RESOURCES | By Amanda Lorenzo  » Children's authors have a remarkably fun job. Our work is to entertain, and more important, to connect with kids in a way that expands their view of themselves and their world. A big part of our effort is in offering them characters with zing, pizzazz and (dare I say it?) multidimensionality. Take a survey of the current stories, books, cartoons and video games available for children, and it's quickly apparent that cheap thrills abound and substance is scarce.

A fictional world featuring stock superheroes battling all-evil bad guys quickly becomes a yawnfest. Kids aren't dummies; just as we do, they appreciate a well-made story that's populated with believable folk.

RESEARCH -- BEGIN AT HOME
Before you begin your children's story, picture or chapter book, get to know your characters inside and out. Remember: you yourself are a prime source of original material. Chances are good that there's more than one character in you! 

So do a little group therapy on yourself and discover which "inner you" might make good character material. Your friends and family are your next fertile ground for constructing multi-faceted characters. You won't have to look far to find plenty of traits, virtues, flaws and guffaws in your friends and family. Just make sure you change the names to preserve the peace!

BOW TO BALANCE
Children are eager to learn about the world they live in and story plays a vital role in that learning. The people in their world don't behave in ways that are solely good and right or only mean and wrong--so your characters shouldn't behave in just one way, either. Offering young readers a character who has both good and not-so-good qualities gives them a sense of the world as it is, as well as room to explore and contemplate their own particular bundle of qualities. Giving your characters both strengths and weaknesses makes them more believable and way more fun. Please do your part to curb the exploding population of cotton candy-colored bunnies, mustache-twirling evildoers, and flawless he-men darting about in spandex uttering profundities such as, "Don't worry -- I'll stop them!"

BRASS TACTICS
For a moment, let's forget about Mr. Incredible. How does a character-in-progress get credible? Details, details, details. To bring in all that dramatic interest, you can start by making lists and answering questions for each character. Even if this background material never makes it into the story, it will be there to inform your choices about what your characters say and do.

Here are a few questions to get you started.

What does (your character) love most? What would (your character) want to avoid at all cost? What is (your character's) greatest achievement? What does (your character) regret? What would (your character's) motto be? What is (your character's) best quality? What is (your character's) most annoying habit, quirk or failing? What does (your character) fear more than anything?

Add new questions to the list as they occur to you. Of course you should also fill in the usual stuff: name, age, size, species, and distinguishing features. Tattoos? Those, too. Don't forget speech patterns, commonly used phrases and expressions, and favorite colors or clothing.

Having all this information at the ready will not only guide you but may also provide satisfying collaborations with your editor as well. Once I received a markup that suggested this change: "Beatrice whined." Because I had a clear sense of who my character Beatrice is, I was able to nix that edit without a second thought. "No," I explained, "Beatrice is not a whiner. She's more of a loud yeller." Knowing your character allows you to be polite but firm with your editor!

The more you know about and stick to your character's mannerisms and foibles, the more fun you and your readers will have. As my character Beatrice will tell you, a nuanced bunny with attitude beats a one-trick superhero any day of the week.

• Amanda Lorenzo, the unblocked and uninhibited author of the Runt Farm book series for children, is a former educator, diversity trainer and software maven. Amanda may be found at the official Runt Farm website.