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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
K.M. Weiland
Read between
September 8 - September 12, 2023
When we say plot and character are integral to one another, what we’re really saying is that plot structure and character arc are integral to one another.
Out of resistance comes conflict; out of conflict comes plot.
Plot, in its simplest manifestation, is all about the protagonist’s thwarted goal. He wants something, and he can’t have it, so he keeps right on trying.
The Positive Change Arc, in its simplest manifestation, is all about the protagonist’s changing priorities. He realizes the reason he’s not getting what he wants in the plot is because either: a) He wants the wrong thing. b) His moral methods for achieving what he wants are all wrong.
One of the most common mistakes made by authors of every level of experience is to create a problem for their Main Character that has nothing to do with the story at large. The reasoning behind this is not to separate the two, but usually occurs because an author works out a story and then realizes that he has not made it personal enough.
The Change Arc is all about the Lie Your Character Believes. His life may be horrible, or his life may seem pretty great. But festering under the surface, is the Lie.
Your character is incomplete on the inside. He is harboring some deeply held misconception about either himself, the world, or probably both.
The Lie is a specific belief, which you should be able to state in one short sentence.
The Lie Your Character Believes is the foundation for his character arc. This is what’s wrong in his world. Once you know what’s wrong, you then get to set about figuring out how to make it right.
To intertwine with the character arc, this goal needs to be an extension or reflection of something that matters to the character on a deeper level.
In a word, the Thing Your Character Needs is the Truth. He needs the personalized antidote to his Lie.
Your character will spend most of the story pursuing an outer, plot-related goal related to the Thing He Wants. But what the story is really about, on a deeper level, is his growth into a place where he, first subconsciously, then consciously, recognizes and pursues his inner goal—the Thing He Needs.
The Thing Your Character Needs is usually going to be nothing more than a realization.
Your protagonist’s inner conflict is all about this silent war between his Want and his Need. But it’s also the gasoline in the engine of the outer conflict.
“Ghost” is movie speak for something in your character’s past that haunts him. You may also see it sometimes referred to as the “wound.”
For example, if a man believes he is unworthy of love (the lie) because he was unable to stop his fiancée from being shot during a robbery (the wound), he may adopt attitudes, habits, and negative traits that make him undesirable to other women.
The bigger and more destructive the Lie, the more shocking and impactful the Ghost should be. Or to flip that on its head: the bigger the Ghost, the bigger the Lie, the bigger the arc.
The key to identifying the Ghost is understanding it will always be the underlying cause for the protagonist’s belief in the Lie.
“You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.” ―Joss Whedon
This quote has not aged well considering who said it.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS DO count. And your protagonist’s Characteristic Moment is his first chance to impress your readers.
The Characteristic Moment (and the Normal World, which we’ll discuss in the next chapter) aligns with the Hook. It shows up the moment your protagonist does—presumably in the first chapter.
In short, a failed Characteristic Moment can mean a failed story.
You must establish identification with your hero before revealing major flaws that could reduce sympathy.
However, that said, you need to introduce the Lie as quickly as possible. The Lie frames your character arc—and thus your entire story. Readers need proof of your character’s weakness in order to understand what he will have to overcome.
“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” ― G.K. Chesterton
Setup is more than half the battle. If you get everything in place in the beginning, you’ll have all the tools you need at your disposal in the remaining acts.
The First Plot Point belongs around the 20-25% mark. The First Plot Point ends the setup of your First Act.
The First Plot Point will usually be a major scene. In a thriller or action story, something’s going to explode. In a romance, this may be where the leads go out for the first time. Whatever event your story demands, take advantage of the opportunity to make this one of its most exciting and memorable sequences.
You know you’ve found the right First Plot Point when it drags your character out of his former complacency and puts his feet on the path toward destroying his Lie—even
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ―Søren Kierkegaard
Throughout the Second Act, the character will be, in essence, punished for acting according to his Lie. Where before his Lie seemed to empower him and get him what he wanted, his Lie now begins to increasingly get in his way.
Use the First Half of the Second Act to explore the depths of your character’s personality, beliefs, and desires. The result is a well of endless possibilities for fun, conflict-powered scenes!
“Human identity is the most fragile thing that we have, and it’s often only found in moments of truth.” —Alan Rudolph
In discussions of plot structure, the Midpoint’s emphasis is always placed on the protagonist’s shift from a reactive role (not in control of the conflict) to an active role (taking control of the conflict).
“We have walked through the darkness of this world, that’s why we are able to see even a sliver of light.” ―Masashi Kishimoto
THE SECOND HALF of the Second Act is where you cue the hero music in character arcs.
The Second Half of the Second Act is where your character shifts out of the reactive phase (in which the conflict is being controlled by the antagonist) and moves into the active phase (in which he starts taking control of the conflict for himself).
“The great thing about falling apart, is that you get to decide how to put yourself back together. Make good choices.” —Stacie Hammond
Most important to our discussion, the Climax is where your character proves he really is a changed person.
The Climax begins as the character acts upon his new Truth, finally and fully. By this point, the character should be finished with all lengthy internal pondering. The uncertainty that remains now is more about the ramifications of his new Truth (will it let him defeat the antagonist? or will it get him killed in the process?) than his own inner choices.
The Climactic Moment is the climax within the Climax. It’s the single moment that resolves the story’s overall conflict.
In a Positive Change Arc, this final scene should be a fun one—or at least a joyful one. Your character has just been through hell. Hope is rising. The new day is dawning. Play that up for all it’s worth.
It isn’t enough to simply have a character change; he must change in a way that harmonizes with the patterns we all recognize in our own lives and those of our family and friends. Readers will resonate with those patterns in your characters—and they will be moved by them.
NEXT TO THE Positive Change Arc, the Flat Arc is the most popular storyline. Also called the “testing arc,” the Flat Arc is about a character who does not change. He already has the Truth figured out in the beginning of the story, and he uses that Truth to help him overcome various external tests.
The Characteristic Moment functions almost identically in all three types of arc. The only major difference in the Flat Arc is that the Characteristic Moment must be used to introduce your character’s Truth instead of his Lie.
The Hunger Games:
FUCK
A Flat Arc offers the opportunity for you to create a competent, committed protagonist who can transform the world around him. Many heroic stories feature Flat Arcs, not because they’re plot-heavy, but because Flat Arcs allow for explosive change within the world around the character.
The reason many Flat Arcs are perceived as “plot-heavy” is that their emphasis is upon the changes in the world around the protagonist. But it is the protagonist’s actions in support of his Truth that cause those changes.
Negative Change Arcs won’t give readers the warm fuzzies and spawn date-night movie adaptations. But they do have the ability to create stories of unparalleled power and resonance—if they’re true. Truth resonates whether it’s happy or hard, and some of the hardest truths to swallow are the most important for any of us to understand.
Virtue leads to success, and Vice leads to defeat, but Unrelenting vice leads to destruction.
