The latest blog on The Thinking Writer lists three questions about character change. This is one of those no-brainer issues to me that writers shouldn't need spelled out for the. Characters need arcs. Period. But if you happen to be a writer that needs it spelled out, this post gets the job done.
But does EVERY character need an arc?
Yes, says a mentoring writer to a friend of mine. The mentor said that every character in every story needs, if not a dramatic arc, at least a subtle change.
I disagree.
Scenario One - My protagonist is a shoe. My antagonist is a pond. I toss the shoe into the pond. The shoe gets wet. It changes. The pond reacts with ripples. Both changes are temporary.
Scenario Two - My protagonist is a glass. My antagonist is a concrete wall. The glass will shatter forever when I throw it against the wall. Does the concrete wall change?
There is no mathematical process by which to determine how many characters need arcs. Like most character and structure issues, it depends entirely on the story. Unfortunately, neither is there a scientific process by which to appraise the value of the suggestions and advise we are given by amateurs and professionals. That being the case, my own comments should be weighed carefully because my scales may be calibrated incorrectly.
8 comments:
in Closer, to me Clive Owen's character and basically all of them, never changed.. they started out being adulturous assholes and they ended up being adulturous assholes.. I didn't really see an arc at all and it left me flat
Moviequill:
In Closer, I think that was the point: it was a tragedy, where the hero(es) don't learn their lesson.
MaryAn:
The pond/shoe analogy is interesting, but do you have any examples?
Okay, say for example a high school jock thinks all band members are dorky geeks. Meanwhile, there is a charming young clarinet player who thinks all jocks are self important puddle brains who only date to get into a girl's pants. They hookup and have a charming coming-of-age romance which changes both of their stereotypical opinions about the other. But the romance goes sour because HE won't go to a poetry reading and SHE won't put out. They both changed, but then went back to their original opinions of the other. They still have arcs even though they are temporary... or do they? Did they really change at all?
I'm not suggesting this works for main characters. I'm saying that not every single character has to have an arc and some of the characters may have temporary arcs that turn out to be red herrings.
But as I've said before, I haven't opted or sold anything yet so what do I know?
Not my idea here. Chris Soth's, I believe.
But some protagonists do not change; they are the catalyst for others to change. These are the franchise heroes like James Bond. Bond goes willingly into the adventure, and those around him change. Bond, though, is the same from movie to movie. Oh, and these wouldn't be tragedies either.
A catalyst for the arc of other characters. Much better put than my brick wall analogy.
Hey thanks for the heads-up Mary An --
-- NOT really my idea, but gathered from various sources, a list of characters who don't necessarily change:
"Traveling Angels" (first heard the term thru John Truby) -- like James Bond, characters who change everybody ELSE, because they have what the other characters need (others, famously from film Mary Poppins, TV loves 'em: The Fugitive, Kung Fu, Touched by...an Angel)
Tragic Characters: either do not change and destroyed by their inability to change...or DO change, but too late to avert tragedy...
Black Comedy Characters: this is really just a funny tragedy...Dr. Strangelove, no real character change, everyone destroyed...(this I first learned from Truby as well...the guy's go some good stuff).
Still this "arc" stuff is so prevalent in development AND these exceptions are NOT...I'm pitching what I know is a traveling angel story now and had to change it just to answer that "but how does the main character change" question.
Hope y'all signed up for our newsletter, an expansion of this will probably be in one of them soon.
Traveling angel - new term for me. Love this term. I have one character like this and didn't know what to call it. (yeah, as of five minutes ago, I have NOW signed up for the newsletter)
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