Peantbutter-honeycombs - Kind Words Are Like Honey🍯🐝

sorry if this seems like a weird question, but do you have to plan character goals and motivations for characters that are less than five years old?

Their age doesn’t matter, what matters is their role in the story.

Take ice age for example, even the kid has goals and motivations (to find his parents, to eat, to have his nappy changed.)

A child probably won’t have life changing goals like “find them man who murdered my parents” unless they’re a really cool five year old lol

But if the character is important to the story there should be a reason for them to be there.

I hope that makes sense. It’s hard to give advice without knowing the details.

Shoelaces headcanons

“I want to write a fanfic for it, about dead kids… In a non morbid way.” ~Me to my college bud.

The concept for my fic is fairly simple. Centering around the question what happens to the children who are unborn? For one reason or another they never truly lived. So they were never good or bad. They are complete blank slates.

Season 1

One of the GP residents was formally a social worker on earth that helped raise millions of dollars for planned parenthood, foster care, and rescued thousands of children from unsafe enivroments.

With Michael and Janet's assistance they decide to continue they're work helping eager couples find their kids and perfect their afterlife families.

Not every couple wants kids so not everyone has a child placed with them.

Chidi seems like a guy who would have liked to have a child. Hence Analiese's placement.

Tahini and Jason don't have a kid. Because that would be torture for the child.

Lysie really throws a wrench in Eleanor's working to become a better person plan. Hard to study being a good when you have to also mascerade as part of the perfect parenting pair.

Lysie is such a blank slate having never lived. All of her personality traits and intrests have to develop.

Her obedient started personality drives Eleanor crazy.

The two aren’t really close.

Ana absolutely adores Chidi, she’s his little shadow for quite awhile.

She does however tire of his indecisiveness often making up his mind for him. In the way a living child would.

“No it’s Ah-na. Not a-nuh!”

This kid can’t tie her shoes.

Eleanor’s negative relationship and actions eventually leads to a glitch in the good place. Having an unwanted effect on Ana’s aging.

Everything corrects it’s self.

After the event. Eleanor’s despite her best efforts grows somewhat attached to Ana.

Ana really isn't a confident child at the start. Eleanor teaches her the value of rebelling a little bit.

This teaching actually leads to Eleanor spending a more time with Ana as she develops a broader personality.

Ana doesn’t understand why Chidi’s teaching Eleanor to be a good person.

Analiese makes so many jokes about the fact that she’s dead.

Ana does what neither Chidi or Eleanor thought to do.

“Janet, please get us the comfiest couch.”

Eleanor teaches Ana how to stuff her pockets with snacks, make a churro donut ice cream cake, and be an over all fun person.

Analiese has a low tolerance for Tahani’s superiority complex.

She thinks Michael is funny.

Eleanor, Chidi, and Ana are very dysfunctional family.

Movie nights with all three of them. Ana picks the movie.

“Why does everyone like Elsa? Anna’s the hero.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!”

Arcs to write instead of a love story:

Enemies to best friends

Siblings growing closer

Siblings growing apart

Best friends to enemies

Reluctant parent figure

Reluctant teacher figure

Overly eager teacher/parent figure to reluctant student.

Best friends to even better best friends

Switching archetypes. Ex: Mom friend and irresponsible friend switch by the end of the story.

I always found the 7 act structure helped me a lot more than the 3 acts.

Link right here