How to Craft Positive Character Arcs For Your Novel
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External conflict often plays a major role in genre fiction, forming the foundation for a story’s plot as the protagonist struggles to achieve their goal in the face of opposition. As such, many genre fiction writers spend a considerable amount of time developing their story’s plot arcs while giving little thought to an equally powerful story element: character arcs.
A character arc is a sequence of events that details a character’s internal struggle.
Even in heavily plot-driven stories, character arcs play an important role, lending emotional weight that gives meaning to all that external conflict. Just imagine how much less impactful Katniss’s decision to kill Cato would have been if Suzanne Collins hadn’t first established her struggle to hold true to her values in the face of the Capitol’s corruption.
The fight to maintain one’s values in the face of temptation is the definition of a static character arc, a less common type of character arc that I discuss at length in this article.
However, most character arcs are transformative, with a character either overcoming a significant internal obstacle or succumbing to it. This obstacle can be mental, emotional, or spiritual in nature and often results in a false belief that shapes your character’s identity. This false belief is also known as the “Lie” your character believes.
Of the three types of character arcs (i.e. positive, negative, and static), positive arcs are by far the most prominent in genre fiction. It’s for this reason that I’m going to show you how to develop an effective positive change arc today.
How to Structure a Positive Change Arc…
Like plot arcs, characters arcs can be structured before drafting and further refined in revision. A strong understanding of this structure is key to crafting an effective positive change arc no matter how you prefer to approach the pre-writing, drafting, and revising processes.
Establishing the Lie your character believes is the first step in crafting an effective positive change arc, as your character must ultimately discover a Truth that counteracts this Lie if they’re to transform their identity for the better. Here are a few examples of both the Lie your character might believe and the Truth that would counteract that Lie:
Lie: I’ve done too many awful things to be worthy of love.
Truth: I am worthy of love, not because of who I am or what I’ve done but because I’m human.
Lie: I’ll never be good enough to win the competition.
Truth: Whether or not I win the competition, I’m capable of working hard to hone my skills and talent.
Lie: If I can only make enough money, I’ll finally be happy.
Truth: No amount of money in the world can compare to the simple joy of being loved.
In a positive change arc, your character should begin their journey gripped by the Lie that they believe.
Events then showcase how that Lie causes damages in both your character’s life and in the lives of those around them. In time, additional events send your character on a journey that forces them to confront their Lie before ultimately accepting the Truth and transforming into a better, happier person.
This transformation can be mapped over the course of ten major beats (i.e. key moments in your story), a structure that is nearly universal across positive change arcs. Let’s break down each of the beats together!
Beat 1: The Hook
The first major scene in a positive change arc showcases who your character is in their everyday environment (i.e. before they become entangled in the arc’s core conflict) and introduces how the Lie that they believe impacts their daily life, creating conflict within themselves and with others.
| Example 1: A character who believes himself unworthy of love declines an invitation to a local ball where he might meet new people.
| Example 2: A character who believes money is the key to happiness misses their young son’s school play in favor of working longer hours.
Beat 2: The Inciting Incident
Shortly after the hook, an unexpected event occurs that introduces a change in your character’s life. This change will either challenge your character’s Lie or introduce them to some element of the Truth. In most cases, your character will hesitate to accept this change.
| Example 1: The character who believes himself unworthy of love meets someone who is bound to become his love interest.
| Example 2: The character who believes money is the key to happiness learns of a lucrative business opportunity. The only downside? It’s highly risky.
Beat 3: The First Plot Point
Not long after the inciting incident, another unexpected event forces or prompts your character to accept this change. They then set out on a journey that challenges their Lie, a journey that ultimately leads them toward the Truth. During this beat, your character also determines to pursue a goal based around the Lie they believe.
| Example 1: After both he and his love interest are roped into helping prepare for the ball, the character who believes himself unworthy of love determines to complete his work as quickly as possible while avoiding his new love interest.
| Example 2: The character who believes that money is the key to happiness learns just how much money he could make from this risky business venture and decides to pursue it despite his wife’s objections.
Beat 4: A Series of Defensive Conflicts
Before the midpoint of your positive change arc, your character will strive to fulfill their goal while encountering a series of conflicts that highlight the flaws of their Lie and/or hint at the benefits of accepting the Truth.
However, at this point, your character isn’t yet willing to reject their Lie and so reacts defensively, often hurting others and further miring themselves in internal conflict.
| Example 1: The character who feels unworthy of love reacts negatively when he and the love interest must work together to help prepare for the ball. He continues to react negatively when he feels his own attraction to the love interest begins to grow.
| Example 2: The character who believes that money is the key to happiness begins working to secure his new business venture, even as tensions mount between him and his family.
Beat 5: The Midpoint
Roughly halfway through your positive change arc, a major conflict occurs that forces your character to confront the Truth. Though your character won’t yet give up their Lie for good, they’ll see the value in the Truth and, in the second half of your arc, begin entertaining how this Truth might ultimately benefit their life.
| Example 1: The character who feels unworthy of love shares a heartfelt conversation with their love interest that results in a kiss and a burgeoning romance.
| Example 2: After his wife threatens to divorce him, the character who believes money is the key to happiness realizes just how much he loves his family and decides that he doesn’t want to lose them.
Beat 6: A Series of Transformative Events
Having at last seen the light of the Truth, your character will experience a sequence of events in which they further see how the Truth can benefit their life. As a result, they’ll allow the Truth to shape their words, deeds, and identity.
