Character Arcs

Founding, forming and finishing your character's internal journey

WHY DOES YOUR STORY MATTER?

CHARACTER ARCS show the events of our story are worth reading about.

In most works of fiction, the major characters don’t just experience the events of the plot—the story changes them. They learn and grow, ultimately succeeding at the climax of the story because of all they’ve gained. Even the greatest plot in the world can ring flat if the character’s internal journey isn’t dramatic enough. For a character to truly resonate with readers, he should change and grow over the course of the story.

CHARACTER ARCS will help you:

• Give your readers a powerful experience in any genre
• Discover your character’s arc: their internal, emotional journey.
• Implement that character arc to make your readers root for your character.
• Keep your story moving by using external plot events to prompt your character’s internal growth.
• Revise your character’s arc for maximum impact.
• PLUS a special chapter on using character arcs in romances, family dramas & other relationship stories.

Far from a write-by-numbers manual, this approach examines the basic mechanics of character change to show you how to apply these principles in your own work, with numerous examples.

Add power and resonance to any story—master character arcs!