Many novels and screenplays feature protagonists who change as a result of the trials and tribulations they undergo in the story.
Dorothy discovers there is no place like home,
Scrooge learns to be generous and warm-hearted,
George in “It’s a Wonderful Life” realizes his life does have meaning.
Such stories appeal because we like to think change is possible even if we find it hard ourselves.
This change over the course of the story is called the character arc. The trick to making it work is to match the size and speed of the change to the events in the plot.
The most common mistake is creating big jumps in changes that don’t feel motivated enough. It takes a lot of pressure to create massive change. In our examples, Dorothy went (apparently) to another world, Scrooge was confronted by three ghosts and time travelled, and George faced a life and death decision.
It’s also a good idea to build in some setbacks. Change seldom is a straightforward process--remember, Scrooge backslid between the visits of the first two ghosts.
The challenge of revealing change is harder for screenwriters than it is for novelists. The latter can include descriptions of a how a character realizes something. In a screenplay all realizations have to be turned into things people do and say.
A useful method is to draw an arc (like a rainbow) and at the left end jot down what the character is like at the start. At the right end note what he or she is like at the end. At points on the arc note what changes and what triggers each step of the change.
Of course not all characters do change. Some try but fail, and often that leads to a tragic ending. Othello cannot overcome his jealousy, King Lear cannot overcome his vanity and pride, and Emma Bovary cannot overcome her hunger for a more romantic life.
Others, like James Bond and the heroes of many action books and films, stay basically the same over the course of many adventures.
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