Dive into the fascinating world of character arcs! The hosts discuss how characters evolve, sharing tips on crafting dynamic arcs that balance humor and emotion. Learn about the significance of character development through struggles and triumphs, and the techniques to ensure engaging storytelling. A fun writing prompt invites you to explore an emotionally-responsive roller-coaster, reflecting your characters' journeys. Plus, a shoutout to civic engagement rounds out a rich conversation for writers.
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Understanding Character Arcs
A character arc is the character's narrative path showing how they change or grow throughout the story.\n- There are arcs as the main plot, key to solving the story problem, or as subplots just shaping characters.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Let Problems Shape Growth
Throw challenges at the character that touch their nerves to provoke growth and change.\n- Don't always define the lesson first; let the character learn on their own by reacting to situations.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Spotting Failing Character Arcs
Recognize a failing character arc by losing interest or feeling bored with the character.\n- Distinguish between writing hard parts and genuine boredom; losing care means the arc is failing.
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John Brown joins us this week for a discussion of plot threads specific to characters. These can be the main plot thread, interesting sub-plots, or just things that shape characters. Sometimes they're things we do deliberately, and sometimes we discovery-write our way into these arcs. We talk about how we do this, and how we know when it is (and isn't!) working well. We ran a little long, but there were four of us, and we put LOTS of nuts-and-bolts stuff in this 'cast. Writing Prompt: Your cast of characters is trapped on an emotionally-responsive roller-coaster that mimics their own emotional arcs. How do they use this knowledge? This Tuesday: John's first novel, Servant of a Dark God, is out in paperback! ALSO This Tuesday: The polls are open for you, you citizens of the United States! Go vote! Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: The Amulet of Samarkand: The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1, by Jonathan Stroud, read by Simon Jones. This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by Audible. Visit http://AudiblePodcast.com/excuse for a free trial membership*. *Note: From the Audible website, here are the terms of the free membership. Read the fine print, please! Audible® Free Trial Details Get your first 14 days of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit. After your 14 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. A very small number of titles are more than one credit. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged. Thereafter, cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle. Any unused audiobook credits will be lost at cancellation.
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