Curate, connect, and discover
Character Arcs - Blog Posts
Writing character arcs/character development
Guide to character arcs
Writing character development
Character arc ideas
Why character arcs don’t have to last forever or be linear
I haven’t written fic in a year+ scripting this story is killing me 😔
Season 1: Vi and Jinx both cling to memories of who the other used to be.
Season 2: Vi and Jinx confront and learn to accept each other (and themselves) for who they are in the here and now.
Why am not ecstatic? I’ve done everything that’s supposed to make me happy. Such convoluted character development.
I picked the wrong character to steal a personality from and now I’m going on my villain arc. Try to stop me.
Types of Character Arcs
Just like there are various flavours of ice cream to satisfy our taste buds, there are different types of character arcs to captivate readers’ imaginations.
Transformational Arc: A character undergoes a profound transformation throughout the story. This transformational arc takes them on a journey of personal growth, where they evolve, learn from their experiences, and undergo significant change. Think Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings, who starts as an ordinary hobbit and becomes a heroic figure, or Cinderella, who goes from being a mistreated servant to a princess.
Flat or Static Arc: Not all character arcs involve drastic change or growth. In a flat or static arc, the character remains relatively unchanged throughout the story. Instead of personal transformation, these characters serve as a stabilizing force or a moral compass within the narrative. They maintain their core values, beliefs, or traits, providing stability and guidance for others. Sherlock Holmes is a prime example of a character with a flat arc. His brilliant deductive reasoning and logical nature remain consistent, while the world around him evolves.
Positive Change Arc: In a positive change arc, a character starts with flaws, struggles, or a particular mindset, but over the course of the story, they experience personal growth and positive transformation. They learn valuable lessons, overcome obstacles, and develop into a better version of themselves. This arc is often associated with themes of redemption, self-discovery, and the triumph of the human spirit. Characters like Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol or Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games exemplify positive change arcs.
Negative Change Arc: Contrasting the positive change arc, the negative change arc delves into the descent or downfall of a character. It explores the moral decline, corruption, or internal conflicts that lead the character astray. This arc can be dark and intense, showcasing the destructive power of choices or external influences. Characters like Macbeth from Shakespeare’s play or Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars demonstrate the negative change arc. 💻✨ Discover how the transformative journeys of character arcs breathe life into your stories, and captivate the hearts and minds of your readers. You can read the full post in the Reading Room at the link above.
yeah characters slowly hollowing themselves out to save their beloved just to become someone unrecognizable to the one they sacrificed everything to save is cool and all but characters who fill that hollow void with more and more desperate and unseemly traits in the name of saving someone who disagrees entirely with their methods of saving them???? until they are not only unrecognizable but also disgusting to everyone who once cared about them??????????? i need it carnally.
The character arc of the century
@gone-with-the-windrixville Had to make this its own post cuz I’m obsessed
“The sheer rage felt had awakened a beastial emotional frenzy she had been harboring for 17 years…
using every last ounce of strength she had,
she plunged her remaining gauntlet into the mechanical arm socket-
the hydraulics rattling violently to match her blazing fury.”
Low key really proud of this-
TRIGGER/CRINGE WARNING: cringey angst and a lot of annoying yapping about character analysis and character writing.
If you’re naturally very impatient I suggest scrolling off because there is a lot of text to read. I’m a huge nerd and I really enjoy character analysis. I’m not sorry
>:3
I’m bored so I’m just gonna do an extremely small doodle dump of SaD Springtrap stuff.
Now for the explanation and analysis.
DISCLAIMER!!! This is all my PERSONAL OPINION!!! I’m not trying to change people’s minds about stuff. I’m just sharing my thoughts.
Sooo… basically I like to put a lot of unnecessary angst on this dude lmfao. In my continuation/au, I wrote Springtrap to be depressed, anxious and sensitive because I wanted to make him act like he feels guilty about his past.
In the actual comic he sometimes feels guilty about his past and then he switches to not feeling bad about it and is instead proud of it. I noticed a pattern of him going back and forth. tbh when I first saw the comic I was very confused on where the direction his character was going. Like- “are you redeeming him or are you going to continue portraying him as a villain??” His situation kinda reminded me of an anti hero. It still confused me a lot at first though lol.
So basically the short answer is that;
I rewrote Springtrap in my au to actually show remorse because I thought it didn’t make any sense for him to switch back and forth from evil to good. Unless he was intended to be an anti hero or something idk.
I also wrote Springtrap this way partly because I personally thought that he can’t be extremely remorseful at the same time as proud of being evil. It just didn’t make sense to me. I could honestly go on for hours about how his character writing kinda sucks. So here’s how I see the rules for character arcs;
For example, if you want to make a character have a redemption arc, first, they are completely on the evil side. Then, throughout the development and the story, they slowly move closer to the good side by constantly contemplating their evil choices and gradually start to feel guilty and regretful about it. Here is where the mistake occurs;
You can’t make the character turn good, but at the same time, making them feel proud of being a villain.
For a villain arc this is vise versa.
If you reached the end of this post and actually read it, I genuinely thank you for listening to my thoughts and opinions. I would love to hear yours!
This took so long to write help-
Edit: I just realized I spelled “Awkward” wrong lmaooo.