How To Write A Compelling Character Arc

A character arc is a measure of how a character changes over time. These arcs are linear, which means they have a start and a conclusion. Character arcs are a significant aspect of any novel as they help clearly translate your character’s struggles and personal developments to your readers.

Unsure how to write a compelling character arc for your protagonist or other characters? Here are some tips to help you get started!

Pick A Type Of Arc

In order to create a compelling and successful character arc, you first need to recognise which type of arc is your character going to experience. Over the years people have developed various character arc types, however, there are three significant types every writer needs to be aware of when plotting their character’s story.

Positive Character Arcs

Positive character arcs are simply that—a character arc that results in a positive journey or development.

A majority of books and movies or other cinematic pieces feature positive character arcs. This is because everyone enjoys a happy ending. An ending that makes you feel fulfilled and excited for the protagonist’s journey, or brings tears to your waterline as you reminisce on how far they’ve come, and how much they deserve this positive ending.

A positive character arc doesn’t necessarily have to have a ‘’happily ever after’ however it needs to have a happy ending. If a character’s family was assassinated and at the end they get revenge on the antagonist who murdered their loved ones while developing themselves mentally, then that counts as a positive character arc.

When writing a positive character arc it’s important to keep a few things in mind, such as:

You need to end on a positive note. Things can be as chaotic as you want it to be, but you need to have a positive ending. Otherwise, you cannot define your character arc as positive.

Your protagonist needs to develop as a character. Whether that be mentally, emotionally, financially, etc.

Your protagonist cannot end up where they started. A character arc that ends in a full circle is more of a flat character arc than a positive one.

Negative Character Arcs

Just like a positive character arc, a negative one is very easy to explain. This is a character arc that is typically used when writing antagonists in the entertainment industry due to the negativity it brings. When writing a negative character arc for a protagonist you run the risk of making your readers feel unsatisfied or creating a ‘bad ending’.

Some examples of a negative character arc for a protagonist would be if the protagonist dies at the end of the book, or if the protagonists almost achieve their final goal but fail by a small shortcoming. Negative character arcs for a protagonist are usually implemented for the first few books of a series, especially in fantasy books.

Using a negative character for your antagonist is simple—they fail. The protagonist wins and the villain dies or gets locked up until their final moments.

When employing a negative character arc for a protagonist, here are some things to keep in mind:

They shouldn’t end up as a person similar to what they started off as. The point is to corrupt them, ruin them and turn them to the bad side. Perhaps even make them fall victim to the antagonists.

They can’t or will never achieve their long-term goal. Remember that goal you established at the start of your book? Your protagonist cannot achieve that. Or at least, they will never achieve it due to certain plot developments.

They lose someone or thing important to them. Negative character arcs for a protagonist are generally triggered due to the loss of someone or thing important to the protagonist. Maybe their mentor is murdered by the government, or their failure to achieve their goals makes them turn evil.

Flat Character Arcs

Flat character arcs are arcs that essentially lack any sort of arc. They are flat and begin and end with the character as the same type of person.

These arcs are generally used for side characters, but they can also be used for a protagonist. Think of characters like Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, etc. They go through several trials and tribulations, but even after it all their personality remains the same.

When writing a flat character arc it’s important to remember that your character cannot undergo any significant personality changes. Your protagonist can undergo such changes during the story, but they need to have a full circle by the end.

Divide Your Arc Into Short-Term Goals

Once you’ve decided where you want your character to end up at the end, you now need to know how they will get there. You can achieve this by referring to your long-term goal and then breaking them down into short-term goals.

The protagonist is supposed to find a hidden jewel at the end of the book and discovers how corrupt their government is. Alright, now break that down into short-term goals that will help your protagonist get to their end goal.

Group these goals and they will become stages for your book, break them down and you now have chapter outlines to work with.

Playing with the details of your character arcs can help you easily plan out your book’s plot and set a steady pace. You can also use this as a reference sheet when working on your WIP.

Take The World Outside Your Protagonist Into Perspective

Once you know the type of character arc you want and how you’re going to write it, it’s important to consider how this arc will impact your world. This includes your side characters as well as the general plot and layout of your world.

Character Arcs For Side Characters

It isn’t necessary to have a character arc for every single character, but it is almost impossible for only two characters to have an arc within hundreds of pages.

Whether it be your protagonist’s mentor or your antagonist’s assistant, it’s important to take their stories and personal development into consideration. How does the story’s plot impact their outlook on the world or their personality? Do any of the minor antagonists turn out to be morally grey? Does one of the smaller protagonists end up betraying the protagonist out of jealousy?

