HOME | DD
illuminara — How to Plot Character Arc
#storydevelopment #characterarc #character #characterdesign #charactersheet #plot #storytelling #howtowrite #writingtutorial #writingtutorials
Published: 2015-10-25 16:29:07 +0000 UTC; Views: 30933; Favourites: 902; Downloads: 290
Redirect to original
Description
Update March 2016:I created a character arc worksheet to help you develop character arc based on this model. You can download it in three forms here:
---
I've been sitting on this tutorial for ages. Years, probably, because I wanted it to be that elusive "perfect." But as Craig Benzine likes to say and I've come to realize is absolutely true, "Perfect is the enemy of good."
So here it is, my "secret" recipe for developing and plotting character arc. I guess it's still a little vague because character arc can take so many different forms. I don't believe plot is a formula, but I definitely think you need to hit at least most of these stages in your plot to have a compelling character arc.
Take from it whatever you want and use it however you see fit. Sure, I was going to write this whole long tutorial to go with it, but I don't have the time or motivation to do that right now. This is it, but I hope you can get something out of it.
You DO NOT NEED MY PERMISSION TO USE THIS HOWEVER YOU WANT. You can change it, alter it, take stuff out, add stuff in, share it with anyone online or in real life however you want. Go nuts. If you think it's useful and think other people will also find it useful, PLEASE share it and spread it around as much as you want however you want. I only ask that you don't remove the credit if you leave it unchanged.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE PRINT-FRIENDLY PDF DOWNLOAD.
(For those curious, this flowchart was made with Scapple , the same people who made Scrivener .)
Related content
Comments: 52
This is AMAZINGLY helpful.
I've had a jumble of semi-complete ideas for a story that I'd been maintaining, on the side, for several years now. I've just used your guide here to go through what I have and draw out my main character's key arc according to the points you've listed... and as a result it all seems to be falling into place, I have the basic skeleton of a believable story for her that actually flows and doesn't get stuck half way through! It's like... I had the story material for most of these points already in my head, but I'd just never been able to string them together into anything that made coherent sense; and then, the way you've explained it all here made it much easier to understand how to fit them all together
I've still got a lot more development to go on top of this, granted...
But I just wanted to say, thank you so much for sharing this! It's really given me a fresh perspective on my character, her arc, and her whole story... I'm sure I'm going to use it again in the future, too ^^
👍: 1 ⏩: 0
Thanks for creating this 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
No worries, Thank YOU.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
You're welcome! I'm glad you found it useful.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I've reblogged this a couple of times, actually.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hey! I just wanted to share this with you: silvokrent.tumblr.com/post/131… Your flowchart for writing character arcs has, at time of writing, received 5257 notes. People (myself included) are seriously grateful for this. You deserved to know that. (:
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Wow, I had no idea! Thanks so much for letting me know! I'm really glad people like it so much ... I never really know if other people will like my resources or if I'm the only one who will find it useful, haha. But it's nice to know that this is helping other writers.
Also, this is really weird since I am so active on tumblr and had no idea something I created was posted on there by someone else. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
You're welcome, and I hope you find it useful!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Downloaded this for my own future reference. I think it will be very helpful for me; I generally need stuff like this just to remind me where I should be headed. Thank you for sharing this!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're welcome! I hope it helps! And yeah, I need stuff like this too. Most of my guides I create for myself and use quite a while before sharing.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hey, nice tutorial! I'll probably use it to check some ideas on my characters
Thanks for sharing! I bet it'll be very useful
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks, I'm glad you like it! Good luck with your characters.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I always love these visual-style tutorials, graphs, and illustrations that you make. They are fantastic, understandable, and accomplish their purpose very well.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! I'm glad you like them so much.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Wow, this is extremely helpful.
Just in time too as it helped me add what was missing to my character to make them seem more life-like.
Thanks!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'm glad you like it, and good luck with your writing!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Okay, I already knew a bunch about writing stories and stuff, but this is gonna help a ton, thank you!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're welcome, and good luck with your writing projects!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
That's a nice way to show it in graphic form. Nice work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
This is really useful. Thanks so much for sharing!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
This is extremely useful and very informative! Nicely done, love. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks, I'm glad you like it!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're very welcome, sweetheart!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I am always a little curious why we do set ourselves kind of limits on how a story has to be written. Don't get me wrong... I do think my last story is pretty much exactly what you wrote about.
But still... I just always run along my characters desires and look what happens. I do not think there always really is a need to change...