However, at this point, your character still hasn’t fully relinquished their Lie. At heart, they still believe it, even if they no longer embrace its effects. This creates an internal push-and-pull in which they try to reconcile their Lie with the Truth and attain the “best of both worlds.”
This false belief ultimately leads them to continue making mistakes that hurt themselves and others, even as they enjoy the benefits of the Truth.
| Example 1: The character who believes himself unworthy of love begins spending time with the love interest outside of their preparations for the ball. However, the closer they grow, the more he worries that she will see just how unworthy of love he is. This sometimes leads him to rebuff the love she shows him.
| Example 2: The character who believes that money is the key to happiness begins spending more time with his family, which helps him repair their relationships. However, he worries that his lucrative business opportunity will ultimately slip through his fingers. This fear leads to continued strain between him and his family.
Beat 7: The False Victory
Shortly before the climax of your positive change arc, an event occurs that presents your character with the opportunity to finally seize the goal associated with their Lie. The thing they’ve wanted for so long is finally within reach, and your character is elated—even though some part of them recognizes that the act of seizing this goal is in direct opposition to their Truth.
Nevertheless, your character believes they can have the best of both worlds — the goal associated with their Lie and the effects of the Truth — and so foolishly chooses to fulfill their goal.
| Example 1: With preparations for the ball complete, the character who believes himself unworthy of love once more declines to attend. His love interest wishes to spend the evening dancing with him, but he fears that such a public display would only lead to gossip that would confirm that he is unworthy of his love interest’s affections. He convinces himself that he is declining the invitation to protect his love interest from humiliation.
| Example 2: The character who believes that money is the key to happiness receives an opportunity to secure the business venture. All he has to do is take a short business trip that just so happens to coincide with his son’s birthday. He decides to seize the opportunity, believing his wife and son will understand his motivation to secure the family’s finances.
Beat 8: The Third Plot Point
Having chosen to embrace their goal, your character believes they’ve made the right decision. However, this false victory doesn’t last long. Soon, an event brings your character to the startling realization that embracing their goal has come at the cost of the benefits of the Truth.
Suddenly, your character sees their Lie with devastating clarity and at last chooses to reject this Lie once and for all.
| Example 1: When the love interest decides to attend the ball on the arm of another suitor, the character who believes himself unworthy of love realizes just how unhappy he is without his love interest by his side.
| Example 2: When the character who believes that money is the key to happiness calls his young son on his birthday, he’s devastated to hear his son weep over how much he misses his father.
Beat 9: The Climactic Sequence
The climactic sequence of an arc is the moment at which its central conflict is resolved. In a positive change arc, this moment isn’t your character’s decision to reject their Lie but rather the moment in which they fully embrace their Truth.
Sometimes these moments are one and the same. But more often than not, this beat comes slightly later, when your character takes decisive action that proves they’ve chosen to embrace the Truth.
| Example 1: The character who now believes himself worthy of love decides to attend the ball after all. After inviting his love interest to dance, he confesses his love for her before everyone in attendance.
| Example 2: The character who now believes that true happiness is found with those he loves decides to take the next flight home, arriving just in time to attend his son’s birthday party.
Beat 10: The Resolution
Having embraced their Truth once and for all, your character’s internal arc now comes to a close. Your character makes amends for the damage they caused when clinging to their Lie and takes steps to ensure the Truth now guides them in their life moving forward.
| Example 1: Several months later, the character who now believes himself worthy of love proposes marriage to his love interest. The two wed and begin a new life filled with love and laughter.
| Example 2: The character who now seeks happiness in his relationships apologizes to his wife and son and commits himself to being the husband and father he ought to be. He quits his high-powered job in favor of a new position that allows him to spend more time at home.
Utilizing Character Arcs Within Your Story
Like plot arcs, a character arc is not a plot in and of itself. Rather, it’s a sequence of events that can serve as a story’s primary plot or as a subplot that lends depth and meaning to the arc at the heart of your story.
No matter the role a character arc plays, don’t overlook the importance of this story element. External conflict breeds internal consequence, just as internal conflict drives external action. In this way, plot and character arcs are inextricably tied, which explains why the positive arc structure I broke down above so closely mimics the structure of a plot arc.
Internal conflict plays a large role in shaping a character’s words, deeds, and motivations. For this reason, I recommend developing a character arc for every major character in your story. If a character’s actions shape the plot, then taking the time to explore their inner world and internal struggles can lend meaning and emotional impact to those actions.
Finally, remember that character arcs often reveal a story’s thematic statement. This is a concept we first discussed in our article on theme, and I believe it’s worth reiterating here.
Theme is a topic that a book discusses, and never is theme more apparent than in the Lie your character believes. If your character doesn’t believe themselves worthy of love, then love is a theme in your story.
Furthermore, the Truth your character comes to believe directly correlates with your book’s thematic statement, the subtle message readers can derive from the story’s subtext. If your character comes to believe they are worthy of love regardless of what they’ve done in the past, then that is your story’s thematic statement.
Can you see just how powerful a role character arcs can play in the grand scheme of your story?
From deepening characterization to lending meaning to external conflict and laying the groundwork for theme, character arcs hold the potential to transform a so-so story into a spectacular read. Consider using your newfound knowledge to develop your story’s character arcs today!