Remember, your smaller characters are also human. It’s important to take their stories and arcs into consideration so you can create a detailed and comprehensive world.

A great example of this could be anime characters. Most animes tend to have separate backstories and endings for every character. These backstories and endings don’t have to all be necessarily revealed to your readers, however, as an author you need to know where you’re going with each of your characters.

Reaction Arcs

One easy way to implement character arcs for your side characters is by using reaction arcs. I don’t know if this term has already been established, but I personally coined the term to refer to a character arc that is a direct reaction to another character’s arc.

Maybe your protagonist has a positive character arc and ends up becoming the most successful person in their field of work, but this results in a reaction arc for their best friend who turns bitter and has a negative character arc due to the way the protagonist’s story played out.

Reaction arcs differ from other arcs due to the fact that they cannot be achieved without establishing another character’s arc first. Following the above example, the best friend cannot become jealous and bitter until your protagonist’s character arc is established.

I hope this blog on how to write a compelling character arc will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday.

Want to learn more about me and my writing journey? Visit my social media pages under the handle @hayatheauthor where I post content about my WIP The Traitor’s Throne and life as a teenage author.

Tags

writing tips creative writing writing community writing tools writing tip writing tag writing tips and tricks

Where to start as a beginner writer

Are you new to the world of writing? Here are some pointers to consider when starting out your journey!

Define your purpose

A super important first step for any writer is to ask themselves why they are actually writing. What sort of message do you want to put out into the world, what types of stories are you going to tell? Do you want to make people cry, laugh, do you want to inspire them, do you want to shine a torch on important issues, do you want to thrill them or make them feel good?

Familiarize yourself with character arcs

Before plot, there is character! Character arcs are a great way to get yourself started on your writing journey. Learn about internal conflict, misbelief, positive and negative arcs, backstories... Once you know this, the plotting side of things clicks into place much easier.

Understand the basics of story structure

You do not need to be a plot-genius to write a good book. As long as you have a good grasp on your character arcs, and a basic understand of how a story is structured, you’re good to go! It’s great to read about 3-act, 5-act, hero’s journey, and other structures on examples of books you’ve read or films you’ve seen.

Read in your genre

Cannot stress this enough! Every writer should be a reader. It’s so important to read within and outside of your genre, because reading is the best way to learn and grow and improve.

Don’t be afraid to write whatever comes to mind

All writers get stuck into certain parts of their writing, and we all become victims of perfectionism or procrastination one way or another. Don’t let this be a thing to discourage you. What’s important to know about writing is that the more you do it, the more you will improve. So even if you’re writing something for fun, or you’re not entirely happy with the quality, know that actually writing it will help you more than avoiding it.

Did you know I have a free novel plan to get you started on your writing journey?

You can grab it through the [link here] or below!

the-plottery.com

The Plottery Links

The Plottery offers writing services such as book coaching, book editing, novel plotting digital courses, and theory books on the craft of w

Tags

writing writing tips writing advice

156 notes View Post

redibanni

2 years ago

Don't lose your wallet in the forest, young hero.

236 notes View Post

redibanni

2 years ago

6 Tips for Writing an Underdog Character

People love reading about an underdog. There’s something within all of us that relates to persevering against the odds, even when they’re crushing. Anything becomes possible—but how do you write that kind of character successfully?

Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Create Their Disempowerment

Underdogs need to lose something or have one thing less than those they fight against. It might be something they hope to gain back or something they hope to gain at all.

Let’s use The Hunger Games as an example for this post. Katniss comes from District 12, but she’s already at a disadvantage when she volunteers as tribute. Restrictions on her district kept her from food security for most of her life. Without a lifetime of basic nutrition, her body is already at a disadvantage in the physically-demanding games.

District 12 is also one of the less appreciated districts in her country. She doesn’t think anyone will care about sponsoring her in the games, which makes survival much less likely.

But we still root for her! She volunteered to save her sister, which is heroic. There’s so much potential for more heroic growth that we keep turning the page, even though she’s not the most likely person to survive.

2. Make Your Protagonist Likable

Getting excited to see a character grow might be something you feel as a creative writer, but the average reader also needs an underdog protagonist to be likable in some way. Katniss will do anything for her family, including hunting where and when she isn’t supposed to. Many people would feel the need to do the same for their families.

She also feels deep compassion for people, which she covers up with her gruff demeanor. We’ve all felt like we got hurt because our hearts opened too wide for someone. We can relate to her building defenses into her personality, which might make her likable to more readers.

