How to Create Character Arcs

welcome to part two of this short series I'm doing on creating characters in part one I talked about the fundamental elements of dramatic character by defining one in need and their use in a story if you haven't seen part one I'd recommend watching it first link is in the description below in this video I'm going to be examining the different character arcs and how they can be practically understood to help begin a story or fix problems while rewriting a character arc is the internal change that a character makes from the beginning of a story to the end K and Weiland writes character arcs are ultimately the whole point of fiction that change the journey from one spiritual emotional intellectual place to another is the story of humanity character arcs are an integral element of why of story works and how plot is created conflict tension and story structure are all driven by how characters are created and how they change over the course of a story in her book creating character arcs Weiland lays out three arcs the change arc the flat arc and the negative arc and to this list I'm going to add one more arc the open-ended arc first let's take a look at the most prominent type of character arc the change arc also called the positive change arc as I explained in part 1 your characters need is a result of being internally incomplete because of their lie this lie will become the main element in the internal change of the character as he or she encounters the truth the change our quirks like this character believes lie character encounters the truth character overcomes lie by finding and accepting the truth character believes lie an Iron Man Tony Stark begins the story with a lie Tony doesn't believe that his actions have serious consequences he doesn't believe that he needs to be responsible or accountable for how his weapons are used character encounters the truth but Tony is captured in captivity Tony realizes that his company has been arming terrorists Tony meets Jensen yinsen is a character that already sees the truth that Tony must find insin explains to Tony how his arrogance and lack of accountability have hurt thousands of people what you just saw that is your legacy style as Tony and Jensen began to supposedly work on the Jericho missile Jensen begins to show Tony how truly hollow his life is so you're a man who has everything yinsen helps Tony build the first Iron Man suit and as Tony escapes yinsen is killed and yinsen gives Tony one of the best pieces of advice he can character overcomes lie by finding and accepting the truth this experience changes Tony he finds and accepts the truth that his actions have serious consequences and that he is responsible for how his weapons are used and I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability internally Tony is now balanced and complete quick note balanced and complete doesn't mean they are now a perfect person it means they found the particular truth that needed to be found in this particular story an Iron Man this change happens quickly within the first 40 minutes of the film in some stories it will not happen this quickly sometimes a character will struggle to find and accept the truth until the very end of the story but remember the main point of the change arc is that a character goes from believing a lie to finding the truth that allows them to become balanced and whole for the rest of the film Tony tries to apply this newfound truth to himself and his company as he does he encounters darker secrets and larger opposition when writing a positive change our character there's a few elements that are useful to keep in mind first establishing the lie the character believes is one of the most important elements the audience will not be able to see how the character changes over time if they don't understand the lie the character believes another important element is the characters or events that put the change art characters lie into question reveal the truth and help drive not only the internal conflict of the character but the external plot as well it can be useful to be aware of the exact lie the character believes and the exact truth they need to find when beginning a story while some may think beginning this way is too restrictive or formulaic it will give you a starting point of internal character conflict to allow the plot to grow more naturally out of the characters want and need within the story next let's take a look at the flat arc in a flat arc the character has already found and accepted the truth they have no need no lie and make no internal change Weiland writes the flat our character already has the truth figured out in the beginning of the story and he uses that truth to help him overcome various external tests the flat arc looks like this character believes the truth characters belief in the truth is tested character holds on to the truth remember when I talked about juror 8 and 12 Angry Men in Paddington in his films these are flat art characters they remain the protagonists of their stories but they are not the ones who change they change the people around them juror 8 helps the other members of the jury see the value in the justice system and overcome their prejudice and Paddington's optimism joy and consideration for others public characters around him find joy and happiness no matter where they are in these situations the protagonist is a mentor figure to the other characters in the story but a character doesn't have to be the symbol of goodness just because they don't have a need an Nightcrawler Liu is a flat arc character while juror 8 and Paddington help those around them find positive truths Liu reveals a dark truth that exploiting others bring success as Lu interacts with the other characters he begins to exploit manipulate and even kill them to get what he wants his belief in this negative truth allows him to win again and again and again let's take a look at how the flat arc is structured in a story character believes the truth Paddington begins his story believing a truth his truth is that politeness optimism and consideration of others makes the world a better place Lu begins his story also believing a truth his truth is that others can be exploited for personal gain the beginning will also show what the other characters believe about this particular truth in Paddington - most of the other characters and Windsor gardens have accepted the truth and are enhanced by Paddington's presence and Nightcrawler most of the other characters are also aware of the truth that others can be exploited however