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writercises2023-11-20 06:06 pm
mbarker) wrote in writercises2023-11-20 06:06 pm
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TECH: Character Arcs (part 6) (665 words)
Original posting 9/20/2019
All right! So we have taken the lie that our character believes, what they want and what they need, and the ghost that is driving this, and we have at least thought about the characteristic moment that introduces this character to the reader. What's next?Well, in Chapter 5, K. M. talks about the normal world. The normal world? Aren't stories about exciting, different, challenging worlds? Well, yes, but typically they start in the normal world. This is the context for the characteristic moment. The normal world has an important role in act one. Really, this is set up. The normal world grounds your story in a concrete setting. This also provides the baseline to measure the personal and plot changes that are coming. So, think about setting. Where would the character be complacent?Often, the normal world manifests a wonderful surface, until it cracks open and shows what's underneath. It may be safe but boring, and the protagonist wishes they could escape. It may also be lousy, and the protagonist feels that they are stuck there. Or, it might actually be pretty good, but the protagonist just doesn't see it. It may even be challenging, but the protagonist is not yet able to deal with those challenges.Symbolically, the normal world is a place that the protagonist doesn't or can't leave. It's the staging ground, and in some ways it represents or at least supports the lie. You may want to think about what kind of world makes a good backstory for why this character believes the lie. Make it comfy for the lie. Also, make it a good contrast to the adventure world!So, the normal world is the before state.Some questions you might want to ask yourself:1. What setting opens the story?2. How does the setting change at the first plot point?3. How can you best contrast the normal world and the adventure world?4. How does the normal world dramatize or symbolize the lie?5. How does the normal world cause or empower the lie?6. Why is the character in the normal world?7. If the character doesn't want to leave the normal world, what masks the discomfort of the lie?8. If the character wants to leave, what stops him or her?9. Will the character returned to the normal world at the end of the story?10. If the normal world is a good place, how does the character need to change to appreciate it?So, now we're wrapping that characteristic moment in the normal world, a larger setting.Let's step back for just a moment and look at what K. M. Weiland has laid out so far. Basically, the character arc is going to be about some internal problem, a flaw, a mistaken belief, that the character has. So, right up front, think about that Lie that the character believes. This lie, and the symptoms of it, tie right into what the character wants (usually something they believe will give them relief from the symptoms of the lie) and what the character needs (the Truth that will set them free from the Lie!). That conflict, between what the character wants and what they need, drives the character arc, and lies underneath the external conflicts, the plot events, that will teach our character the lessons they need to learn, and eventually result in the change they need to have. Behind that triple threat of lie, want, and need, we have the ghost, the hidden trauma or secret that taught them to believe the lie.All of which you probably want to think about a little before you start trying to put together the characteristic moment, the scene where your readers meet your character for the first time. Then, wrapping around that characteristic moment and the adventure world that will teach our character lessons, we have the normal world! That greater setting that holds the initial scene, and gives us a starting point for everything that is ahead.And that's just the start of the story!
All right! So we have taken the lie that our character believes, what they want and what they need, and the ghost that is driving this, and we have at least thought about the characteristic moment that introduces this character to the reader. What's next?Well, in Chapter 5, K. M. talks about the normal world. The normal world? Aren't stories about exciting, different, challenging worlds? Well, yes, but typically they start in the normal world. This is the context for the characteristic moment. The normal world has an important role in act one. Really, this is set up. The normal world grounds your story in a concrete setting. This also provides the baseline to measure the personal and plot changes that are coming. So, think about setting. Where would the character be complacent?Often, the normal world manifests a wonderful surface, until it cracks open and shows what's underneath. It may be safe but boring, and the protagonist wishes they could escape. It may also be lousy, and the protagonist feels that they are stuck there. Or, it might actually be pretty good, but the protagonist just doesn't see it. It may even be challenging, but the protagonist is not yet able to deal with those challenges.Symbolically, the normal world is a place that the protagonist doesn't or can't leave. It's the staging ground, and in some ways it represents or at least supports the lie. You may want to think about what kind of world makes a good backstory for why this character believes the lie. Make it comfy for the lie. Also, make it a good contrast to the adventure world!So, the normal world is the before state.Some questions you might want to ask yourself:1. What setting opens the story?2. How does the setting change at the first plot point?3. How can you best contrast the normal world and the adventure world?4. How does the normal world dramatize or symbolize the lie?5. How does the normal world cause or empower the lie?6. Why is the character in the normal world?7. If the character doesn't want to leave the normal world, what masks the discomfort of the lie?8. If the character wants to leave, what stops him or her?9. Will the character returned to the normal world at the end of the story?10. If the normal world is a good place, how does the character need to change to appreciate it?So, now we're wrapping that characteristic moment in the normal world, a larger setting.Let's step back for just a moment and look at what K. M. Weiland has laid out so far. Basically, the character arc is going to be about some internal problem, a flaw, a mistaken belief, that the character has. So, right up front, think about that Lie that the character believes. This lie, and the symptoms of it, tie right into what the character wants (usually something they believe will give them relief from the symptoms of the lie) and what the character needs (the Truth that will set them free from the Lie!). That conflict, between what the character wants and what they need, drives the character arc, and lies underneath the external conflicts, the plot events, that will teach our character the lessons they need to learn, and eventually result in the change they need to have. Behind that triple threat of lie, want, and need, we have the ghost, the hidden trauma or secret that taught them to believe the lie.All of which you probably want to think about a little before you start trying to put together the characteristic moment, the scene where your readers meet your character for the first time. Then, wrapping around that characteristic moment and the adventure world that will teach our character lessons, we have the normal world! That greater setting that holds the initial scene, and gives us a starting point for everything that is ahead.And that's just the start of the story!