Katniss also has the core value of loyalty. People always seek loyalty in new connections. It’s how we trust new friends. It’s also how readers trust characters.

This site has a few more tips on crafting likable characters. Part of that happens while you’re creating the characters during your planning process, but you can also do it while you’re writing. As your underdog becomes more of a real person in your mind, you’ll know which primary character traits make them most likable to readers.

3. Plan Their Rock-Bottom Moment

Underdogs always reach a point where they feel they’re at their lowest. Even when they feel crushed or defeated, they choose to find strength and continue with their journey. It makes readers support them even more, but it’s also the defining moment of an underdog’s arc.

Your underdog’s rock-bottom moment will be the scene where they resist the temptation to give up, change their dream, or change who they are. It will be the choice that keeps them moving toward their end goal, instead of taking the easy road.

You could argue Katniss has a few rock-bottom moments. It might be when she hears her sister’s name called at the Reaping. It could be when Rue dies and she chooses to spearhead a revolution.

There could be multiple moments for your underdog too. It depends on the shape of your narrative arc and how many acts your story has.

4. Show Them Trying and Failing

It’s time for an important caveat—underdogs also fail. If they were perfect, they’d be god-like figures that readers couldn’t personally identify with.

Maybe your underdog achieves their ultimate goal, but they experience failure along the way. Their failure helps them grow or makes them pursue their goal with more conviction and determination.

Katniss begins her journey with a mindset of self-preservation. That makes her slightly selfish and automatically distrustful of people. She makes some choices readers would probably disagree with, but then she learns from them. By the end of the series, she’s as selfless as a human can get.

Characters don’t grow if they don’t make mistakes. Even underdogs should fail. However, that failure shouldn’t make them quit. It should either motivate them to keep going or give them a new perspective on how they can achieve their ultimate goal.

5. Train Them Along the Way

Underdogs start out as unlikely heroes because they don’t start with everything they need to succeed. That might be a societal problem, like coming from an economically disadvantaged family or a biased society. Maybe they don’t have the skills they need, like the ability to fight in hand-to-hand combat, outsmart their antagonist, or solve mysteries.

Usually, characters learn these things during their arcs. Your underdog will likely pick up what they need to succeed through the relationships they make and experiences they have.

Katniss already knows how to hunt when she volunteers for the games, but Haymitch mentors her to win over much-needed sponsors to survive. Peeta teaches her how to soften her heart and think outside the box. She wouldn’t have made it through the series without the people in her life. Other underdog characters can’t either.

6. Reward Them at the End

Underdogs work hard and transform themselves to achieve their goals. At the end of the story, they often gain a tangible reward, power, knowledge, a new title or a new community. Your underdog should get what they set out to achieve, plus a few extra things they didn’t expect.

Katniss wins the Hunger Games. She gets her primary objective: to continue living. She also protects her sister. In addition to surviving, she has her (albeit rocky) relationship with Peeta, a new mentor in Haymitch, a comfortable living in the Victor’s Village, and an audience of fans who are another layer of protection against President Snow’s desire to kill her.

The extra rewards propel her through the remainder of her storyline. They also set her up for more success with the new lifepath she sees for herself: aiding the revolution to end the games for good.

A new goal is sometimes a reward in itself. It depends on if you want to continue writing about your character or if you want a one-off story.

-----

I hope this helps gives you a new perspective on future protagonists! Adding one of these factors into your character’s growth could remove your writer’s block too. They set up a path forward for your protagonist and help shape their journey.

You can also use these resources to learn more about the underdog archetype:

Character Archetypes: The Disruptor and the Underdog

Writing the Underdog: Effort Matters Most

7 Tips to Writing Underdog Heroes

Tags

writing tips character development Protagonist character creation archetypes underdog underdog characters writing a protagonist

329 notes View Post

redibanni

2 years ago

Me to the shadow in the living room at 4:57 AM: No you do not understand the perfection of White Star’s death being so quick and unimpactful. He is someone who lives for the attention. His god complex is so empowered that he hates when something doesn’t go his way or he’s not the center of attention drives him insane. The whole fated rival bullshittery with Cale was just that, making it all about himself again. He needs to be important! So Yoo Ryeo Han making his death so quick and completely forgotten in a span of paragraphs is literally the finest torture for that man’s nonexistent never resting soul. It’s not that Cale didn’t struggle to kill him. We didn’t really get to see what Cale was feeling using Instant like the time he broke the statues, we only saw what everyone else was seeing. Cale was probably struggling a lot going towards White Star. But that doesn’t matter! He will never know that and he died with the thought that he was killed in the span of 2 sec without even a fight. THAT’S PATHETIC FOR HIM! A man who lived for the drama, died i. The most uneventful way possible for him and that’s the HELL for him and I LOVE IT! It’s similar to Locke’s death in QON where he died off screen and barely given a paragraph to describe his death. Literally the biggest FU to these bastards is not caring about their deaths. It’s what they would have wanted and we ain’t giving them that. So what I’m trying to say is that Yoo Ryeo Han is literally a genius when writing their character and especially scenarios depending on their personalities and how they would react in those situatio—