Actually I do hate anything written where characters are forced to change... a change only comes by heart and cannot be forced...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, I don't think of it as forcing a character to change so much as planning the arc from the beginning so it will be a natural progression through the story.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
We actually had a class on this back in highschool called 'Hero's Journey'. Joseph Campbell also wrote a book on the topic as well. It's fascinating to learn about and just how common it is in most stories. One that our teacher was big on was the Star Wars character archs. So cool!
This was really neat to see again!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Awesome! I love the hero's journey. This is my favorite take on it: www.crackingyarns.com.au/2011/…
Star Wars was great and all, but it used the hero's journey as a formula instead of a stepping point toward greater creativity. But that's just my opinion. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing this!
I think the main reason we used Star Wars is because this woman LOVED it so much! >w< On her last day teaching I guess a couple boys posed a lightsaber duel in the cafeteria in her honour!
But I can definitely see how the Hero's journey could be more of an emotional climb too. I had never considered it in such a way before!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're welcome!
It's quite interesting when you dig more deeply into and start seeing all the possibilities!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Somehow this discribes my struggel and cure for the past 8 months ...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
So if a character heads out to save his village, he needs to decide go give his village up and let it be destroyed?
Or do you mean he should want to save his village for impure reasons at the beginning, like his ego or to get laid and he needs to give that up?
👍: 0 ⏩: 3
Well ... kind of? This type of character arc only applies to stories where the main thing that changes in the story is the protagonist. If it's the world of the story that changes, then the character doesn't have to. But if it is indeed a character arc story, then the character would not want to save the village in the beginning for some reason such as selfishness or because he wants to do something else instead, like follow a dream-come-true opportunity that will take him far away from the village. But his need is to become a better person in some way, and by staying to save the village, he accomplishes this by having a change of heart or changing in some way. This change, whatever you decide it should be for this particular story, is what the character needs. For maximum impact, it should be opposite of what he wants in the beginning.
Example:
Beginning: Character wants to leave town and with his friends on a "get rich quick" sceem
Ending: Character realizes everything he really needs and the people he loves are in this village, so he decides to stay and save it
Does that make sense? The motivation and reason for change can be whatever you want, really, as long as there's some kind of change of heart or difference in the character from beginning to end. That's what makes a compelling character. Here's some more info that you might find useful/interesting:
Want vs. NeedYou probably know your main character should want something--so much so they're willing to do almost anything to get it. Everyone talks about character goals and motivation, but what does your character need? What do they need so badly that they're willing to give up what they want in order to get it? This is the crux of a want vs. need arc or internal conflict.
What Is Want vs. Need?
So what are want and need, and how do they fit into character arc?
In terms of storytelling, want is the thing, place, or state your character is trying to find from the very beginning of the story. This could be an object of obsession like lost treasure or a state of being like true love. Whatever it is, your character must believe attaining this thing will make them happy or fix some problem in their life.
In character arcs about personal growth, this thing your character wants should be something ultimately bad for them or something that perpetuates an undesirable q
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
It could be neither. (I'm saying this having just read a couple of books on fleshing out characters before reading this tutorial)
Like let's say he wants to save his village. (
Now, we look at his character flaws. This is something needed in a well-written character, lest they are unsympathetic and look like a Mary Sue/Gary Stu.
For this, I'll go with a flaw being that maybe they are rash, and maybe even forceful in their actions, especially in times of impatience or desperation. Throughout a story dealing with saving his village, these flaws can go terribly, terribly wrong. Being rash, he could run in without preparation or listening to any warnings and end up getting hurt or worse. If he is too forceful, this could result in people not cooperating with him well due to being put off by the actions or scared by him. There are more scenarios that can go just terribly wrong with those traits, but these would be effects helping in the 'boiling point' and 'confrontation' steps.
Before, the character would likely believe there is no reason there should be anything wrong with decisions on impulse like he had been doing up until this point. This would be mostly the 'denial' stage.
But anyway, fast forwarding to after the problems arising from the rash and forceful attitude, as things get worse, he would have to realize that he must take things a different route, lest things fall apart. For rash, he may have to learn that things have to be thought through. For forceful, he may have to learn to be a bit more gentle and considerate to gain cooperation.
In this realization, through some force of will, he manages to overcome this flaw, likely with some inner conflict, and it affects the outcome of the story. Usually, in such a situation stated above, it ends well, but there are variations that end badly. The character has grown as a result, keeping in mind that his flaw was holding him back, but I do see characters that, despite this, sometimes 'relapse' temporarily, as real people do.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Maybe in that case the Struggle is that (s)he cannot save everyone or not without making some sacrifices, most likely endangering him/herself and the beloved ones if (s)he fails to do so.
Or perhaps, the character was out of the village pursuing something for him/herself and has to choose between finishing the quest (what (s)he wants) and saving her village (what (s)he needs).
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
| Next =>