Character Development: How to Write a Character Arc

you're so funny girl look at her go look at her go hello everybody today I'm continuing our discussion on character development with one of the most popular concepts on the topic and that is character arcs a lot of you have asked me about character arcs what are they what makes them good are they necessary and so on this is something a lot of writers stress over and the trip is they're actually pretty simple calm down you're probably over complicating it before we get started I got to get my props to audible who has generously sponsored today's video if you haven't heard of audible I don't believe you where have you been oh whoa what's going on but just in case they feature an unmatched selection of audiobooks for you to enjoy as well as news comedy and a bunch of other stuff they've also got audible originals which are exclusive audio titles created by celebrated storytellers in literature journalism theater and so on what I personally love about audible is the convenience you can get the app for free on your smartphone or tablet and then you can listen to audio books while you're driving or cooking or cleaning whatever I'm a busy lady multitasking is vital for my overall productivity and sanity membership also includes one free audio book a month exclusive sales and 30% off all regularly priced audiobooks and best of all the savior's champion is available on out of all if you like dark fantasy action or romance or if you want to learn more about character arcs firsthand by listening to one you know what to do check out TSC on audible right now you can get your first audio book for free plus two audible originals when you try audible for 30 days all you have to do is visit audible.com slash Jenna maresi or text Jennifer s e250 Z five zero zero you know what your free audio book could be the savior's champion I'm just saying on to today's topic I'm answering your ten most popular questions about character arcs in three two one go number one what is a character arc a character arc is the transformation of a character during the course of the plot the character starts off as one person then due to the events in the story develops and changes into someone else there are a bunch of different types of character arcs I have seen some surprisingly long lists is that really necessary well the three most common types of character arcs that you'll hear about are positive negative and flat arcs number two which characters should have a character arc pretty much any character who isn't relegated to the background can have an arc but the most important character arc will always belong to the main character it's worth mentioning that not all main characters will have an arc it completely depends on the story being told or the themes presented but at least half the stories out there will include a main character who experiences an arc number three why do you character is undergoing arc there aren't many reasons a person can change over time maybe it's a result of their environment maybe it's a reaction to their trauma maybe they grow the up but in fiction the character arc is usually instigated by the inciting incident or conflict of the novel some kind of problem is introduced in the story that the character needs to overcome and they can't do that as the person that they are at the beginning of the story thus they need to work harder learn new skills get a different view of the world or whatever else it takes in order to tackle that problem by the end of the story they've resolved their issue and are walking away a new person because of it number four how do I write a character arc honestly arcs really aren't that technical the goal is to introduce a character screw with their lives a bit and have them change as a result of it simple right that said there are three components to keep in mind when planning your arc the first is your characters problem or motivation what the hell are they trying to achieve it could be world domination could be snagging a girlfriend it could be survival this bowl or difficulty will ultimately be their impetus for change the next point is commonly referred to as the lie your character is under some kind of false impression that prevents them from tackling whatever problem you've created maybe your character believes the government is all-powerful and good when in actuality it's corrupt sometimes but not all the time the lie is manifested as a flaw in your character maybe the character believes money is the most important thing in the world thus there greediest whatever the lie is and however it manifests in your character it prevents them from moving forward the last component is the truth which is when the character realizes they were wrong and embraces whatever they need to do in order to accomplish their goal your character has learned the truth about their government embraces their vigilante training and is ready to fight back this kind of transformation happens in the real world with people all the time it's just that in fiction the stakes are often much more dramatic number five how should i pace a character art obviously this depends on your story or structure however there is a general guide for how the arc should progress particularly if it's for your main character the first phase occurs in the first act of your novel otherwise known as the inciting incident at this time your character is presented with the conflict but they can't yet successfully manage it to do to that pesky lie then we move on to the second act or the rising action which takes up a bulk of your story this is when the character attempts to solve their problem only to fall flat on their ass usually the problem they're dealing with gets worse and thus your character starts to change in order to handle it lastly there's the third act or the climax and resolution this is when the transformation is complete the character is a new person they solve their problem and thus you've written their full arc number six what's a positive character arc this is going to shock you but a positive character arc is when a character changes in a positive way mind blown basically the character comes out a better person or makes the world around them better in some way this includes overcoming hardships or personal demons it can include the hero saving the day it could also include the character finally embracing love and living happily ever after number seven what's a negative character arc you'll never guess positive character arc means the character betters themselves or the world around them and a negative character arc is the exact opposite either they become a complete mess or they make the world around them a mess lovely number eight what is a flat character arc a flat character arc is when a character doesn't change throughout the story but Jenna doesn't that mean they just don't have a character arc you'd think so but writers like to overcomplicate everything with a flat character arc the character in question never believes the lie they've known the truth since the beginning the truth may be tested throughout the story they may doubt themselves from time to time but overall they will always act in regard to the truth because of this they don't change internally instead they change the world around them number nine what about writing a series when it comes to a series you got two options I know the characters arc can happen progressively throughout the course of the series or the character can have one arc per book in the series the option you choose will depend on the characters involved in the plot they're navigating oftentimes if the series covers one comprehensive story then you'll get one overall arc whereas if the series is episodic then you'll get lots of mini arcs however this is not a hard and fast rule there are always exceptions if you're writing one character arc per book then all you got to do is the I already listed bing-bang-boom yeah done but if you're writing one character arc that covers a series of books you still got to do the I already listed just lay it out over a much longer period of time instead of dividing the transformation between acts you'll be dividing the transformation between different within the series and number 10 what are some character arc no nose typically character arc no nose tend to relate to two underlying issues intensity and pacing with pacing it's important to keep in mind that a character arc should span over the course of an entire book or series sometimes writers forget to give their character any growth or change and then once the climax comes they try to cram every step of the arc into that one scene readers aren't gonna like that get unfucked up the other issue is intensity namely when there is none you hear a lot of readers complaining about stories where the resolution didn't feel earned which essentially means that the conflict was too easy if your character isn't busting their ass throughout their transformation then the arc is going to feel weak make sure the stakes are appropriately challenging for the story at hand the last nono is if the transformation happens off page it's fine for your characters to grow or change in other ways off page but when it comes to their character arc the change in their personality that directly affects the plot at hand yeah that needs to be shown to the reader you cannot explain that away in a time skip put it on the page let your readers see the struggle and triumph so that's all I got for you today again thank you to audible for sponsoring today's video you can get your first audio book for free as well as to audible originals when you try audible for 30 days all you have to do is visit audible.com slash Jenna Morrissey or text Jennifer se to five zero zero five zero zero your first free audiobook could be the saviors champion I've heard it's a delight don't forget to subscribe to my channel I post new videos on Wednesdays and 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Channel: Writing with Jenna Moreci

Views: 109,579

Rating: 4.9506173 out of 5

Keywords: write, writer, writing, read, reader, reading, book, books, ebook, jenna moreci, the savior's champion, the saviors champion, audible, audiobooks, audiobook, booktube, authortube, writing tips, writing advice, writing motivation, writing inspiration, how to write a book, how to write, how to develop characters, character development, how to write a character arc, tips for writing, tips for writing a character arc, character arcs, publishing tips, publishing advice, motivation, inspiration

Id: 8GvhGIBX2F4

Length: 10min 54sec (654 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 18 2019