This goal is usually something noble, like finding love in women\u2019s commercial fiction, solving a murder in a crime novel or even saving the world in action or adventure writing, although in literary fiction, the ultimate direction of the character arc might be something more subtle like seeking redemption or freedom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, whatever genre you\u2019re writing in, your character arc is based upon this purpose or quest the protagonist is set on and is doggedly pursuing through the piece and your story arc will not have the poignancy or sense of purpose it needs without this being crystal clear to your audience and thus forming the backbone of your plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing readers are looking for in a satisfying character arc is that the lead will have changed by the end of the book due to all they\u2019ve experienced whilst fighting to get their narrative goal. Therefore, it\u2019s key that your protagonist has grown by the end of your story arc and is not the same person as they were at the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In some ways, this is the prologue work<\/a>. Who is your character, on a fundamental level? Name, age, race, class, occupation — the basics, yes, but also things like what kind of food they like, what their aspirations in life might be, if they’re left or right-handed. (You don’t necessarily have to know everything<\/em> about them like their mother’s maiden name or their third-grade crush or the places they want to visit before they die… but maybe those things are useful, so if you think of them, why not jot them down?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The arc begins (as does the plot of your novel or story) when the character’s normal life is turned upside down by a\u00a0trigger event or inciting incident\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 say, a murder in a crime novel\u00a0which sets the detective on the hunt for the killer. As they do this, like any lead in any genre, they need to be proactive in going after their narrative goal, entering each scene\u00a0with the intention to get their\u00a0story arc aim or move\u00a0nearer to it, only usually to fail or to make some progress, only to face an even bigger obstacle.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re not the same person you were yesterday, and you’re certainly not the same person you were last week, or last month, or last year, and so on — and neither are your characters. As things happen to them (or because of them), their world changes and how they respond to those changes is key to developing their arc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe the milquetoast office drone thrust into a plot of murderous high-stakes intrigue has discovered that she’s actually really good in a knife fight. Maybe the fast-and-easy pirate has developed feelings for his first mate, despite saying that he’d never settle down. Whatever the case may be, these developments and discoveries aren’t happening in a vacuum: the character is going to have some feelings about what they’re going through! So it isn’t just that office drone turns out to be good with knives, but also that she’s morally conflicted about how exciting she finds it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Authors often forget that there needs to be this emotional reaction after action to\u00a0make their characters feel human to the reader<\/a>, but then the planning part too,\u00a0so the story arc has a causal connection and we see why one thing happens after another, this set-up ensuring the\u00a0protagonist seems energetic and plucky and\u00a0which\u00a0keeps the story arc full of drama and an obvious forward-moving purpose.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As your plot builds to a climax or conclusion, the changes your character has undergone will be brought to the fore. How do they react to this new situation, with everything that’s happened to them? Do they accept it? Do they fight against it? How will they attain their goal — and how might their goals have changed, as they<\/em> have changed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bilbo Baggins is not the same hobbit when he comes home to The Shire as he was when he left. Some of that is obvious, but some of it lives in the background: he’s traveled, he’s seen horrible things and wondrous ones too, and now as the book comes to a close, he returns to a life that doesn’t look familiar any longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your character doesn’t have to go through such immense changes, but chances are they will whether you planned for them to or not. As your story comes to a close, your characters will have been pushed to their limits in one way or another and become someone new. It doesn’t have to be satisfying, necessarily, but it should be real. It’s unlikely that the knife-wielding office drone is going to be quite such a shrinking violet after everything that’s happened to her — and even if the pirate doesn’t stay with his first mate, his heart might not be so freewheeling now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An antagonist for your protagonist — an opposing figure or force against your main character — is a great way to help build out a character arc because it gives your character something to fight or push against, adding tension and strengthening the lead as the story arc progresses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there can be other causes of external conflict than the villain figure<\/a>, such as a confidant(e), which may be a best friend or family member, who acts as a sounding board for the protagonist and offers support, but who can also accidentally cause trouble for the lead due to well-intentioned meddling. This is something we sometimes see in chick lit, where the boozy best mate might tell the lead\u2019s love interest they\u2019re seeing someone else to create jealousy and supposedly add to the dreamy guy\u2019s interest, but it just leads to a misunderstanding between the would-be couple and scares him off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, terrible weather, a rough environment or even disasters can also be