If the First Act is setup, then the First Plot Point is the point of no return in character arcs. The setup ends, and the story begins “for realz.” At this point the character commits—usually because he has no choice—to a decision that will propel him out of the comfortable stagnation of the Normal World […]
March 23, 2014 by 53 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 7: The First Act
The First Act is one of my favorite parts of any story. Why? On the surface, the First Act seems to be the slowest part of the story—and it often is. It’s just setup, after all, right? True enough, except for that one little word just. It isn’t “just” setup; it’s SETUP! It sets up […]
March 16, 2014 by 65 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 6: The Normal World
Who wants to read about a boring old Normal World? The Lost World? Sure! The Exciting, Unusual, Exotic, and Absolutely Thrilling World? You betcha. But the Normal World? Isn’t that a pretty lame way to begin a story? Nope. Not if you want your character’s change arc to make sense, it isn’t. Last week, we learned […]
March 9, 2014 by 70 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 5: The Characteristic Moment
First impressions do count. And your protagonist’s Characteristic Moment is his first chance to impress your readers. Now that we’ve got the basic theory of character arc out of the way and figured out how to set up your protagonist’s inner conflict, via the Lie He Believes, the Thing He Wants and the Thing He […]
March 2, 2014 by 165 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 4: Your Character’s Ghost
What is your character’s ghost, and how does it affect his character arc? Once you’ve figured out the Lie Your Character Believes, as well as Thing He Wants and the Thing He Needs, the next question you need to ask yourself is: Why does the character believe the Lie in the first place? To find […]
February 23, 2014 by 163 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 3: The Thing Your Character Wants vs. The Thing Your Character Needs
The Lie Your Character Believes is the reason for all character arcs. After all, if everything’s hunky-dunky, why change? We might think of the Lie as the cavity in a tooth. Everything might look shiny and white on the outside, but inside there’s decay. If the character is ever to be happy, he’s going to […]
February 16, 2014 by 322 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 2: The Lie Your Character Believes
People hate change. We may sit around and wish our lives were different, but when the rubber really starts streaking the tarmac, we usually find ourselves wishing we could just hang out here in our safe and familiar haunts. Characters are no different. They resist change just as staunchly as any of us—which is a […]
February 9, 2014 by 128 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 1: Can You Structure Characters?
What if there were a sure-fire secret to creating stunning character arcs? Would you be interested in discovering it? If you care about connecting with readers, grabbing hold of their emotions, and creating stories that will resonate with them on a level deeper than mere entertainment, then the answer has to be a resounding yes! […]
January 19, 2014 by 41 Comments ThemeHow Minor Characters Help You Discover Theme
Is theme the moral of a story? Is it the message an author wants to share? Or is it something more inherent to the plot itself? If this were a multiple-choice test, then I’d hope you would have chosen C. Although theme is potentially both a moral and a message, neither of these should be […]
December 15, 2013 by 17 Comments CharactersHow the Antagonist Affects Character Arc
We often think of the antagonist as an external obstacle to our protagonist’s forward motion. The antagonist is usually a physical entity, something standing in the way of our protagonists’ ability to achieve their physical goals and perhaps even threatening our protagonists’ lives or their physical well-being. Consequently, it can be easy to forget that […]
