Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development

by K.M. Weiland

Your Protagonist’s Characteristic Moment The Characteristic Moment must accomplish several tasks. It must: 1. Introduce your protagonist. 2. (Probably) reveal your protagonist’s name. 3. Indicate your protagonist’s gender, age, nationality, and possibly his occupation. 4. Indicate important physical characteristics. 5. Indicate his role in the story (i.e., that he is the protagonist). 6. Demonstrate the prevailing aspect of his personality. 7. Hook readers’ sympathy and/or their interest. 8. Show the protagonist’s scene goal. 9. Indicate the protagonist’s story goal. 10. Demonstrate, or at least hint at, the protagonist’s Lie. 11. Influence the plot, preferably directly, but at the very least in a way that foreshadows later events. This is quite a hefty checklist for the first scene of your story (especially when you add in related structural requirements). No wonder beginnings are so tough! The Characteristic Moment is a work of art. Don’t settle for opening with your character doing any ol’ thing. Select an event that will: 1. Make the protagonist appealing to readers. 2. Introduce both his strengths and his weaknesses. 3. Build the plot.