Character development has two distinct parts: the behind-the-scenes work the author does to get to know the characters and identify their emotional arcs, and how the characters are revealed to the reader on the actual pages. If the second part is done right, readers will fall in love with a character and buy into his or her journey. Done poorly, readers will find themselves slogging through huge chunks of backstory.

 Jennifer Maschari does a terrific job using short memories (linked to what the character is facing at that moment) to develop the main character in her debut novel, THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF CHARLIE PRICE. I’m thrilled to announce that she’s joined us today to discuss her work. Before we continue, I’d encourage you to read about her book here.

Q: Jennifer, Welcome to The Winged Pen. You’ve written a beautiful story about loss and grief and hope and healing. Where did you come up with the idea?

Thank you so much! I’m thrilled to be here. The story of Charlie Price is somewhat rooted in my own childhood. When I was in fourth grade, my dad got very sick. He was in and out of hospitals. I started to split time into before and after. I think this is a normal response when something big and life-changing happens. When I was 16, he passed away from the illness. When writing Charlie Price, I wanted to explore the different emotions and processing that comes along with grief. I think when you are grieving it can feel like you’re in a separate world from everyone else.

Q: Can you share a little of your writing journey with us?

Sure! I’ve always been a writer. When I was younger, I loved writing short stories and silly poems in the style of Shel Silverstein. About six years ago, I started to get serious about wanting to write for publication one day. I took a lot of online classes from various outlets so that I could work to improve my writing and my craft. I wrote (and re-wrote and re-wrote) one book before Charlie Price. I found that the writing classes were extremely helpful because I was learning from people who were better writers than me. Their feedback on my pages was invaluable.

Q: One of my favorite elements in this story is how you seamlessly weave Charlie’s memories of his loved ones in and out of the story without the reader ever feeling like they are being fed backstory. Did this happen organically, or did you add much of this material during the revision process?

That’s very kind of you to say! So much happens during the revision process. I’m so thrilled to work with my editor, Alessandra Balzer, who offers incredible insight. I would say some of that weaving of the memories happened organically and some was worked in during revision but I felt like I knew Charlie and his family from the very beginning. I just had to peel away some of the layers.

Q: Does Charlie have any important memories that didn’t make it into the story but that informed your writing?

Yes! There was one scene that I absolutely loved that I ended up cutting as it affected the pacing. But Charlie has this memory of his family on vacation. The air conditioner in the car dies and so does the radio. His sister, Imogen, manages to turn this bad situation into this imaginative adventure where the whole family is pretending they are aviators in the sky. The scene showed be who the “Before Imogen” was.

Q: How did you get to know Charlie Price? Did you fill our questionnaires or journal about him, or did he come to you fully formed?

I didn’t fill out any questionnaires but I would say that I wrote a lot of extra stuff – free writing and various scenes – that helped inform me about his character but didn’t make it into the book. While I didn’t use them for this particular book, I do think questionnaires have a lot of value!

Q: What advice do you have for writers working to develop their characters?

My favorite thing to do is to draw characters’ rooms! I think you find out a lot about a character through that – what’s under their beds, up on their walls, hiding behind a balled up sweater in the closet. I also think writing extra scenes or even scenes from different points of view can help you see your character in different situations and in different ways.

Jennifer, thanks for taking the time to stop by The Winged Pen! 

Jennifer Maschari is a former classroom teacher who writes books for young readers. Her debut middle grade novel, The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price, came out February 23, 2016. She has two more stand-alone novels for young readers coming out in 2017 and 2018. Jennifer lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and their two English bulldogs, Oliver and Hank.

(Photo credit: Open Image Studio)

Posted by: Jessica Vitalis

A jack of all trades, JESSICA VITALIS worked for a private investigator, owned a modeling and talent agency, dabbled in television production and obtained her MBA at Columbia Business School before embracing her passion for middle grade literature. She now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where she divides her time between chasing children and wrangling words. She also volunteers as a Pitch Wars mentor, with the We Need Diverse Books campaign, and eats copious amounts of chocolate. Her debut novel, NOTHING LIKE LENNON, is currently out on submission. She’s represented by Saba Sulaiman at Talcott Notch and would love to connect on Twitter or at www.jessicavitalis.com.