The Idiot's Guide to Writing

Lesson 4: Character Development

I've saved this for after protagonists and antagonisits because character development isn't limited to one or the other. Any main character—not just protagonist—should develop throughout their journey if you want people to pay attention to them. Of course, this probably isn't the only thing that makes them interesting (and it shouldn't be) but this is what makes them go above and beyond.

And yet people can really, and I mean, really screw this up. There are paid professionals who have developed incredibly complex and in-depth character arcs that are still objectively awful, even though they clearly put a lot of work into them. How and why do these things happen? And how can we avoid these mistakes?

Remember that a character arc on its own is not what makes a character interesting. I have run into people who build a character arc by starting with extremely flawed characters simply so they can have an arc to resolve those traits, and that doesn't necessarily work on its own. An audience wouldn't want to root for a character they don't like from the start anyway and won't be invested in them becoming better without some other good reason. Or, even worse (as GoT fans know too well) is when an arc ends negatively with no payoff. Tragedies and negative character arcs are a thing and can work, of course. But they don't so randomly—if you build up a character arc and you gear your reader for a good resolution and suddenly rip it away, you're not releasing catharsis, you're just disappointing your audience. I've found these two problems to be very common and very big red flags for beginning writers.

The second problem is execution. If it's not clear that your character has changed or their arc doesn't mean anything to the plot, then it can appear either forced, unnecessary, or unrelated. The arc may not even mean anything if it doesn't help its character resolve their conflict. Another problem also may be that it's not clear how or why the arc happens. If your characters don't have a reason to change, they won't. You can't just say 'they magically wisened over the course of their journey', what made your characters change? You won't build up the arc to a payoff if "how" isn't in mind. 

With that being said, do not be rash going into planning a character arc. Even if you don't want to plot it out step-by-step, you should know what you want for your character at the end of their arc. You can't start a journey without knowing your destination. So how do we find that? Well, let's start by expanding on some simple things. 

One of them, particularly if you're thinking about your MC's character arc, is your theme. Even if your theme is only one word and you don't have a particular message about it, you can at least find the direction to take things using the theme. That is probably the MC's internal conflict, in whatever form it rears its ugly head. Think about how they think about the theme in the beginning of the story and how their opinion might change later on.

Second thing, or rather things, is the character's traits. What are their desires as opposed to their needs, their insecurities as opposed to their motivators, their morals, their flaws...whatever else there might be, I've run out of traits. Which of these are linked to the theme, and which are most fit for change? Which of these do you want to extrapolate in your arc?

You don't need an exact idea of what you want in your character's endgame, and I don't think you should. It can and probably will be subject to change anyway. But you do need to start somewhere, and these are my ideas on where and how.

Once you have that stuff down, you have to execute it convincingly. As I said, people and characters don't just change randomly, and the plot is their motivator for change. The events of the plot should link to the character's arc as it challenges them how to think and operate and will never be completely isolated from each other. However, I would still consider a character arc separate from the main conflict, since the climax of a character arc may be different from the climax of the plot. The structure of a character arc may also not as stagnant as the plot, since humans are more fickle things and don't follow linear rising tension. These two are linked but not parallel. 

The concept of a three-act structure may help while building a character arc, and I would draw the plot and the character arc out simultaneously to better intertwine them. Events in the plot can motivate changes in a character arc, and events in the character arc can motivate changes in the plot. Throughout the arc, you should be able to identify how, why, and the behavior by which the character shows that they are different. This in particular should culminate in their climax. To ensure that their arc ultimately matters in the end, the character must be able to do something that they couldn't at the start.

And that's character arcs. I could (and probably should...) go into more depth, but I'm tired, midterms are in a month, and I'm going to sleep.