The shadow demon: *crying in a fetus position*

Tags

trash of the count's family tcf lcf lout of the count’s family

533 notes View Post

redibanni

2 years ago

Cale is pretty shameless.

If he was told by the GoD that he could get 1 billion gallons if he kissed one of his companions, he wouldn’t blush. No. He would start bartering.

“Only a billion gallons? The Crown Prince has offered me more for less. You’re a god, live up to the name. 30 billion for a kiss on the cheek. I’ll even do a knuckle kiss for 20 billion if you feel cheap.”

The Sun God pitches in. “50 billion gallons for a kiss on the lips.”

Cale turns it down immediately. “You think my first kiss is only worth 50 billion gallons? You must think you’re funny. You couldn’t afford my first kiss with your whole religion.”

The GoD interrupts. “85 billion gallons and a heavenly item.”

He clicks his tongue, do they think he’s stupid? “A heavenly item would only draw more attention to me. I want to be a slacker. Use your head.”

Both gods curse. They can’t let him become a slacker, it would ruin everything.

After a minute of thinking, the GoD and the Sun God come to a conclusion. They’re going to cut their losses and take what they can get. “Okay, we’ll buy a kiss on the cheek for 30 billion gallons.”

Cale makes eye contact with them. “50 billion.”

The gods cry out in indignation, but Cale refuses to budge on this.

With a look of defeat, they split the cost and tell him to pick someone to kiss on the cheek.

He chooses Raon. The dragon is very happy with the sudden display of affection, and the gods curse the name Cale Henituse.

2K notes View Post

redibanni

2 years ago

I think my favorite part about the whole Toriel confronting Kris about the pie scene in the beginning of chapter 2, is that fact that Toriel isn’t the least bit concerned that Kris just owns a knife for personal use. She’s just like “ah yes my child’s knife that they keep around” which tells me that Kris has probably never once actually used the knife to be violent towards others or hurt themselves. They just like that knife and carry it around for pie eating purposes.

Tags

deltarune kris toriel this is so sweet

1K notes View Post

redibanni

2 years ago

List of Elemental Abilities

Air/Wind

Aerokinesis -manipulate the air, wind, and gas.

Aeroportation - teleport using air/wind currents.

Air Mimicry - transform into a cloud of gas, fog, or mist.

Atmokinesis - manipulate the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Deoxygenation - suck up all the oxygen from a place.

Lung Adaptation - breath anywhere

Wind Generation - create blasts of air.

Divine Winds Manipulation - create and control heavenly winds.

Dark Wind Manipulation - create and control eerie winds.

Earth

Geokinesis - control, manipulate, and reshape the earth at will.

Atmokinesis - control and manipulate the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Crystallokinesis - manipulate minerals and crystals.

Ferrokinesis… manipulate metal at will.

Fraxikinesis - manipulate burnt matter.

Geo-Thermokinesis - manipulate, control, and create lava, magma and volcanoes.

Golem Creation - make golems out of inanimate materials like rocks, wood, plants, magma, etc.

Granulation… can turn things into sand.

Halokinesis - control and manipulate salt.

Hyalokinesis - control and manipulate glass.

Koniokinesis - manipulate and control dust particles.

Plassikinesis - manipulate and control all forms of plastic.

Psammokinesis - can control and manipulate sand.

Terrakinesis - control, manipulate and alter/reshape the surrounding terrain and landscape at will.

Terraportation - teleport via the earth and earth-based materials.

Sacred Earth Manipulation - Create, manipulate, control, reshape divine earth minerals.

Black Earth Manipulation - Create, manipulate and control tainted and evil earth minerals.

Fire

Pyrokinesis - create, control and manipulate fire, flame and heat.

Atmokinesis - control and manipulate the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Fire Breath - breathe out flames.

Geo-Thermokinesis - manipulate lava, magma and volcanoes.

Heliokinesis - manipulate and control the sun and sunlight.

