How to Write a Character Arc for Your Novel
HelloOoOo everybody!
It's time for episode nine of my course, How Writers Become Authors: A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Novel. As promised, we're diving back into the basics of character development. We already created our main character in episode two of this course. Now we're going to develop their mental and emotional journey throughout the story. How do your main characters change over the story, advance the plot, or illustrate the theme of your story? These are the things you need to keep in mind when writing your character's development throughout the novel.
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Step 1: What Is a Character Arc?
In order to discuss how your character evolves throughout the plot, we need to have a good understanding of character arcs. A character arc is the transformation of your character through the plot. That in itself is the simplest definition of a character arc, and if you understand that, you can probably write one.
A lot of writers go into their novel thinking, “Okay, my character is going to change from trait A to trait B. They're going to start off the book grumpy and cynical and end the novel optimistic and kind.” And that's it! They write the story with that plan in mind and zero issues.
But the discourse around character arcs dives far deeper than that. So let's cover the basics of character arcs beyond “the character changes,” because knowledge is power.
Step 2: The Conflict
Typically there are three components of a character arc. The first component is the conflict, problem, or goal. As we've discussed in past videos, this is whatever conflict your main character is trying to resolve or whatever goal they're trying to achieve. In The Hunger Games, Katniss's conflict is surviving The Hunger Games.
Step 3: The Lie
The second component is the lie. This is some type of lie the character believes that prevents them from achieving their goal. Sometimes the lie presents as a flaw in the main character, making them gullible or arrogant or some other trait that isn't appealing. In The Great Gatsby, the lie Jay Gatsby believes is that he can win the heart of his love with wealth and prestige. And this manifests as a flaw in the character because he's a big, fat liar.
Step 4: The Truth
The last component is the truth. This is whatever truth your main character ends up believing or realizing by the end of the novel, usually in order to achieve their goal or defeat whatever conflict they're facing. The truth is also often the theme that the author is trying to convey, which we discussed in episode four. In The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, both Desiree and Stella explore ideas of identity and race. They ultimately learn that racial identity is a societal construct that is shaped by way more than just skin color.
Let's create a character arc right now and see how it works.
Step 5: Example Character Arc
Debbie lives a humble life and dreams of fame and fortune. Her goal is to be a movie star. The lie she believes is that she doesn't need hard work or talent to get to where she wants to be in life. She thinks she can get there strictly off of her good looks. This lie manifests as flaws in her character, making her vain and selfish.
But as the story progresses, she realizes she really does need to work hard in order to achieve her goals. And the harder she works, the more she comes to realize she doesn't actually want to be a famous movie star. She just wants to create and perform. So she ends up setting up a theater camp for kids and helping them achieve their dreams. Thus, she comes to learn the truth: beauty is on the inside, and helping others is the greatest gift of all.
As you can see from this example, the inciting incident often instigates the character arc. The character can't resolve their conflict as the person they currently are. They have to develop new skills, grow as a person, or change their mindset in order to reach their goal. That is how character development affects the plot of a novel. The story can't progress, and the climax can't be reached unless the character evolves. Of course, there are exceptions to this, which we’ll discuss in a bit. Likewise, often the character arc does the heavy lifting in illustrating a novel's theme.
Step 6: Types of Character Arcs
Now there are a bazillion different types of character arcs. Because, of course, there are. Writers like to make everything complicated. But many of them can be divided into one of three categories: positive arcs, negative arcs, and flat arcs.
Step 7: Positive Arcs
A positive arc is when the character changes in a positive way. They either become a better person, or whatever change they go through makes the world around them a better place. Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice is a great example of a positive character arc. She starts off judgmental. Her worst qualities are, you guessed it, pride and prejudice. But she grows into a compassionate person who learns to look past first impressions. There are different types of positive arcs, including growth arcs, where the character overcomes an internal struggle. There are also redemption arcs, where a previously morally gray character redeems themselves and finds the light.
Step 8: Negative Arcs
A negative arc is when a character changes in a negative way. They either become a worse person or they make the world around them a really sucky place to be. One of the most obvious negative arcs out there is Anakin Skywalker. I mean, the dude starts off as a Jedi and then becomes Darth Vader. Right? I haven't actually seen it. I don't like Star Wars. Call the police.
Of course, there are a bazillion different types of negative arcs, including: the corruption arc, where a character becomes corrupt, obviously. The bastardization arc, which is basically the opposite of the redemption arc. The falling arc, where the character becomes self-destructive. And the disillusionment arc, where whatever truth the character learns leaves them feeling bitter and crappy. They're not necessarily a bad person by the end of the book, but they're definitely not a happy one.
Step 9: Flat Arcs
Then we have a flat character arc, which is when the character doesn't change. With a flat arc, the character never believes the lie presented at the beginning of the story. They've always believed the truth. That means the character doesn't experience any internal change throughout the story. Instead, they just change the world around them.
Obvious examples include Superman, Katniss Everdeen, James Bond, and Indiana Jones. They don't need to change to save the day. However, I'd argue that James Bond probably should change at some point. Homeboy needs to drink his “respect women juice.” And stop perving on chicks half your age, you creep!
Step 10: Recap and Research
As I mentioned before, there are a bunch of different character arcs, but these basics will point you in the right direction. And you can research your genre to see what types of character arcs are most common and expected.
So that's all I've got for you today!
Developing a character through the course of your novel is as simple as showing the evolution of their mindset. But if you want to get more technical than that, you now have the keys to do so. And if you need any extra help, I've got a worksheet linked right here.
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