On Character Arcs: Part 2, Be A Sadist

“Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.”

-Kurt Vonnegut
 

As I said in my last post, On Character Arcs: Part 1, The Psychology of Character Arcs, when a character changes in response to an event, it is incredibly important because, very often, it is the change that shows the importance of an event in the first place. What I didn’t say is that, if your character’s arc is a direct result of the events alone, it is going to be incredibly weak - even if the events themselves are strong.

Here are other important points to consider when creating your character--

An Active Arc Is Better Than a Reactive Arc

A character arc that is based solely on reactions is a generic arc because it is one that any character would have in that given situation. If you, personally, were running from assassins for the course of 300 pages, you too would be wary and mistrusting of those around you… it’s what’s expected! When a character is directly shaped by events, he is part of a reactive character arc. That’s not what you want. You want to show off your character’s most interesting traits and remind your audience why he or she is worth writing about in the first place. An active character arc does exactly that. It shows a way of being different from the way most people live their lives - and it is difference in writing that stands out.

Your Character Is Driven By Motivation

To quote Kurt Vonnegut a second time, “Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” Ask questions before you begin writing a story. What does my character want? How will their motivations change as the story progresses? Your motivation drives your character into the obstacles that change him. Frodo’s desire to protect the shire is what causes him to volunteer to destroy the ring. It is what drives him to say ultimately, “We set out to save the shire, Sam, and it has been saved - but not for me.”

This is an important distinction because it means that motivation is the best tool for bringing about character change! If my character wants to get that water really badly, he will go through some pretty nasty things to get it - and that can cause him to question the value of life in the first place.

JUST REMEMBER: Motivation can only drag your character through these obstacles. How they adapt to these obstacles is what makes them unique.

Personal Growth Isn’t Always One-Sided

Too often characters finish a story by rising to the top by overcoming all adversity and becoming the best version of themselves. That’s fine, but the best fiction emulates life. Very rarely do people become simply “better”. A person’s growth is a multi-faceted thing. A nerd might become good with women by caring less about them than he did before. Uplifting stories are great, but not every story is a story of victory. It’s more important to write something genuine than something peppy.

Your Character’s Personality Should Shape Their World

The strongest of stories intertwine story and character. As I talked about briefly in my post What Could Go Wrong, characters are the driving force of tragic plays. It is Hamlet’s inability to take action is what keeps him spiralling to his doom. Had he taken arms against his sea of troubles and killed his uncle/stepfather, Claudius, as he knelt in prayer, the play would have simply ended. If Hamlet were replaced with John McClane from Die Hard, the play would have ended very differently.

Your Characters Are Made for Their Stories

A character arc should reflect the essence of the story. Take The Godfather for instance. One of the key points of the story is, “You can’t turn your back on family”. The irony is that, in Michael’s attempts to protect his family, he hardens his heart to the point that his wife becomes afraid of him and leaves. Not everyone would become as cold as Michael does throughout the story, but his transformation is perfect for adding a touch of irony into the film.

Guide your characters toward the conclusion that resonates the most profoundly with your readers. Do it elegantly and in a way that shows off your character’s unique personality, and your work might stand the test of time!

On Character Arcs, Part 1: The Psychology of Character Arcs

"'There are rules for artificials, but there are no rules for humans - not for things that matter. We just go around wishing and hoping, putting our love in the wrong places, forming ideas based on other people's ideas and sticking with them regardless of what happens or what we learn. I don’t know why you’d want to be a part of that.'"

-Alan Turner, Tiny Instruments

Note: This is a short, but extremely complicated post that ties in my two favorite fields of study, philosophy and psychology. Please re-read as needed to fully grasp the importance of what is being said.

Good characters go through cycles. People have been analyzing these cycles since the beginning of fiction, but they aren’t as complex as most books would have you believe. Of course character arcs exist! If characters aren’t changed by the events around them, the events obviously aren’t important are they? If, for instance, a monk blessed by inner peace finds himself involved in a series of incredible events, but is never EMOTIONALLY involved in those events, we, the readers, will care just as little as he does… but why?

Before I get into that, let’s ask an even greater question: what is the goal of all fiction, everything from novels and poems to film and theatre? What is its purpose? Simply put, it is to trigger emotions in people who would not otherwise experience them. The only way to do this is through allowing your audience to identify with the fictional people the world has dubbed, “characters”.

So, from a psychological standpoint, in order for me, as a writer, to make you feel an emotion - let’s say, anger - I have to trigger your own natural sense of anger. I need to hijack your own natural response. If I write a story about a good man who worked and bled for his family, but still, despite countless sacrifices and endless loving devotion, his wife carried on a heartless affair behind his back - that might make you angry. The reason is because, through writing this character, I am offering you to step inside him and see for yourself how unjust his world is. Would you be angry if you gave everything you were to someone and they betrayed your trust? If the answer is “Yes”, you’ll get angry reading about it. If it’s “No”, you don’t. As with the monk, the importance of an event is seen through the eyes of our characters.

Most authors will give you this basic “formula” to explain your character’s arc--

Base Character

Your character is a person shaped by their past lives. They start out with a unique perspective on life.

Character in Turmoil

Many if not most of your character’s beliefs are called into question. They try to use their various perspectives to confront their various problems.

Changed Character

Your character, having found that many of his beliefs were either wrong, or were simply not ideal for survival in the world, has now changed.

I often see this model peddled as the quintessential piece of information needed to create a successful character arc… but the people who peddle it are wrong. Maybe some of them are good writers (I really have no idea), but they lack a fundamental knowledge of how character arcs work.

