Today we are going to talk about character arcs and why they are important in literature. We are going to talk about how to write character arcs and also discuss the types of character arcs including character arc ideas.
Before we do that and understand the types as well as the core principles of story theory and character evolution, let us understand what are character arcs.
WHAT ARE CHARACTER ARCS?
The simplest way to define character arcs for understanding of the story is simply the path of the character throughout the story. The character arc contains everything from the challenges to the overcome of obstacles and everything in between.
It is the character progression that results in the rolling forward of the story. If you ever want to know how to write a compiling character arc then you must understand that they fall under a structure which can be different depending upon the type of story you are writing.
Today we are going to talk about the three-act story structure because it is traditional and it is quite common and easy to explain.
A character arc can have a positive change and it can even have a negative change but there are no rules to this and you can do as you like because, after all, it is your story.
Now that we know a little bit more about character arcs, let us dive deep into the art of creating stunning character arcs and learn how to write a positive change character arc or even a negative one and learn the types of character arcs commonly used.
TYPES OF CHARACTER ARCS
· TRANSFORMATIONAL ARC
This is one of the most popular types of character arcs and the definition of this is hidden in the name because we can witness a very radical transformation in this kind of arc.
You might have probably seen this kind of arc in a movie or in a play because this is where a simple protagonist has a transformation and turns into a hero who goes on to do great things.
This is one of the most popular types of character arcs because it does wonders for people’s hopes and dreams of rising from a normal background into something extraordinary.
· NEUTRAL CHARACTER ARC
This is actually the opposite of the transformation arc because in this type of character arc, we do not see any radical transformation of the character.
The character usually stays the same but of course, the character can have different experiences and it might add things to the psychology of the characters but overall the character is the same as they had been before.
You get to see a lot of neutral character arcs in detective novels and in adventure novels where the protagonist had been adventurous in the beginning and is still adventurous in the end.
· POSITIVE CHARACTER ARC
This is the kind of character art that is usually confused with the transformation and arc because of several similarities but this is actually a little bit different.
This can either be that the character starts off as a neutral character or the character might even be a negative character and throughout the story they experience a change that transforms them into a positive character.
It is common to see this kind of arc used in contemporary cinema where we see an evil person change their worldview and transform into a positive person.
· NEGATIVE CHARACTER ARC
The negative character arc is the total opposite of the positive character arc because in a negative character arc the character starts off as a good person and a generally positive person but instances and events turn them into someone negative.
It can be a tragic thing and this kind of character arc is usually used in contemporary tragedies as well where we see the moral downfall of a person.
Now that we know a little bit about the types of character arcs, let us understand a few things about writing character arcs.
THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN WRITING CHARACTER ARCS
· TYPE
One of the most important things that you must keep in mind is that you must never forget the type of literature you are writing. You might be wondering whether we are talking about the genre but it is much more than that.
It includes genre but also the type because there can be multiple genres with similar types but if you can have the type ingrained in your mind then creating it becomes a lot easier.
· LOOPHOLES
One of the other important things that you must keep in mind whenever you are designing a character arc is to always look for loopholes.
No matter how beautifully you have designed the character arc, if you leave any loopholes then the entire arc can collapse and this is something that is not mentioned a lot but this is one of the most important things you must remember.
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