ways of preventing the lead from going after their goal, but they can also show their mettle too as often they will carry on anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of external conflicts, things get much more interesting when we put our leads in situations which are utterly hellish based on their past traumas or personal phobias or fears and make them face them! Say, in the simplest terms, someone hates spiders (like me!) and then our protagonist has to crawl through a web of poisonous arachnids to save the kidnapped girl which has been the goal of his or her story arc \u2013 not only will the reader be sat on the edge of their seat, wondering if the lead will finally overcome their terror for the sake of their bigger plot aim, but we\u2019ll also be privy to the inner world of the lead and the immense inner pressure NOT to do this scary thing and this is called internal conflict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It can feel mean to us writers, as we\u2019re often so attached to our characters, but the best thing you can do to create a compelling character and story arc is to put your protagonist in the midst of an external situation that makes them quiver (public speaking is more scary to more people than death, believe it or not!) and <\/em>ensure that you\u2019re also showing the internal monologue of your lead as they fight against their fears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can even make them self-sabotage en route to their goals as humans are often wont to do. For example, a detective character could be out to make a big break in a case and then he\u2019ll go out on an alcoholic bender which makes him lose the trail of the villain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, I tell author clients that if they\u2019re new writers and want to write a series that they should keep this quiet in their submission package and make their first book as self-contained in terms of its character and story arc as possible so agents and editors can sell it as a standalone novel. This is because taking on a rookie is always a risk and the burden of having to sell multiple books may put some publishing personnel off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this case then, the character arc needs to be pretty complete by the end, with the story goal attained or near enough so, although you may want to allow a little wiggle room for a future sequel by not providing complete closure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this is good advice across the board as a too sugary ending can seem unrealistic, but this also depends on the genre you\u2019re writing in as certainly chick lit allows for more happy ever afters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously though, if you are intending to\u00a0self-publish<\/a>, you have carte blanche and often writing a series is a good idea\u00a0as a way to\u00a0develop a following, so your character and story arcs can be left\u00a0more loose\u00a0at the end, but with important\u00a0questions left to be answered, despite the lead\u2019s obvious growth, in order to intrigue a reader enough to buy the next book.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flat character arcs are exactly as they sound \u2013 they stay on a flat line, with the character neither growing in strength and awareness or falling from grace, as in Shakespearean tragedies. They mostly appear in genre fiction, like action writing \u2013 James Bond doesn\u2019t change much for all his enemies and situational struggles, for instance \u2013 but, more and more, even genre writing is moving towards the emotionally shifting character arc of the protagonist playing a key role in the plot and the book\u2019s overall interest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you think of most crime leads now, there\u2019s often a wounded detective figure at the centre (something noted by James Frey in his books on thriller and mystery writing) who finds personal healing by solving the crime and Scandi Noir has brought the victims of the killed characters\u2019 families to the fore so that these figures finding peace and moving on is a key part of the murder plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence whilst you can pull off a flat character arc by writing in a genre where you don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel or add much nuance to your main figure, it often helps if there\u2019s a sense of inner doubt about their ability to pull off the huge goal before them which adds something of Joseph Campbells\u2019 \u2018Hero\u2019s Journey\u2019 <\/a>(which deeply influenced Star Wars<\/em>) into play in which the hero<\/a> hesitates in their confidence to pull off the story arc aim and this adds some important tension \u2013 even if, say, Frodo, is good at the start and good at the end of \u2018The Lord of the Rings\u2019 and so, arguably, for all his struggles, a flat arc character. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing my first writing teacher, Leone Ross, taught me was to really get to learn about my main characters before I started planning my plot<\/a>, let alone writing my book. She showed us how to create a template for discovering our protagonists in depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/header-13-characters-emotional-possession-julia-hamilton-1024x298.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow Do You Write A Character Arc?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
First Act — How Your Character Starts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Second Act — How Your Character Develops<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Third Act — How Your Character Ends Up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Conflicts \u2013 Internal And External<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What If You\u2019re Writing A Series?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Is A Flat Character Arc?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"person-staring-at-the-stars-character-arc\"](\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow Do You Work Character Arcs Into Your Story Structure?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n