Creating Realistic Characters: part 2 (creating character arcs)

Creating character arcs can be tough.

Especially if you're a beginning writer and there are hundreds (if not thousands) of articles, books, and podcasts on developing your characters. It can be overwhelming. My hope for this post is that it breaks down the character arc process into a simpler, easier frame. That said, let's dive in!

What is a character arc?

When I started writing, I had no idea what a character arc was. In fact, I had never heard of this term before. Then one day, for my birthday I got a book titled Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Wieland (oof, I didn't realize till now that this post has the same title 😂 ). If any of you are subscribed to K. M. Wieland's newsletter, then you know how complex (but extremely helpful!) her stuff can be. Her nonfiction books are even more so! In fact, I'm still working through the book I mentioned above. But that brings us to the questions: What are character arcs?

Basically, a character arc is where your character starts out one way at the beginning of a story, changes throughout the middle, and is different (for good or for bad) at the end. Now, I'm not talking about something like growth spurts. What I'm talking abut is something more emotional, more personal. Something deeper.

And that's what we're going to talk about today.

Creating a character arc

Onto the fun part! There's actually three types of character arcs: the positive arc, the negative arc, and the flat arc. All three of these serve different purposes, and it's beneficial to know how each one works so you can write your own.

1. The positive arc

This is the arc that I've seen most characters develop. It's also the one that we, as writers, want our characters to have, since we want our darlings to have happy endings, right? Not necessarily. If you're like me, then you prefer to give some characters bittersweet endings, despite their positive arc.

To break down the positive change arc:

• Give your character a Belief/Truth to act on later in the story. They may not yet know that this is the Truth, therefore giving them conflict.

• Give your character a Lie that he/she believes. Their life is centered around this Lie—and they don't want to venture out to see the Truth because the Lie is their "comfort zone". In fact, they believe that the Lie is actually the Truth.

• Put your character through a challenge (one that sticks to the story plot).

• This is the part where your character begins to have doubts. He/she starts to wonder if what they're doing/believing is really the right thing. They'll still carry on with their normal lifestyle, but conflict and a hint of doubt will tug at their mind.

• Here is where your character is offered a chance to change. They begin to suspect that the Lie they're living out really is the Lie, and that the Truth may actually be a path to redemption.

• After your character figures all that out, he/she will have an urge to change. But, like the human beings we are, change can be hard. There will be struggles and setbacks to your character's new goal.

• The character decides that he doesn't like how the Lie has affected his life, so he decides to fully chase the Truth. However, this means he will have to sacrifice something in order to live out this new Truth. For example, a person can't suddenly decide he/she is going to lose weight but continues to live out an unhealthy lifestyle each day. In order to turn from the Lie, your character will need to make sacrifices. But the question is, How much is he willing to sacrifice?

• This is the part where your character regularly lives out the Truth, with the Lie in the past. However, he isn't perfect. The Lie will come back to haunt him, to tempt him. Maybe it's just a whisper at the back of his mind. Or perhaps it's there, full—force. But despite this, he'll continue doing his best to live out the Truth.

And that's how you write a positive character arc! Some key things to remember are that we don't want to focus on a character's outward behavior—what's really important is inner conviction. My MC, Laura, is convinces that no one wishes to be friends with her. That's the Lie she believes. What she doesn't believe—the Truth—is that if she opens herself up to people, then perhaps they'd open themselves up to her as well.

Also, remember that your character should have a good, convincing reason to change.

2. The negative character arc

I'm in the process of writing a negative arc for one of my characters, and let me tell you, it's quite the experience 😅 But also, for villains especially, it's a fun one to write. Basically, a negative change arc is one completely opposite to the positive change arc. It's like flipping the positive one over on its head. The character is in a worse state than when he starts out.

• Like the positive change arc, we give the character a Belief/Truth to act on later in the story. However, they know it's the Truth, therefore giving it more conflict.

• The character is busy living out their Lie. Their life is centered around this Lie, which is haunted by the Truth. Except, there's a setback. They understand that they need to change from living out the Lie to living out the Truth, but instead they reject the Truth and embrace the Lie even further.

• Things kinda go downhill from here. Your character is full–force living out the Lie, and refuses to change. Why this is good for villains (which I'll touch on more in the next post) is because they start out the story either living the Lie or the Truth. Gradually, they begin to change, rejecting the Truth and embracing the Lie. Hence, an agonizing plot twist. In other words, your character has been corrupted.

3. The flat character arc

Ick, this one. I personally don't like this arc, because it seems so, well... flat, and under–developed. However, this is good for those minor side characters who only show up now and then (because too many character arcs in a story can be a lot. We really need to focus on the main characters and important side characters the most).

A flat arc is where your character doesn't change. He already has his Truth figured out, and does struggle with some inner conflict, but he's no longer living out the Lie. Like I said, this is good for side characters, but I wouldn't recommend it for your main character. The flat arc is also a good one for short stories (and I'm talking 1,000 words and under) since we're not doing the character's entire backstory/redemption arc. Therefore, that concludes us with the flat character arc.

Conclusion

Woah, how are we at the conclusion already?! I don't know about you, but time seems to have flown by. But before I go, I want to give a few extra pointers:

• Understanding your character is so important. Not knowing them well enough will make it harder to write change in their lives, and how it affects them. Connect your writing/character's story to your own life. If it's parallel with your life, then chances are if will reflect your readers lives, and we'll get more reaction from them.

Another thing you can do to break down the positive arc a bit more is understanding these few things:

• The opening (where you begin your story)

• The inciting event (where something big happens)

• The middle (which is... the middle of the story, lol)

• The dark moment (where the suspense is rising and it seems like the antagonist might win)

• The "aha" moment (where the protagonist figures out how to fix everything)

• The ending (the end of the story)

And, I think that's all! I hope this provided more understanding to what a character arc truly is, and how you can apply those three arcs to your characters. Let me know in the comments below what your favorite type of character arc is to write! In the meantime, thank you so much for reading!

Until next time,

~Maya