Change, the thing that defines a character arc, is important because it is a representation of emotional trauma. Again, from a psychological standpoint, we don’t change our perspectives unless we have reason to believe that what we’re doing isn’t working. It is something that we can relate to at a deep subconscious level. Growing up, you might have thought it was okay to steal until you realized that your actions might harm others. The truth is, you believed a great many things that changed as you had the experiences that made you who you are.

Change, therefore, is not some necessary part of a magic formula - it is what separates a character from a person. The “character arc” that your creation conforms to is actually what gives them life. With each change, you are inviting your readers deeper into the subconscious of a living being - which is what allows you to incite their emotions in the first place. It is an endless circle that you would do well to familiarize yourself with.

For similar posts, see creating characters and on adding dimensions to your characters.

Writing a Poetry Book

As many of you already know, I’ll be releasing my poetry book, Without An Angel, on Tuesday. I’ve had a lot of pre-publication success with this one, and, in giving it away for free - both before and after the January 26th publication date - I’ve managed to greatly increase the sales of my novel, Tiny Instruments. That said, you should keep in mind why I chose to release it for free: poetry books rarely make money on their own. What’s more, they can be extremely hard to write. It’s for these exact reasons, that I never actually set out to write a poetry book in the first place. Honestly, the thought of publishing my poems didn’t enter my mind until the book was practically finished… and maybe that’s how it should be. Though I’m generally a proponent of planning, when it comes to poetry, your every line needs to reflect what you’re feeling when you write it. This particular book (and I'm allowed to say so because of the nature of the book), was written in the ashes of my blackened heart. Luckily, as it generally goes with writing, the more painful something is to share, the more people enjoy it.

Since I started giving it away, I’ve been receiving more congratulatory emails than emails asking me how to write a good poetry book. The reason, I’m sure, is that the international interest in poetry right now is extremely low. If it IS something you want to do, however, don’t be discouraged. With so few decent modern poets, there is a huge void that needs to be filled.

Here’s how to fill it:

Don’t Just Throw A Random Collection Of Poems Together

You may be a great poet, but it’s always best if your poems tie into a single narrative. If your first poem is about how long it takes for online retailers to ship your packages, and the last poem is about the tragic death of a family member, you are probably covering too wide a spectrum. The more closely related your poems are (dramatic or comedic), the more likely it is that your readers’ emotions will carry over from one poem to another.

Write From Your Life

This is good advice for all writers, but it holds especially true for poets. This doesn’t mean that every poem has to directly reflect what’s going on in your life - but your poetry will be a lot stronger if you’ve at least experienced the emotions you’re writing about, if not the events.

Take Your Time

If you write you write poetry anytime you have a powerful feeling or experience, it might take a long time to build a collection, but it’s far more likely that you’ll have something worthwhile.

Know The Main Types of Poems (Examples Included)

There are a plethora of poem types, but all can be boiled down to the main three:

Free Verse Poem--

A poem that doesn't rhyme, but is still written and spaced in a poetic way. 

 

- Bottled Feelings - 

Waiting will kill us.

You and I.

Things kept in bottles shrivel like dead leaves.

And we--

too young and too old

--can never wait.

Will we

cease

until they are ready for us?

Shall we strike at the glass?

Will it hurt us?

I fear if we don’t, we will blink away.

For there is no equation

for the longevity of thought.

…

And memories are strong,

but something tells me

the glass is stronger.

Prose Poem--

A poem that doesn't rhyme, and abandons typical poetic structure entirely.

 

- On Nights Without You -

The ticking of the clock is thunderous in the quiet night. I can hear the cars outside as they drive over the water in the asphalt, the liquid in the divots of the road. It’s still raining, but I can’t hear the rain.

Other nights, I myself drive through the darkness, droplets streaming off the windshield, thinking of you. At times, when we’re together, you make me forget that I’m alone… but love is like a rainbow. Sometimes it appears when it’s still raining, and it’s just too dark to see.
 

Rhyming Poem--

A traditional rhyming poem. These come in many different forms. The following example is written in the typical ABAB format.

- Pulling at Desire -

A vast expanse of pain ahead.

I see you standing at the end.

I see the things we’ve only said,

through plans we’ve made and words we penned.

Our children play out on the beach,

blurs of love near rocky seas,

in places I may never reach,

where wind may never touch your knees…

But most days I can see you there,

and believe the breeze does really blow.

But even then, it’s words we share.

The journey’s all I really know.

Plan Your Release

Firstly, don't release a poetry book before you have other things on the market in one way or another, whether it be a website, writing-related services, a feature film credit, or a novel. Secondly, think about why you believe your collection will make a difference in your writing career - and go beyond your abilities. It won't take off by itself. Do you have connections in the writing world? Is there someone exceptional you've been wanting to advertise with? You should have something in the works long before you publish.

Be Positive

If you have something special, I could not think of a better time to release it on the world. In the 1800s, everyone wrote poetry - much in the same way people write novels now (See: National Novel Writing Month). It was hard in that age to distinguish yourself from the rest of the riffraf, regardless of the quality of your work. We have a lot to be thankful for as writers in the modern world.

I have found poetry to be exceedingly rewarding. Writing this collection helped me focus my thoughts during an era of great pain. Even if you never decide to release a poetry book, consider writing one anyway. Who knows? You might surprise yourself.

Writing Prompt

Send in a poem for critique and discussion.