Character Arcs

Character Arcs. The thing that is perhaps almost as important as the plot of your story. If executed well, it can cause your story to stand out among others and can help your characters in amazing ways. 

A character without an arc is like a plot without structure. It doesn’t work very well and readers will find your book dull and boring. 

What is a character arc exactly? A character arc is a change in your character over the course of the plot. Just like real people, over time your characters change for better or for worse. 

For example, if your character is going to change for the better (probably your protagonist), he or she will believe a lie at the beginning of the story. Over the course of the story, they will begin to realize the truth and at the end, they will let go of the lie and embrace the truth. 

Or if they are changing for the worse (probably your villain), he or she will believe a truth at the beginning of the story. Over the course of the story, they will begin to believe a lie and at the end, they will embrace the lie. 

There is a lot more to a character arc, but that’s the basic explanation of it. 

Why do you need a character arc? Well, a character arc is what gives your characters depth and adds to your plot as well as your theme. Books without character arcs are far more likely to be put down or disliked because character arcs are what make your story seem real. It makes your characters seem like real people. Books with character arcs are far more likely to pull the reader into the story and become favorite books. 

Character arcs also show the level of the author. If the author doesn’t write a good character arc, they will be seen as more of a beginner than a skilled writer. 

There are a lot more reasons why you should create a character arc, but those are just a few. Character arcs are super important and can cause your story to stand out among other books. 

What makes a good character arc? A good character arc is something that pulls the story’s plot and theme closer to the character. It makes it personal. A good character arc pulls all of these things together into a big change in your character: 

• A lie.
• A truth that counters the lie. 
• A moment in the past that haunts them and enforces the lie. 
• Something your character wants. 
• Something your character needs. 
• A story goal. 

And a few more things, but those are the main things you need. For an example, I’ll take my MC Elias’s character arc: 

• A lie: The best protector carries everything. 
• A truth that counters the lie: Others can help you carry your burdens. 
• A moment in the past that haunts him and enforces the lie: Watching his parents die. 
• Something your character wants: To keep the promise he made to his parents. 
• Something your character needs: To let go and allow others to help. 
• A story goal: To keep his sister safe. 

Also here are a few resources that can help with character arcs (example books with good character arcs and a few others): 

• Creating Character Arcs—K.M. Weiland 
• Creating Character Arcs Workbook—K.M. Weiland (this was soooo helpful for me with figuring out character arcs) 
• Heirs of Neverland Duology—Kara Swanson
• The Wingfeather Saga—Andrew Peterson
• Fawkes—Nadine Brandes 
• The Star That Always Stays—Anna Rose Johnson 

Character arcs are instrumental to your plot and book structure. Once you can write good character arcs (among other things), your book will stand out and readers will just love it even more. 

Until next time, 

A.J. Syngraféas