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Meet the Writer
Donna Jo Napoli has written many books for kids and often puts her own spin on classic fairy tales. You may know some of her books, such as the Sly the Sleuth series, Beast, Ugly, and Hush: An Irish Princess’ Tale. Napoli loves writing stories, especially because they help her find out about the world. Here's what Donna Jo Napoli has to say about her characters.
Donna Jo Napoli Talks About Creating Characters
Weekly Reader: How do you come up with characters for your books?
Donna Jo Napoli: Sometimes a character is handed to me—like when I choose to write a fairy tale that’s well-known. But more often, I’ll think about what it would be like to have some problem that fascinates me, whether it’s a funny problem or a scary problem or a sad problem. Then I’ll ask myself what kind of world would make that problem more extreme. If it’s funny, what would make it hilarious? If it’s scary, what would make it terrifying? If it’s sad, what would make it tragic? I’ll set my story in that extreme world. My character grows out of that world. The more I study and think about that world, the more I know what a character with the problem I’m interested in would have to be like.
Weekly Reader: How do you make characters seem like real people?
Donna Jo Napoli: I do a lot of research. I don’t just make people up out of the blue. Even when I’m writing contemporary stories, I interview and/or observe people who deal with whatever issue is central to the book. For example, I wrote a story about a boy who wants to make the soccer team (Soccer Shock). I went to elementary school soccer games for a whole season and asked the players, as they came off the field, why they did what they did out there and how they felt about it. When I write about the past, of course, I can’t interview people. But I can read lots of books about people during that period. And I can look at paintings from that period and listen to music from that period and cook recipes from that period. I do whatever I can to try to understand my characters.
Weekly Reader: Does a writer have to like his or her characters?
Donna Jo Napoli: I doubt it. Sometimes people write about terrible characters—really, really awful characters. And I doubt they like them. But you still care about what the characters do, because what they do has effects—and you care about those effects. Usually, though, I love my main character. But not always.
Weekly Reader: Do you have any tips on creating characters for kids?
Donna Jo Napoli: If you don’t know where to start, then think of someone you know really, really well, and use that person as your character. But first change something major about the character. So if the person you want to base this character on is a 14-year-old boy, maybe change him to a girl—and then see how that affects the scenes you put the character in. Or if they are really terrific at the trumpet, change it to the piano. Or make them not be a player, but a composer. This way you’re dealing with someone you know, but at the same time, you’ve changed the character enough from the real person that you feel free to let that character develop and behave in ways that the real person never would. And with each change you make, you’ll find you are farther and farther away from the real person, until you’ve got your own, fictional character.
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