Character arcs are an important part of making any story satisfying. As we said yesterday, it’s as simple as making sure a character grows and changes throughout the course of the story. It’s important to remember that these changes, too, are most effective if they’re brought about by the external plot (more on that later).
Every character, and every character, has to start somewhere. We know that in the ordinary world, something is amiss—something is missing from the protagonist’s life. That doesn’t just mean a love 
interest or a murderer that needs to be brought to justice—there’s something deeper, on an emotional level, that the character needs.
That could be love or justice—or it could be forgiveness, healing, resolve, courage, wisdom, etc. (Alicia Rasley has a great list in her article “The Internal Journey.”) This is what they gain in the end— what the story events mean to the character.
This is another instance where knowing the end from the beginning really pays off—if you know what the character will end up with, you know set them up in the opposite place: if they need love, they start off lonely. If they need healing, they start off damaged; resolve, dissolute; courage, afraid; wisdom, naive.
This also works the other way around—if you have the flaw at the beginning, you can look for ways to “fix” it throughout the story events.
A major part of the “elixir” a hero returns with is this internal journey—the process of fixing what is wrong in his life. It’s what makes a book truly compelling, and something that we continue to contemplate beyond the basic events of the plot.
What do you think? How have you crafted your characters’ arcs? What are your favorite character arcs to read?
Photo by Richard Johnstone
This is so true. In the book that I just finished writing, I actually felt depressed when I wrote the ending because I knew I would miss my characters. I concentrated much more on the character development in this story and I think that’s what made them come alive.
Rachelle,
That’s why I have a trilogy planned. 🙂
Jami G.
Jami–you read my mind! I’m already thinking of a spin-off that I can use one of the characters in because he keeps telling me his story even though I told him he’s done! 🙂
Rachelle,
I *so* understand. One of my very minor characters in Book 1, has decided that he will reappear in Book 2, wants a whole subplot in Book 3, and has hijacked my brain for a day while he tries to convince me that his story really deserves its own book. LOL! Do kids that have imaginary friends grow up to be authors? 🙂
Jami G.
Ah, but is there something really missing? Or is it really that the character is blind to their own abilities?
There’s a reason it’s called an “arc” and not “arrow”. Frankly, I’d rather it be called a Character Boomerang, because the more the character fights, the more stuff hits him in the back of the head.
Problems are never truly solved until the character understands why things are problems for him.
And flaws are flaws–we all have them, and they can’t really be fixed. I don’t think I’ll ever be an Olympic Hurdler. I think it’s really the hidden strengths that make characters come alive…the ability to work through loss, self sacrifice, moving outside the comfort zone…the moment when he says, “I may never be an Astronaut, but damned if I’ll let my kids drop out of school” where new possibilities come alive.
I think this is one of the strongest themes of my current WIP. My FMC is so focused on what she doesn’t have, she’s completely blinded herself to what’s right in front of her.
Iapetus,
You have a really good point. The character arc is not an arrow, and many flaws and weaknesses can’t be “fixed”. I guess another way to look at it would be to say that the character reaches a point where they can move forward from that flaw.
My WIP chapter 1 doesn’t actually have anything missing externally either. As you said, it’s more that her weaknesses have blinded her to what she has.
Jami G.
Actually, I think that’s just another character arc—ignorance (of what you have/want) to knowledge. It’s a good one, but it’s by no means the only one.
And the reason why it’s called an arc instead of an arrow is because it’s not going to be a linear process, not necessarily because the character ends in the same place as they began. In fact, especially when they end up in the same situation or location, the character has to have changed—even just by coming to a realization, albeit a big one—for the ending to be satisfying.
And like I said in the article, it’s the external events in the story that prompt or even force this growth. But having an external goal (like in your astronaut example) isn’t the same thing as the internal character arc. What is his underlying motivation? Why does he want to be an astronaut? What does that have to do with his kids dropping out of school? (More about that this afternoon.)
I like how Jami put it—the character reaches a point where they can move forward from that flaw. And that can also be to leave the flaw behind, to learn that relying on that behavior or crutch only hurts them, or to discover new depths to themselves.
Oh, also: we are not fictional characters. Using our lives as a model for a compelling story very seldom works.
Fiction is peopled by people who bear striking similarities to humans. They have some of the same characteristics, behaviors, mannerisms and speech patterns. They even look like humans. But Homo fictus, as James N. Frey calls them, must be consistent, with behaviors ruled by some underlying, internal logic. For the time we share with them, their lives have purpose and direction. They get to face their enemies as well as their inner demons and weaknesses and come out stronger.
And also, they have much more interesting conversations.
One last note: I didn’t say anything had to be missing externally—quite the opposite. The character is missing “something deeper, on an emotional level, that the character needs.” And like I said in my last comment, that can be acceptance or appreciation of the good things in his/her life. But that’s not the only possible character arc.