Creating Character Arcs

K.M. Weiland is the author of Creating Character Arcs. She is an author that writes historical and speculative fiction. Next to that she writes guides so writers can become authors. This is one such a guide. In this case to learn how to create and envelop your Character Arc into you novel, thereby strengthening both your characters and your story. Weiland is an outliner or plotter, which means the story has been outlined from start to finish. She herself states on her website, if there is only one book of mine you're going to read, this is the one.

By outlining your story you already know what your characters will be going through during your story. The character arc can be used to enhance your story line. The Character Arc is the change that your character is going through from start to finish of your story. This makes you take a closer look at the characters in your story. There are three parts in the Character Arc that are important. They are:

- The lie your character believes
- What your character wants
- What your character needs

As an example of these Weiland provides (for 'A Chrismas Carol' by Charles Dickens):
The Lie:
Scrooge's infamous holiday transformation is rooted in his mistaken belief that a man's worth can only be measured by the amount of money he has earned.

The Want:
Scrooge wants to make as much money as possible, no matter how many people he has to run over to get it.

The Need:
Scrooge needs to remember that true wealth is found in the love of his fellow human beings.

At first glance this seems simple enough. Until you realise that in 'A Christmas Carol' the Character Arc and the Story Structure are intertwined, by which I mean to say that everything that happens in the story reflects back to how the story is structured and the Character Arc. It is no wonder that a lot of people find 'A Christmas Carol' a great story!

This Character Arc can be done for all types of Arc, being a Flat Arc, A Positive Change Arc or a Negative Change Arc. All of which Weiland explains in this book.

All of the above is explained in detail in clear and short chapters, which is supported by various examples per chapter and which also holds all the questions you need to build your own Character Arcs. If needed, you can also buy a workbook for creating Character Arcs.

All of this means that already in the plotting phase of the story, you can use the Character Arc to enhance you story. Peronally I think I need more experience with Character Arcs before I can work with them from the get-go, but I think it very likely I will be using this after I have created my first or second draft, and need to work on the story some more.