Designing a Full Character Arc

One of the most common problems I see in beginner (and even some advanced) novels is staring with a character who is too good, too perfect, too sympathetic—about everything. Don’t readers want a sympathetic character? Yes, of course they do. But I do not think that word means what you think it means. A sympathetic character isn’t one who can do everything well. It isn’t even a character who always does the right/kind thing to do in any given situation. A sympathetic character is one who feels real to the reader, one with virtues as well as flaws. A sympathetic character is a beginning point. A sympathetic character is not a hero.

Because heroes are built with lots of adventures behind them. You can’t have that when you’re writing the first book about your character. You have to start small and build from there. Think about how much change is realistic during the course of your novel. If you have several years to play with, you can show a lot of character development. If you have a few months, it’s less. If you’re doing a novel in a few days or weeks, you have a lot less.

If you have a character who starts out as perfect, as untouchable, you end up with a flat arc of development. You don’t want that. So build in the pars of the plot where your character is going to end up being shown his/her mistakes in a big way. Build in villains, friends, mentors, and everyone you can think of who will challenge the main character’s assumptions. Everything your character assumes is good about him/herself is on the table. It should all be snatched away. Your character needs to be forced to rebuild everything from the ground up.