TECH: Plodding Along in Plot and Structure (20)

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Original Posting 23 October 2007

Plodding along in Plot and Structure (20)

Whoops! Almost forgot the next thrilling episode. Let's see, Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell, Chapter 9 entitled the character arc in plot. Starts right out with the premise that great plots have great characters. And while character creation and implementation rightfully belongs to another book, character change is clearly a part of plots. Memorable plots are not just action, but what action does to the characters. We put a character into a crucible of story that changes them, so that they will emerge a different person. Let your characters grow! Let the events of the plot have impacts on the characters. Create character change in your novels that deepens the plot and expresses the theme.

Character arc is a description of what happens inside of a character. Where did they start, what happened to them, and where are they at the end? Bell suggests that arcs have:

• A beginning point, where we meet the character and get a sense of their layers
• A doorway through which the character must pass, almost always reluctantly is
• Incidents that impact the layers
• A deepening disturbance
• A moment of change, often an epiphany
• An aftermath

Beginning point -- this is where we describe who the person is. The layers? Well, one way to think about a person is like an onion, with layers from the core, beliefs, values, dominant attitudes, and fleeting opinions. The layers get softer as you get further from the core, with easier changes. But watch the ripples build up and dig in.

Way down in the middle is the self-image, with pressures from all over working their way through the layers. It's not easy, but when the self-image shifts, everything is likely to change.

Impacting incidents. Fairly often these involve a motif, or at least having the character reflect on their own self. You need to have pressures to change. And then they get deeper and stronger.

The aftermath, of course, is where we show a change. The person may have declared a change, but we're all from Missouri -- show us the change!

Probably the hardest part of this is that moment of change, the epiphany. Showing the reader the realization that comes to the character and shifts their way of viewing the world -- without melodrama. One way to do this is to skip ahead, simply showing what happens afterwards.

Bell suggests a character arc table. Very simply, start with the main scenes or beats of your story. Make each of these a column, with a short one-word or phrase heading describing the scene. Then in the first column, describe in a few words just who the character is internally. Go to the last column and describe who they should be at this point. Then fill in the columns to show the progression of change, the pressures and the shift that justifies the final outcome. You may find that thinking about the changing character suggests some scenes or actions that you want to add.

Bell suggests three exercises related to character arc. The first one is to analyze a favorite story or novel that has a strong change in the lead character. He suggests that you underline all the passages where the lead is significantly challenged, and then put a checkmark by the passages that show how the challenges affect the character. You might want to use two different colors of highlighter.

The second one is to profile your lead character's personality at the beginning of the plot in terms of the layers -  beliefs, values, dominant attitudes, opinions. And make a list of what things will happen in your plot to challenge or change these elements.

Third and final is to construct a character arc table with the major incidents in your plot, along with the change in your character's inner life.

So that's Chapter Nine! Basically a reminder that plot doesn't do the job by itself, it works with character and setting. Characters acting and reacting, with their own changes reverberating through the personalities - now that sounds like fun!

So, write!