Understanding character arcs in your novel.
Why they are important. how to create one. how they can flow through the story.
When you read books on how to write a novel you’re told about character arcs and how they’re important for the success of a book. But what is a character arc? And why you need one?
In this blog, we will be understanding character arcs in your novel...
UNDERSTANDING CHARACTER ARCS IN YOUR NOVEL
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To put it simply a character arc is the emotional, psychological change of a character from the start of a story to the end. After the journey is complete who are they compared to the beginning. Have they changed for the better, or worse.
On average a story will start off with a character in a negative state of mind, but wanting their life to change. Wanting to acquire something that will make them happy. Then something happens that disrupts their way of life. They have to set off on a quest, along the way they face trails they need to pass to complete the journey. When they reach the finish line they will seek to acquire the “want” but will choose the “need” instead. Because along the way they learned the truth of who they really are and have become a better person for it. By the end, they have completed their arc. They have changed. They started off one way and ended up another. The story can now end because the arc is complete. The reader feels happy having read it.
SEEING THE PROTAGONIST IN A NEW LIGHT
After the story is finished the reader feels “progress,” has been made. They sense a change has occurred. They can see the protagonist in a new light. In the process, they feel they have learned something about themselves along the way. In fact, the very reason we are drawn to stories is we’re looking for insight into who we really are. Everyone wants to “know.” We want to answer “why are we here?” “What is the point to life?” By seeing others going through struggles and journeys and changing for the better we believe it will help us learn about ourselves.
People read books from the Buddha, Confucius and the Bible for the same thing. We study philosophy and psychiatry looking for the same results. It all comes down to learning about ourselves. However, some prefer reading novels instead to find the answers because an enjoyable story is being told. It’s kind of like people who don’t like going to a gym to run on a treat mill but they can play sports to get their exercise. They see it as more fun.
A STORY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Sometimes a novel can inspire you. Can change your life. You read a book about someone who’s down and out who changes their life for the better. It’s a character you can relate to. You see yourself as them. You believe, “If they can change, so can I.” The protagonist learned to overcome their pain making you believe you can do. You feel a desire to change your life using them as a role model.
However, do keep in mind the protagonist does not have to have a character arc all the time. In fact, they may not change at all from start to finish. But how can this be? Will that not hurt the novel? They can help others change their life. Other characters in a novel can have an arc guided by the protagonist. The reader will sense a change. They will see the novel as worthwhile even though the protagonist is the same in the in.
CHANGE HAPPENS TO OTHER CHARACTERS
In the New Testament, Jesus remains the same from the start to finish, however, he has a powerful impact on everyone around him. Countless people in the New Testament change from bad to good because of his influence. Even though he remains the same, powerful character arcs occur throughout the story. Leaving a powerful impact on the reader.
The protagonist’s changes have to be honest. If the protagonist starts off as a bad guy who only cares about themselves but by the end is caring we have to understand “why” this happened. What did the protagonist experience for them to change? Are you as the writer making them change for the sake of change? Trying to create a false character arc? One that is awkward? The reader will sense this right away; they’ll reject your novel. But if the writer has stages for the protagonist to go through the changes, in the end, will seem honest, the reader will love your book. They’ll want to read it again because the arc feels natural.
BOTH OF THEM HAVE A NEED AND WANT
Villains are an important part of any story. The basses of a story is to have two people both “wanting” something. And both having a “need”. In the end, it’s the hero who changes for the better because what they have learned through their trials and errors. Whereas the villain does not learn anything for they avoided their trials and the hero gives up on their “want” and excepts their “need” knowing it’s the right thing for them. Whereas the villain ignores their “need” and goes for their “want” causing them to suffer.
It’s rare to see the villain have an arc, but it can happen. In some stories, the bad guy comes to his senses and sees the light and changes. In a “Christmas Carol” Ebenezer Scrooge was mean and cold-hearted but he saw the reasons for his anger. What leads him to be so mean. Leading him to change, to become a better man. The change did not come out of nowhere. Something happens that leads to the change. In the end, we saw a cold man become a better man. One of the biggest character arcs in any book written.
IT CANNOT HAPPEN FOR NO REASON
But you cannot have your villain change at the end for no reason. Something has to happen throughout the story where they’re justified in the change.
Maybe you can have the protagonist see the error in the villain’s ways and try to reach out to them. Want to help them see the light. Help the villain overcome their “want” to embrace their “need.” Trying to talk some sense into them.
THE CHANGE HAS TO BE HONEST
But the change has to be honest and real or the reader will reject the story. You cannot have the villain become good in the last paragraph just to have a happy ending. The reader needs to see the transition happen throughout the book, not just the last chapter. In “A Christmas Carol” we saw Scrooge changing throughout the story, not just at the last few pages.
You do not have to have an epic long novel for the character arc to happen. New writers feel they need to write a thousand pages to have a powerful character arc. But this can happen in a short story. All stories are the same as stated above. You start off showing the protagonist living their life believing they are happy, but the happiness is false. Something is missing in their life. Then something disrupts their daily life and they’re set out on a journey going through trails where they have to overcome them, and in the end they have to choose between “want” and “need” and end up choosing their need. It doesn’t take thousands of pages to make this happen. It can be done with a few pages. The reader will sense the change and respect the story. A long story or short story without an arc feels empty. Where the character ends up right in the same place where they started. The reader will ask, “What was the point in reading it?”
THE LEAD CHARACTER CAN MAKE BAD CHOICES
Some character arcs can be opposite. We don’t always have to see the lead character going from bad to good. We could see the lead character making bad choices in which they end up in a bad place. As the writer, you could throw a surprise at your reader by having the hero making choices where he goes for his “want” instead of the “need.” This still works because a moral lesson can still be learned from it. The reader can take away from the story just as much if they were reading a story about someone who saved their life. The protagonist doesn’t always have to win for the message to be delivered. Look at “Film Noir” in those movies the protagonist’s life goes downhill because of all their bad choices. They are pulled in by the femme fatale where they can no longer think straight. You can learn from this just as much as a story with a happy ending.
You could make it really complex by having a good guy and bad guy in the beginning. anyone reading your book will feel the bad guy will get what coming to him and the hero will save the day. But you can make a story where the bad guy sees the light and changes his ways where the good guy embraces the bad and ends up the bad guy in the end. It would be an interesting mix.
YOU SHOULD BE PLANNING YOUR NOVEL
This is why planning your novel before you start helps out. You can think of your character’s arc. Where do they start where do they end up? Are they mean and become nice? Are they cruel and become caring? When you make your story up as you go along you might run into a problem of missing a character arc. Your protagonist will be jumping all over the place with who they are. Possibly ending up the same way as they started. Leaving the reader feeling as though it was a waste of time reading.
You don’t have to have only one person with a character arc. You can have many characters change by the end. Just remember to justify the change. You can’t have everyone change suddenly at the end for no reason. Have each one on their own personal journey where they have to look within to overcome their tasks, each person has to face their own trails, each one has to learn something about themselves to overcome their problem.
IT APPLIES TO ALL GENRES
The idea of character arc does not apply to one genre, it applies to them all. Be it fantasy, horror, drama, comedy. No matter what you’re setting out to write don’t focus on details and location while ignoring character.
The more you focus on character the better, the more of a character arc the better the story.
you might be interested in these blogs…
THE GREATEST TIP ON HOW TO BE A GREAT WRITER
HOW TO PROPERLY PLACE A FLASHBACK IN YOUR NOVEL
UNDERSTANDING A CHARACTER’S WANTS AND NEEDS
