Characters arcs are important to show the internal, mental, emotional, and or spiritual development of characters in a story. These are the inner journeys of our characters that show how they will change over time within our stories and novels. In other words, they're like our characters' scripts or written maps they follow in the brunt of conflict and obstacles they must strive to overcome, if they manage to at all. As I mentioned in my previous blog, there are three different kinds of character arcs: flat, positive, and negative. However, only two of these are transitional or involves change, which are positive and negative arcs. Flat character arcs stay consistent throughout stories, as there are no significant changes within the characters. Some flat characters are well-known sleuths, such as Jessica Fletcher from the Murder She Wrote book series, as many of these characters remain relatively the same from the story's beginning to the ending from one mystery case to another.
On the other hand, positive and negative character arcs both involve characters developing through some kind of change, whether for the better or for the worse. Positive arcs are when characters start off in a negative state and end in a positive state, or they develop from bad to good conditions. Negative arcs are when characters start off in a negative state and end in a more negative state, or they develop from bad to worse conditions. In the diagram are the five phases I created for transitional character arcs, which includes the following phases: stasis, turning point, dilemma, resolve, and new normal or new stasis. Now, let's go over each of these phases and see how we can use them for a story with an example of Dorothy's positive character arc from The Wizard of Oz.
THE 5 PHASES EXPLAINED
PHASE 1: STASIS
This is your characters' beginning state of equilibrium before any triggers or perceived threats. In other words, this is their everyday life and what's most familiar to them.
PHASE 2: TURNING POINT
The character's equilibrium is triggered or disrupted by an unexpected surprise, tragedy, other character, or event. (📌Note: This turning point can be positive or negative depending on the type of transitional character arc a writer is creating for a particular character.)
PHASE 3: DILEMMA
Problems have arisen, forcing the character to have to make a difficult choice or decision. The character also comes to terms with certain revelations within themselves.
PHASE 4: RESOLVE
The character experiences internal changes from the story's conflict or complications and settles on a final solution for the matter at hand.
PHASE 5: NEW NORMAL
The character has reached a new living state and sees things from a different perspective, leading to a new or another approach toward life.
THE WIZARD OF OZ: APPLYING THE 5 PHASES TO DOROTHY'S ARC
PHASE 1: STASIS
Dorothy is a Kansas farm girl who desires a more exciting life "somewhere over the rainbow" She is dissatisfied with her plain, country home life. This is her equilibrium or beginning state in the story.
PHASE 2: TURNING POINT
After running away with her dog Toto, she collides with a cyclone on her way back home, which takes her to the land of Oz.
PHASE 3: DILEMMA
No longer in Kansas, she's stuck trying to find her way back home, going through several challenges, including a matter of life and death after being captured by the flying monkeys of the Wicked Witch of the West. While in her solitary confinement of the Witch's castle, she's forced to come to terms with the frightening possibility she may never return home again.
PHASE 4: RESOLVE
After being rescued by the Tinman, Scarecrow, and Lion, Dorothy realizes being home was her true heart's desire and she never lost it to begin with. She also misses her Aunt Em and other family and learns she had the power to go home all along by her ruby slippers.
PHASE 5: NEW NORMAL
Dorothy is grateful to be back home in Kansas and more appreciative of her farm life and family, having a new perspective that "there's no place like home."
CLOSING REMARKS:
Unlike flat character arcs, positive and negative transitional character arcs are what I believe are the most intriguing because they involve internal and exterior change and development. These arcs give characters more depth and make them more realistic and interesting to readers as they discover how our characters handle obstacles and other complications they are up against in our stories. Will they succeed or will they fail? That's likely the question our readers think about when they dive into our short stories or books. Creating characters arcs is a literary technique that not all writers are familiar with or have used. Honestly, I haven't much myself, but mostly because I like to simplify things as much as possible, which is why I created my five phases for a transitional character arc. If you are a big picture thinker, you might also find it helpful. All you have to do is decide on whether characters will have positive or negative arcs and then identify each of the five phases for your characters inner journeys.
However, if you want to add more details, try out other archetypes along with it based on Carl Jung's archetypes and see how that goes for you. All right, that's it for this post. If you found it helpful, please give it a (heart❤️), take part in the poll 🤔, and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)
Happy Writing! 😊✍🏽💻
🤔Who is your favorite main character of 'The Wizard of Oz' listed below?
👧🏻 Dorothy
🌽 Scarecrow
🪓Tinman
🦁 Lion
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