Character Arc Study
Character Arc Study
Character Arc Study
Ghost - Why does the character believe the Lie in the first place? This because of wound that
happened in past that's why he believes the lie , The key to identifying the
Ghost is understanding it will always be the underlying cause for the
protagonist’s belief in the Lie.
Example,
in toy story woody wants to be centre of attention he doesn't want share love because he knows
that what happens to unloved toys
Introduction of character
3. Indicate your protagonist's gender, age, nationality, and possibly his occupation.
11. Influence the plot, preferably directly, but at the very least in a way that foreshadows later
events.
Normal world
At its most basic level, the Normal World is—as its name suggests—
a setting. This is the place in which your story opens. It is a place in which
your character has found contentment—or at least complacency
The point is that the Normal World is a place the protagonist either doesn’t
want to leave or can’t leave. It’s the staging ground for his grand adventure.
Most of the time he will take the Normal World for granted and feel it’s
going to go on and on forever, but sometimes he’ll start the story knowing
the Normal World is just a temporary stopover
All acts
1) the hero’s decision to act,
2) the action itself, and
3) the consequences of the action.
First act -
1. Reinforcement of lie - Hook readers with a glimpse of the character’s problems, then use
the rest of the First Act to fill in the gaps
4. Give the Character an Inciting Event to Refuse - an opportunity for your character , he
doesn't like this but - it has changed his awareness of himself, his world,
and his problem. For the first time, he begins to realize he has a problem.
He probably won’t be able to name that problem just yet.
5. Evolve the Character’s Belief in the Lie - now he believes strongly as he did at the beginning ,
but subconscious level he is beginning to fight
6. Make the Character Decide - The First Act ends when the character makes a decision.
The first plot point - the First Plot Point is the point of no return around 20% - 25%
Character decision :-
#2: During the First Plot Poin - As such, the First Plot Point must cause one very specific initial
reaction. Basically, this is just your character’s decision to react. It’s his decision to go ahead
and unlock the door to the Second Act. He doesn’t turn
away from the First Plot Point—he moves into it.
#3: After the First Plot Point - the character quickly establishes a
clear physical goal—based on the Thing He Wants
The First Half of the Second Act shows your character trying to regain
his balance and figure out how to survive in this new world in which he
finds himself.
The First Half of the Second Act features a Pinch Point (at the 37%
mark), in which the antagonist flexes his muscles and reminds readers what
the protagonist is up against.
what he
fails to realize as he races toward his goal is that the closer he gets to the
Thing He Wants, the farther it’s pushing him away from the Thing He
Needs.
He may be on his way to succeeding in the outer conflict, but,
if he keeps heading down this path, he’s destined to lose his inner battle.
The Midpoint -
marks the end of his reactive phase and his transition into active mode.
“mirror moment”
(since it metaphorically—and sometimes literally—involves the character
looking in a mirror and seeing the truth about himself).
the character’s personal shift from Lie to Truth will often be a subtle
moment.
Example - Thor: A physical inability to lift his own hammer—and a realization that
strength alone does not make Thor worthy to wield it.
The character is starting to feel more and more uncomfortable with the
Lie’s effects in his life.
But that inner conflict boils up more insistently than ever. The Thing
He Wants is right there. And, by golly, he still wants it with everything
that’s in him. But he’s unsettled. Something about the whole thing doesn’t
feel right.
He’s sacrificed his deeper inner Need to gain a physical victory
Spell
it out. What is the Thing He Needs?
in the form of dialogue between
characters, an action on the part of a character
At last, after two long story acts, he must choose between the Thing
He Wants and the Thing He Needs—between the Lie and the Truth.
Throughout the Second Half of the Second Act, he convinced himself he
could have both. Now, he realizes that’s impossible
Example - Toy Story: A refusal by Andy’s other toys to help Woody escape Sid’s
room, followed by Buzz getting strapped to Sid’s rocket. Woody realizes he
can’t escape alone and chooses to admit that Andy’s need for both
Woody and Buzz is more important than his own escape.
1. Up the Stakes -
he is a new man.
The important distinction here is that the character has claimed the
Truth, but he still hasn’t 100% rejected the Lie. He has already turned the
most important corner in his arc—the Truth is rising and the Lie is setting—
but the ascendancy of the Truth isn’t yet absolute. Even as the character
adjusts to his new paradigm, he will continue to experience doubts
throughout the Third Act.
The Climax-
Now, approximately halfway through the Third Act, the conflict has
revved to the point where a confrontation must happen between the
protagonist and the antagonist. If the protagonist is to have any chance of
winning that conflict, he must prove he is able to stick with the Truth for the
long haul. If he can’t gather all the lessons he’s learned throughout the story
and hang onto them now, when the pressure is greatest, then all will be lost
forever.
The Climax begins near the 90% mark in your story and ends right
before the final scene or two.
Weak point active by antagonist but character has newly formed skin that
The Climactic Moment is the climax within the Climax. It’s the single
moment that resolves the story’s overall conflict. In identifying your
Climactic Moment, look for (or create) the one scene readers have been waiting for from the
beginning of the story. The bad guy dies.
( May be - his reasons for wanting it may have changed, giving him mixed
feelings about his victory. (In The Kid, Russ Duritz finally gets rid of his
younger self, only to miss having him around.)
The Resolution -
The Resolution needs to fulfill two primary duties in finishing off your
character’s arc.
The second
duty is giving readers a preview of the character’s new Lie-free life.
If you can
understand the psychological workings at the heart of human change, then
you’ll also understand how to create a story about a character who changes,
from worse to better, in a convincing way.
It isn’t enough to simply have a character change; he must change in a
way that harmonizes with the patterns we all recognize in our own lives and
those of our family and friends. Readers will resonate with those patterns in
your characters—and they will be moved by them.