5 key elements for a strong character arc
How to write characters that keep readers invested
As a fiction writer, your primary goal is to get readers to the end of your story. Competent character arcs are a huge factor in making that happen. Do your characters have the five key elements for a strong character arc? As a book coach and developmental editor, the biggest mistake I see in manuscripts is a weak character arc. I made a post on Instagram a couple of weeks ago with five steps to a solid character arc, so I thought I’d provide a few more details about Step 1. Work on these character details first to design a solid character arc that keeps readers invested.
Five key elements for a strong character arc
A lot of writing courses and resources focus on unnecessary character details. If you’re working on your character’s hobbies, interests or likes/dislikes, you’re not going deep enough to create a compelling character. There is a strong connection between fiction writing and a deep understanding of human behaviour. That’s why therapists, counsellors and psychologists make great fiction writers. They understand how to go deep into a universal human experience and play it out through a plot that puts pressure on a character to change. Character is the lens through which the reader experiences your story and theme. To make it interesting, start by deciding on these five elements for your main character (s).
Ghost: what in the past is haunting your character?
In some cases this can be a traumatic event, for example in YA or middle-grade stories, it’s often the loss of one or both parents. Harry Potter is a good example. As Harry tries to figure out who he is, the memory of his parents and their deaths plays a huge role. His mother’s love, for example, is what saved him from being killed by Voldemort as a baby. As a result, he becomes known as “the boy who lived”. Depending on the genre of the story it doesn’t have to be a traumatic event, but it should be something that changed your character and has shaped their current worldview or flaw. If you’re writing a romance, it could be a bad breakup that made them swear off love.
Flaw: what is wrong with your character?
The flaw is related to the ghost and the worldview/misbelief. This is the negative character trait that has been disrupting your character’s life. If we continue with the bad breakup example, we could say the flaw is cynicism about love. Note that sometimes the misbelief and flaw are the same and sometimes they are different. Both flow from the ghost. In examples like Harry Potter or Star Wars, the flaw is that the character doesn’t believe in themself (or they lack confidence or they don’t believe they’re capable of greatness). We can see this in the opening scenes where Harry is treated poorly by his aunt and uncle and where Luke allows his uncle to convince him that he should stay back and be a farmer instead of exploring the stars.
Worldview/Misbelief: what does your character believe?
The worldview/misbelief is the lens through which your character views the world. It is extremely important to understand this lens because your character will be interpreting the events of the story through it. Let’s continue with the bad breakup example. If the ghost is a bad breakup, and the flaw is that they’re cynical about love, then the misbelief is most likely going to be something like “all men are cheaters” or “all relationships end badly” or “love doesn’t last”. Once you’ve decided on this worldview, your character begins to interpret what they see through this faulty lens. So, for example, if they see a happy couple, they’re going to think, “Yeah right, that will never last!”
Want: what is your character’s goal?
The want is also often tied to the flaw or misbelief. Sometimes the character is trying to fix their problem by chasing the want and it’s often a wrong or incomplete goal. If we continue with the bad breakup example, the character’s want might be something like independence or an ambitious career goal. There’s nothing wrong with these wants, and the character might achieve them in the end, but their cynicism about love needs to be processed and addressed too. See what I mean about writers also being therapists?
Need: what will fix your character’s flaw and misbelief?
In a romance, a B-story character/love interest is going to come along and challenge the main character’s misbelief. So if they are cynical about love, this character will show them that love can actually be great, men can be trusted or not all relationships end badly. The need is ultimately what is going to heal them of their flaw/misbelief. If we go back to the Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker examples, they both need to overcome their lack of confidence and step into their destiny—Harry Potter as a powerful wizard and Luke Skywalker as a Jedi Knight. It makes things interesting if you can make the want and the need opposing forces. The ultimate test at the climax then becomes—will the character choose to hold onto their misbelief and claim their want or will they decide to heal fully by embracing the need? Nobody can explain this push and pull between the want and the need as well as K.M. Weiland, so check out her blog post on this subject for deeper learning.
If you need one-on-one help improving your character arc and designing the perfect plot to keep readers hooked, I can help. Check out my services page to learn more about my developmental editing and book coaching.
