This week, I’m looking to cover an oft-mentioned, seldom-explained part of storytelling: character arcs.
It’s easy to get caught up on the plotting and planning of a new story’s events that we don’t think as much about the characters. I’ve made a habit of getting started on a story’s events and in the middle, stopping to really think about how the characters are going to grow and change (I do get to know them well that way, though—fewer surprises from there on out).
I don’t think there’s a wrong way to implement a character arc, whether you plan them from the beginning, figure them out along the way, or add it all in edits. But there’s no denying that a character must grow and change along the way for the story to truly appeal to readers.
What do you think? How would you define a character arc? When do you think about your character arcs—or do you plan them at all?
Photo by Ruth and Dave
Jordan,
I think you nailed it pretty well. A character arc is how a character grows and changes during the course of the story.
For most of my future story ideas, I have the Inciting Incident and First Turning Point in mind, but then I have only the vaguest idea of an ending. I can’t come up with the later ideas until I know the characters better. Until I understand where they’re coming from, I don’t know for sure how they’ll react to the Turning Point. From there, I can see their arc and can fill in the rest of the scenes and turning points, etc.
Jami G.
I’ve always worked to show character growth throughout the book. It is a strong part of my outlining.
The part of character arcs that still worry me are the arcs that are contained in a single scene. I’m a fairly stable (read: boring) person, and my emotions bobble constantly. The thought that my MC should go from happy to sad (or whatever) in a consistant arc within the scene really doesn’t make much sense to me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.