the onset of puberty.
2.
Egocentrism
Very young children hold the impression that their way of thinking is
the only possible way, and therefore must be correct. They do not
understand that others have thoughts or opinions different from their
own. This is known as egocentrism. If the young child encounters
behavior contrary to his or her viewpoint, the child becomes
confused, frustrated, or angry. For example, a child wants a cookie.
However, it is nearly dinnertime, so his mother denies the request.
Unable to comprehend that mother has a legitimate reason for denial,
the child throws a fit since he can only conclude that mother is
being mean to him.
Egocentrism starts to decline as children socialize with peers of
their own age, usually beginning with the entry to grade school.
Social interaction allows the child to recognize that others see
things in different ways. By middle childhood, the child has grown
fully aware that we are all separate minds of differing thoughts and
emotions. However, the child still struggles to predict what
another’s thoughts or emotions might be. This leads to much
confusion and curiosity when dealing with adults and peers alike. It
is not until the child has had the opportunity to forge stronger
social bonds and gain the capabilities of abstract thought that he or
she can accurately ascertain what may or may not go on inside the
minds of others. This marks a milestone in social development. The
child is now able to respect others for their individual viewpoints,
rather than reject them for failing to conform to their own.
Unfortunately, some never reach this stage. Children raised in
isolation or those rejected by their peers may never gain enough
social experience to fully overcome their egocentrism. Unable to
relate to others, the child may grow socially distant, possibly
leading to deviant behavior.
3. Child
Logic
A recent episode of NPR’s “This American Life” opened with a
story in which little girl’s best friend came to her with a
startling revelation. The friend had lost a baby tooth, and as most
children do, placed it under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Only she
awoke in the night to find not some glittering fairy, but her own
father exchanging the tooth for money. From this, the two girls could
form only one logical conclusion: the friend’s father lived a
double life in which he was in fact the mythical Tooth Fairy!
The problem with seeing the world in false absolutes is that once a
child accepts notions as facts, it becomes nearly impossible to break
them. Whereas an adult would see two contradictory premises and
realize one must be incorrect, a child will contrive fantastical
assertions that allow both premises to remain valid. Rather than
consider that the Tooth Fairy may not exist, the girls in the NPR
story found it more plausible that a run-of-the-mill father donned
fairy wings to exchange teeth for money.
Children
take wild leaps of logic in many situations. Any time a child
observes a curious situation, but lacks the facts to explain it, he
or she will “fill the gap” with contrivances that allow things to
make sense, regardless of how ludicrous the conclusion may be.
Interestingly enough, this urge to fill the gap is at the origins of
storytelling itself. As mentioned in my book Screenwriting
Down to the Atoms,
when ancient cultures encountered natural phenomena they could not
explain, they invented stories, often involving magic and deities, so
things would seem to make sense. Children do the same thing. For a
child, fantasy is preferable to ignorance. It is not until a child
has reached the middle stages of development that he or she is able
to question ideas, weigh evidence, and then judge their veracity.
Still, the child remains unable to reason with abstract concepts
until he or she approaches teenhood.
4. Morals and Ethics
“Right” and “Wrong” are abstract social concepts, and thus
must build over time. A child is born an ethical blank slate. A
toddler does whatever he or she pleases, and if denied, throws a fit.
The first glimmers of morality are really nothing more than the
results of simple conditioning. Do “good” and the child is
rewarded. Do “bad” and the child is punished. Because of this,
young children act based upon personal consequence rather than any
ethical notion of right or wrong. Should parents fail to consistently
discipline a child at this age, the child will continue to behave
antisocially since he or she has not been given any cause to think
there is something wrong with such behavior.
As socialization increases and egocentrism declines, children grow to
understand how their actions affect others. The child’s view of
morality shifts to one based on “fairness.” Reciprocity becomes
key: “Act unto others as you would like them to act unto you.”
However, a child’s ability to reason is still too rigid at this
stage to separate an action from its intent. Breaking a rule is seen
as wrong, regardless of why it was done. Consider this question:
“Karen took $2 from her mother’s purse without asking and spent
it on candy. Sarah took $6 from her mother to help a needy friend.
Who deserves the worse punishment?” An older child will realize
Karen stole for selfish reasons while Sarah took money for an act of
kindess. Karen is therefore the worse offender. However, an early or
middle-age child will simply see that $6 is more than $2 and declare
Sarah worse. Like when performing logical operations, a child’s
mind must mature to a certain level of abstract thought before he or
she can weigh a premise and find meaning beyond its surface. Because
of this, children under the age of twelve tend to follow rules
unquestionably, while more mature children can evaluate rules, judge
their intentions, and then decide whether or not the rule should be
followed. These children can now think for themselves and make their
own moral decisions. It is not until this point that a real sense of
right or wrong exists.
Conclusion
While psychologists have found a consistent pattern by which children
develop, a writer must be aware that no child develops along a
perfect timeline. Each child’s mental and social ability is
affected not only by age, but by environmental factors as well. Most
important amongst these factors is the quantity and quality of
support and discipline the child receives from authority figures, as
well as the level of acceptance or rejection the child receives from
peers. When constructing a child character, a writer must, as for any
character, look into the child’s background and identify what
physical and social factors exist that may help or harm psychological
development and then portray the character accordingly.
Above all, one must resist approaching child characters from the
mindset of an adult. This encourages an egocentrism of an adult kind.
Instead, go beyond how children appear to behave and get inside their
heads to see the story world from their own still-developing eyes.
Children do not act like adults. But they are not random, irrational
creatures either. They think and behave according to their own rules.
Understanding these rules is the best way to make child characters
authentic.