they don't believe these horrible things can happen to them the characters belief in the truth is tested Paddington is imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit a situation that would make many falter from an optimistic happy perspective the brown struggled to find any evidence on the truth 'if making it even less likely that Paddington will be set free a night crawler Lu begins the story with his truth immediately challenged while he believes that you can exploit others he struggles to do it himself we meet Lu as he steals scrap metal and tries to sell it the scrap yard owner knows he's a thief and won't hire him even why not tonight know as Lu learns night crawling he encounters other obstacles that stand in his way but the character holds on to the truth however it doesn't take Paddington long to change the minds of those inside the prison and soon Paddington's ideas of optimism and consideration of others makes the prison a beautiful place in Windsor gardens the neighborhood bands together to free Paddington Paddington and his friends defeat Phoenix Buchanan and Happiness returned to the neighborhood in night crawler Lu successfully bill his business those who have come in contact with him have been killed manipulated and exploited remember stories are about change if you are creating a character that will not change throughout a story it's important to take a look at the other characters to see which ones may change it's not that you have to know exactly who will change and how as you begin a story however if you move through the entire story with little dramatic character change then it's much more difficult to keep an audience engaged with the story as a whole the last type of arc that Wyland outlines is the negative change arc and it's the most complicated of the three Wyland writes the negative change arc tells the story of a character who ends in a worse place than that in which he started the negative change arc has three different types of arcs within it the disillusionment arc the fall arc and the corruption arc the disillusionment arc is exactly the same as a positive change arc the character has a lie that must be overcome the only difference is that when the character overcomes the lie and finds the truth the truth is negative simply put character believes a lie overcomes that lie but the new truth is tragic character believes a lie and the great gatsby Nick Carraway begins the story enthralled in the lifestyle of the super-rich like Gatsby Nick sly is that being rich and powerful creates true happiness character encounters the truth as Nick gets closer to Gatsby he arranges a meeting between Gatsby and his long-lost lover Daisy however the closer Nick gets the Gatsby and the East Egg residents the more he realizes that their hedonism is a facade that hides their shallow existences for the second time that summer I was guarding other people's secrets character overcomes lie by finding the truth but the new truth is tragic in the end Gatsby is killed those who surrounded Gatsby while he was alive care nothing for him in his death Nick accepts that the East and West Egg residents are shallow disdainful dramatic people with little regard for others Nick has found the dark truth they smashed up things and people and then retreated back into their money and their vast carelessness rioting and disillusionment Ark will work very similarly to the positive change Ark it can be helpful to nail down the exact lie of the character believes and the dark truth they will come to understand this will give you a launching point to begin your story or a way to find story problems and solve them in a fall Ark the character will have a fatal flaw or lie just like the positive change Ark but instead of finding the truth and accepting it the character will fall further into the darkness of the lie usually ending in self-inflicted destruction simply put the character believes a lie clings to the lie rejects the truth and finally believes a stronger or worse lie character believes a lie an x-men first class Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto is a great example of this arc Eric's lie is that he believes anger gives him power Sebastian Shaw unlocked Eric's power through anger and hate Eric believes finding and killing Shaw will satisfy him character clings to the lie and rejects new truth Eric meets Charles Charles tries to convince Eric of the truth that he must let go of his anger and desire for revenge if he wants to find peace at the midpoint Shaw kills Darwin Eric wants to avenge Darwin by going after Shaw with the other mutants Charles reluctantly agrees through Charles's help eric gets even stronger it seems as though Charles is getting through to Eric not just pain and anger character believes a stronger or worse lie but it wasn't enough Eric goes against Charles and kills Shaw and the success introduces a stronger lie Eric believes that Shaw was right and the mutants must kill humanity to survive and bring in the future at the end we see that Eric's new lie is still rooted in his childhood trauma I've been at the mercy of men just following orders ever again in a fall arc the character will usually start in a dark place or already on a dark path they are unaware of the truth and never embrace it for this type of arc the motivation for the lie and why the character does not embrace the truth is important an x-men first class while we may not agree with Erics conclusions his past suffering makes it totally understandable for why he cannot embrace the truth in a corruption arc a character will have the truth in the beginning of the story or at least will be very aware of the truth then throughout the events of the story the character will reject the truth they know for a lie it will look like this a character sees the truth rejects the truth and embraces a lie character sees the truth in The Godfather Michael Corleone is surrounded by the lie but is aware of the truth Michael is aware of who his family is and what kind of business they run Michael knows his family is following a lie of power and control and he believes he is not like them that's my family character rejects the truth Don Corleone is shot this causes Michael to get pulled into the mob at a time of crisis at the midpoint Michael shoots Alonso which changes him from being a civilian to an active member of this war Michael is descending into the lie after Michael shoots a lot so he is sent to Sicily to hide this gives him an opportunity to embrace the truth and stay away from the mob character embraces a lie but this