Ask a reader why they like a story and they are likely to mention the characters. Your reader must care about your characters. If you have boring characters, it doesn’t matter how engaging your story or how eloquently written, your readers will lose interest. Characters bring your story to life. And, it’s not just your characters themselves that make the story engaging, it’s the change they undergo throughout the story. This is the character arc.
What is a character arc?
A character arc is the transformative journey a character undergoes throughout the story. It’s often an inner change to an opposite state of being, from sad to happy, from naive to worldly, or from kind to evil. Characters typically achieve this change by adapting to the obstacles they encounter in the pursuit of their goal.
Types of Character Arcs
There are dozens of types of character arcs, but they can generally be categorized into three groups: positive, negative and flat.
Positive Character Arc
When your character overcomes an external obstacle or internal flaw in order to become a better person or a better version of themselves, it’s a positive character arc. Examples include Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Sansa Stark in A Game of Thrones. In these stories, the protagonist undergoes a positive personality change in response to the obstacles they encounter throughout the story.
Negative Character Arc
Negative arcs can be described as a downfall or negative spiral. This occurs when the character faces a struggle that they cannot overcome or is impacted negatively by events. Examples include Daenerys in Game of Thrones, Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars and Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, the character’s personality undergoes a negative change. When faced with a challenge they chose the convenient, self-motivated option resulting in them ending worse off than when the story began.
Flat Arc
A flat character arc occurs when the character does not change. This is common in action and thriller stories. For a flat character arc to work successfully the character needs to encounter seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the pursuit of their goal. It’s the character’s ability to remain steadfast and resolute despite these difficulties that captures the reader’s interest. Examples include James Bond, Vera Stanhope and Indiana Jones.
How to write a character arc
Figuring out how to write your character’s arc requires you to understand your character well beyond just their transformation through the story. You will need to have a comprehensive understanding of your story's structure and how your character works into that structure. Arcs are linear – they have a clear beginning and end. Often, they work into the classical three-act structure, beginning with the current status quo, coming to a realization in the dark night of the soul and finishing with a new outlook.
Elements of a Character Arc
Whether your character faces a positive, negative or flat arc, there are going to be three distinct elements that must be addressed: the goal, the lie, and the truth.
The Goal
Every character has a goal that propels them forward. It might be to defeat the evil ruler or to find the man of their dreams. Either way, this goal has to matter deeply to the protagonist and spur them on, despite the obstacles in their way.
The lie
The misconception the character has about themselves or the world around them. This lie keeps them from reaching their full potential. In a positive character arc, the character achieves positive change through realizing and overcoming the lie. In a negative character arc, the protagonist succumbs to this lie, often by giving in to temptation or devaluing something they already possess.
The Truth
While your character thinks they want one thing, the truth is that they may need another. The truth is the lesson the character needs to learn. It often echoes the theme of the story. For example, a character may believe they can defeat the villain on their own. It’s only when they fail that they realize there is strength in numbers and resolve to team up with others to achieve their goal.
In Summary
The character’s arc is the beating heart of any good story – it is , essentially, the entire point of a work of fiction.
There are numerous types of character arcs but the basic arcs include positive, negative and flat arcs.
In a positive character arc, the character transforms in a way that leaves them better off than when the story began.
In a negative character arc, the character succumbs to the temptation to take the easy, self-motivated path, the result being that they end up worse off than they were at the start.
In a flat character arc, the character doesn’t change. They are aware of the truth and remain steadfast in the face of obstacles. This creates a change in the world and characters around them.
Every character arc is defined by three elements: the goal, the lie and the truth. The character is spurred onwards by their goal which is complicated by the lie, the basic mistaken belief they have about themselves or the world around them. It’s only through realizing the lie and rejecting it can they achieve the truth and complete the character arc.
