Family in Books?

Has anyone ever noticed that in a lot of stories and movies, the main characters (especially if they're kids) have almost no respect for their parents or siblings?

Take, for an example, the books about that aardvark named Arthur. You know, the kids books? One of them is called something like 'The Poetry Contest'. Innocent enough, right?

At the beginning, Arthur recites a poem that makes fun of his sister. And then one of his friends says something along the lines of "I'd be saying that too if I had a sister like D.W. [Arthur's sister]." During the book, Arthur ignores her, and even though I don't think he actually says it out loud, everything he does to her is basically yelling that she's a nuisance.

And that's a kids book.

There are many more books and movies out there like that. Isn't that sad?

But in a major, uncomfortably obvious way, it's reflecting our own culture of disrespect for the people in charge. Lisa, the newest character in my Elandai book, has a brother that ignores her because he thinks it's cool.

So in the book that I'm not writing on my blog (which has the working-title of Sarea) I'm trying to make the main character love and respect her father, mother, brothers, and sister. It's not easy, because right now she's away trying to get an alliance with the Elves, but I have managed to add a few scenes that show how much she loves her family.

Izori

P.S. Thank you, everyone who suggested ways to put un-mushy romance in Sarea. I'm in the middle of it, and so far it's going great!

Strong Characters and Dark Plots

My friend asked me how to make strong characters, and I thought I'd might as well answer it on here. This is what works for me:

Base them on a real person. A lot of times, I base my main character, at least, on someone I know, including me. Ehra in Sarea for example. She's based on two real people: one friend for personality, and another for looks. If you think you'll get too attached to a character you're going to have die, then...I guess you could make up your own personality or something. I don't usually kill my characters, so I'm not much help there. I also base my bad guys on unsavory characters I know, or even historical ones (such as Sisera from Judges 4, or Judas Iscariot from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Basing them on real people helps when you aren't quite sure how your character would react in a situation; simply have them act like the person they're based on would.

Put some of their background into it. Add something more personal about them, so the reader really feels that they know the character. I added a few pages in Sarea when Ehra is talking to her parents, whom she has a very close relationship with. I also added a chapter when Ehra and her sister are chatting with some gossipy village girls, showing how different they are.

My friend also asked how she could keep her plot from being so dark and gloomy. My suggestions are:

Add little children into it. They're so innocent and funny; it lightens up the plot right away. I am naturally very optomistic, so I don't tend to have this problem, but I do have it sometimes. Also add some family into it; if your character is an orphan with a sibling who's her mortal enemy, is running away from a cruel slaverwhile unwittingly falling into a trap their malicious sibling has set, it would make for an interesting story line, but it'd be extremely dark and...not very family-friendly.

Any more suggestions, anybody?

Izori