I recently taught a workshop on Creating Character Arcs, and in preparing for it, I threw myself deep into the craft of storytelling so much so that I forgot to consider some of the simple, beginner aspects of character arcs that new writers might not be familiar with. As my students began asking me questions, I realized I needed to take a step back and go over some of the basics.
So I wanted to take a minute and write about a few misconceptions some of my students had about character acs and clarify them.
Misconception Number One: Positive Character Arcs Are about Morally Good Characters
This is not true. A positive character arc refers to the successful change the character undergoes over the course of a story. The characters who experience these arcs usually end up as morally good characters, but they certainly don't have to start out that way. In fact, some of the most popular positive arcs are redemptions arcs, where a character starts off misguided, corrupted, or otherwise flawed and over the course of the story arcs to become a better person.
Misconception Number Two: Only Good Things Happen to Characters with Positive Arcs
This is very much not true. Stories should be designed to specifically torture your main character. Characters with positive arcs will suffer, and sometimes suffer a lot, as they struggle to learn, grow and achieve the change of their positive arc.
Misconception Number Three: Positive Character Arcs Means the Character Gets What They Want
Nope. They can, and often do, but they don't have to. A positive character arc only refers to the success of the inner journey, not the outer one. Sometimes their journey helps them move beyond the thing they want or realize they're better off not having it. All that matters is that they learned the important internal lesson they needed to to become a better person.
Misconception Number Four: Positive Character Arcs End Happily
Again, the answer is no. They certainly can, and they often do, but a sad ending doesn't negate a positive character arc. The success of an arc is all about how a character grows and changes internally, not about what they win or lose in terms of plot. Boromir is an excellent example of this. He achieved his positive character arc, but his story still ended tragically.
Misconception Number Five: Negative Character Arcs Are Only about Bad People/ Evil Characters
This is not true either. Negative character arcs are about characters who end up in a bad place, but they don't have to start off there. Negative character arcs can be about characters who are corrupted and turn out evil (think Walter White or Michael Corelone) but Ned Stark also has a negative character arc. Ned fails to learn or grow over the course of Game of Thrones. He holds tight to his way of doing things and it leads to his downfall. His arc isn't negative because he dies at the end (that's just a tragic ending), but instead because he fails to change.
Misconception Number Six: Only Bad Things Happen in Negative Character Arcs
Negative character arcs are in many ways the opposite of positive character arcs. Since lots of bad things happen in positive character arcs to force them to change, lots of good things happen in negative character arcs to prevent the main characters from changing or to mislead them into changing for the worse.
Misconception Number Seven: Negative Character Arcs Mean the Character Doesn't Get What They Want
Nope. Remember that character arcs should be understood in terms of how a character changes for better or worse in terms of their story's world, not about how successful they are at getting what they want. In many stories, characters are able to get what they want because they change for the worse and that is exactly what gives them a negative arc.
Character arcs are often one of the most satisfying elements of a story. They are what make the audience feel and give the story meaning. But they can also be one of the hardest to talk about and write because they are, essentially, internal. If you want to know more about character arcs, the best resource I can recommend is K.M. Weiland's book Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development. You can find a lot of great content about character arcs on her blog too!
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