Hell-Fire Manipulation - Generate and control flames of hell.

Holy Fire Manipulation - Generate and control flames of Heaven.

Inflammation - burn things.

Melting - heat molecules to melt things.

Plasmakinesis - can control plasma.

Pyrotechnics - create fireworks.

Self-Detonation - explode self and reform.

Thermokinesis - create, control and manipulate heat.

Water

Hydrokinesis - manipulate and control liquid water and mold it into any desired shape or form.

Aquatic Adaptation - adapted to underwater living.

Aquatic Respiration - breathe underwater.

Atmokinesis- control and manipulate the various aspects of the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Dehydration - absorb water.

Hydroportation - teleport across short or long distances through liquid water.

Water Mimicry - turn into liquid water.

Holy Water Manipulation - create, manipulate and control graceful waters.

Dark Water Manipulation - create, manipulate and control evil and dangerous waters.

Darkness

Umbrakinesis - can manipulate and control darkness or shadows.

Animated Shadow - Animate one’s shadow.

Light Absorption - block out light in an area.

Night Vision - see in the dark.

Sacred Darkness - create holy darkness.

Shadow Camouflage - be unseen in shadows.

Shadow Mimicry - become a shadow.

Umbrageous Teleportation - teleport via the shadows and darkness.

Electricity/Lightning

Quintessence Force -Can generate whitish-blue lightning that also contains pure life energy.

Electrokinesis - control, generate or absorb electric fields and shoot lightning bolts.

Activation & Deactivation - turn stuff on and off.

Positron Manipulation - control positrons, the antimatter counterpart to electrons.

Electrical Absorption - absorb electricity.

Electric Mimicry -transform entire body into a lightning-like being of pure electrical energy

Electrical Transportation - teleport with lightning.

Divine Lightning Manipulation - create and control the brightest lightning.

Black Lightning Manipulation - create and control the darkest lightning.

Energy

Dynamokinesis - manipulate existing energy.

Energy Blast - create blasts of energy.

Energy Emission - release energy.

Quintessence Force - create and manipulate unique form of electrical and life energy.

Mana Manipulation

Chi Manipulation

Electricity Manipulation

Energy Manipulation

Ice

Cryokinesis - control ice, snow and other forms of frozen water.

Freeze Breath - freeze things in solid ice.

Freezing - lower the temperature in kinetic atoms to freezing temperatures.

Frigokinesis - control snow either as precipitation or already on the ground.

Ice Beam - shoot beams of freezing energy.

Ice Generation

Light

Dark Light Manipulation - create the darkest light in existence.

White Light Manipulation- create sacred light from the divine.

Photokinesis - create and manipulate pure light.

Force-Field Generation - create protective shields of solid photons.

Invisibility - be unseen.

Laser Emission - bend light wavelengths to create lasers.

Light Absorption -absorb the light around you.

Light Generation - emit blinding light or glow in the dark.

Light Mimicry - take on the traits of light.

Photoportation - Teleport by using photons.

Projective Invisibility - turn other things invisible.

Evil Banish - Rid and banish all spirits of evil and black magic.

Light Manipulation

Weather

Atmokinesis - manipulate the various aspects of the weather by using water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Atmokinetic Resistance - immunity to all weather-based abilities and effects.

Atmokinetic Sensing - sense the future weather patterns.

Other

Aether Manipulation

Cosmic Manipulation

Gravity Manipulation

Nether Manipulation

Space-Time Manipulation

From Superpower Wikia. See their complete list of superpowers HERE.

Tags

writing resources writing fantasy

107K notes View Post

redibanni

2 years ago

Is it actually possible for people to respect the idea that I’m just not personally impressed with Berdly as a person right now?

I’m not a fan of how he interrupts Noelle constantly, how he spent most of chapter 2 putting Kris and Susie down and call them stupid to their faces, just to turn around and relationship-zone Susie after she turns out to be cool, trying to get her alone constantly and then trick her into giving him a kiss.

He’s going to have to treat Kris, Noelle, and Susie with some actual, non-crush-related respect, as people, before I’m going to consider liking him. That doesn’t mean I want him dead or don’t acknowledge that he values Noelle.

This is not a character everyone has to like or it’s immoral somehow or you get to call them stupid for not liking him. Stop sending me fanboy asks trying to covert me Green Eggs and Ham style.

What part of “there’s nothing wrong with him, he’s just annoying” makes people think harassing them into liking him is okay?

Tags

deltarune berdly I respect that damn bro berdly is straight up controversial character

390 notes View Post

End of content

No more pages to load