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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
K.M. Weiland
Read between
December 24, 2018 - January 18, 2019
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.
He may not feel handicapped or even in denial about the Lie until the Inciting Event (at the 12% mark) and/or the First Plot Point (at the 25% mark) rock his world and begin peeling away his defenses.
The Lie is a specific belief, which you should be able to state in one short sentence.
Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi do a great job of offering possible Lie symptoms (as well as some great character arc discussions) in their Negative Trait Thesaurus. If you find you’re having trouble coming up with some good symptoms (or even a good Lie, for that matter), take a riffle through their book for some inspiration.
…we know that characters often work not toward the real solution but to a perceived solution. And characters frequently grapple with a problem that is ultimately recognized as only a symptom of the real problem.
The Lie plays out in your character’s life, and your story, through the conflict between the Thing He Needs (the Truth) and the Thing He Wants (the perceived cure for the symptoms of the Lie).
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.
The Thing Your Character Needs is usually going to be nothing more than a realization.
Worse than that, we’re usually deliberately blind to our destructive behaviors. We rationalize our actions and convince ourselves—rightly or wrongly—that the end justifies the means.
Wounds are often kept secret from others because embedded within them is the lie—an untruth that the character believes about himself…. 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.
You must establish identification with your hero before revealing major flaws that could reduce sympathy.
Think of the Normal World as a symbolic representation of your character’s inner world. The Normal World dramatizes the Lie the Character Believes.
The First Plot Point belongs around the 20-25% mark.
The First Plot Point is where your character leaves his Normal World.
At this point, your character is now a divided person: caught between the Lie and the Truth. His incomplete understanding of how to implement his new knowledge of the Truth is the reason he will not yet be able to achieve total victory in the remainder of the Second Act.
The Moment of Grace is usually triggered by a subtle event that is undergirded by earlier, more dramatic events. It is not the Moment of Grace alone that changes the character’s behavior, but it is the “straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
“The great thing about falling apart, is that you get to decide how to put yourself back together. Make good choices.”
The Third Plot Point will often feature actual death, either literally or symbolically.
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” —Neale Donald Walsch
The important distinction here is that the character has claimed the Truth, but he still hasn’t 100% rejected the Lie. He has already turned the most important corner in his arc—the Truth is rising and the Lie is setting—but the ascendancy of the Truth isn’t yet absolute. Even as the character adjusts to his new paradigm, he will continue to experience doubts throughout the Third Act.
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.
Most of the First Act will be spent with his growing realization that there’s something pretty stinky going on in Denmark.
This is a great example of how a well-played Flat Arc keeps readers on their toes: they’re never 100% sure the protagonist is right. Even the protagonist himself isn’t 100% sure. Maybe he’s headed down the wrong path. Maybe his Truth isn’t so true. Maybe he’s veering away from the Truth without knowing it. But, just as the protagonist should in a true Flat Arc, Bruce manages to continue walking the tightrope of his Truth, if only just barely.
In a Disillusionment Arc, the character will start out seeing only the glitter and glamour of the Lie: its false promise of hope and success. As a result, the Normal World of the Lie will seem wonderful and beautiful. At this point, he has no reason not to believe in it or want it.
In a Fall Arc, the character will already be entrenched in the Lie, comfortably and perhaps apathetically. His Normal World may seem ordinary and even good on the surface, but its cracks show through. The character isn’t uncomfortable enough in his Lie to rock the boat, but neither is he completely happy or content. The Normal World is a symbol of the Lie he can’t (and won’t) escape.
In a Corruption Arc, the character will start out in a comparatively wonderful Normal World. His Normal World is already blessed by the Truth. Despite its drawbacks, it offers th...
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In the event of your protagonist’s death, you’ll need to show the surviving characters’ reactions, especially since many of them will probably have undergone Disillusionment Arcs as a result of witnessing his fall.
“You need to know the characters as living, breathing people before you start the plot; otherwise, you’ll feel panic, anarchy and chaos.” —Deborah Moggach
The impact character is the one who enables, empowers, or sometimes just plain forces another character(s) to change. Basically, this is a Flat Arc character.
Writing Characters Who’ll Keep Readers Captivated,
When planning your character’s arc, put the impact character at the top of your to-do list—and watch that arc happen practically on its own!
“Only enemies speak the truth. Friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.” —Stephen King
Situations entertain us; stories entertain and teach us what it means to be human.