doesn't happen his new wife is killed which sends Michael back to America Michael becomes head of the family and kills the leaders of the other families solidifying his family as the most powerful mob and embracing the lie the major difference in a corruption arc and a fall arc is that in the beginning of a fall arc the character isn't aware of the truth but in a corruption arc the character will be in this story the lie must be appealing because the character must have a good reason to leave the truth and embrace the lie in The Godfather the lie is appealing for two main reasons the first reason is that the lie is what helps keep Michael's family safe the crew Lyon family cannot simply lay down arms and move into the normal world they are too involved in organized crime and they have too many enemies the second reason is that the mob represents power and control something that Michael realizes he craves as a story goes forward it's not simply about protecting his family deep down he wants to be feared and respected but character arts can get more interesting than this and I want to focus on an arc that wildin doesn't talk about the open-ended arc in an open-ended arc the character may have a need or they may not depending on an audience's interpretation of the film let's take a look at whiplash and examine Andrews character arc Andrew wants to become a great musician throughout the story he pursues this one until he gets it in the end so what is his need and what is his lie I think there are two main interpretations first you could say that andrew has a fall arc remember in a fall arc the character believes a lie clings to that lie rejects the truth and then believes a stronger or worse lie let's see if it works character believes a lie Andrew starts the story by believing a lie that achieving greatness will make him fulfilled as Andrew gets closer to his goal Fletcher pushes him harder and harder Fletcher believes his method of teaching can push people to true greatness character clings to the lie and rejects new truth when Fletcher cuts Andrew from the band andrew has an opportunity to re-examine his belief is greatness really worth it a normal life can be very fulfilling why not embrace it instead but Andrew talks with Fletcher again Fletcher is given the chance to explain himself I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them and once again Andrew focuses on becoming great not only that but he believes in Fletcher's method character believes a stronger or worse lie at the end of the film Fletcher embarrasses Andrew Andrew walks towards his father the representation of the normal life but then Andrew chooses greatness he chooses a worse life that greatness is what fulfills him and that greatness is achieved through pushing people to the breaking point so it seems to work but let's take a look at it again from a different point of view let's look at the story as if Andrew has a flat arc caracter believes the truth in the beginning of the story Andrew believes greatness will fulfill him this isn't necessarily a lie this may actually be the truth not only that but he already respects Fletcher's methods and his opinion means a lot to you Andrew also looks down upon people who choose to be normal rather than great to us well this is all about you think you're better than us the characters belief in the truth is tested while others around him like his father and Nicole stand as representations of the normal life he could choose he continues to follow Fletcher towards greatness even after Fletcher kicks Andrew out of the band Andrew doesn't want to turn against him why because Andrew knows that Fletcher helps create great musicians Andrew stops being a musician but we see that he has lost his purpose greatness still sits on his mind he sits in a moment of confusion is the truth that he knows actually true is greatness worth it but the character holds on to the truth when he meets back up with Fletcher his truth is reinvigorated there are no two words and in the end he chooses to be great rather than to be normal Fletcher's methods were right you can build greatness through torment this was the intention of writer and director Damien Chazelle he wanted the audience to ask themselves these specific questions his greatness worth it and his torment and struggled the best way to produce greatness the interpretation depends on whether an individual thinks Andrew believes the lie or has found the truth do films like whiplash put into question the previous understanding of character arcs no I don't think so interpreting the story through different character arcs is intentional and not simply academic theory I'm not suggesting that shows l wrote the story by being totally aware of the fall arc and the flat arc but he did write to intentionally explore an idea that he was struggling with and this struggle created the different interpretations of Andrews arc these arcs are not the ultimate rules for how you should create characters but they are frameworks that can set you on the right track to create emotionally resonant characters and stories when beginning a story or trying to fix problems ask yourself what journey this particular character is taking it doesn't mean you have to outline your entire story and not allow any creative freedom it simply means you are writing with a focus I'm not trying to give you an understanding of how every character arc works but I hope that this video gives you a better understanding of the purpose of character arc and how it drives the events of a story hello I hope you liked the video if you're a screenwriter looking to brainstorm ideas share and receive feedback and learn about the writing process with other writers then you should join the writers room on Facebook link is in the description below was this video helpful let me know in the comments below and let me know what other elements of screenwriting you'd like me to take a look at thanks for watching

Channel: Tyler Mowery

Views: 256,250

Rating: 4.9802766 out of 5

Keywords: film analysis, movie review, tyler mowery, nerdwriter, lessons from the screenplay, every frame a painting, screenwriting, script breakdown, writing, workshop, writing course, teach screenwriting, oscar best screenplay, film school, creating characters, how to write characters, creating dramatic characters, dramatic characters masterclass, screenwriting masterclass, character arcs, creating character arcs, km weiland, whiplash, iron man, x men first class, the godfather

Id: XvgeXm8HAzU

Length: 20min 48sec (1248 seconds)

Published: Sun May 05 2019