Tip #329: Using characters' desires to create character arcs

How far will that character go to fulfil their desires? Will he sacrifice the life of a member of his family to stay alive? Will she sacrifice her own life to kill him?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/crime-writing-competition/10159834/Telegraph-Harvill-Secker-Crime-Writing-Competition-masterclass-Stuart-Neville-on-plot.html

Quote taken from video so may not be word perfect.

Character arcs often build up to this question.  It's something we often grapple with daily: how far will we go to satisfy our desire for calorie-rich food?  Will we sacrifice our spare change/diet/figure/health/self-respect/love?  Where is the point when one desire battles with another and we start to question if the original driving desire is worth it?  Where is the point when we decide YES, it's worth it, or NO, it's not?  And what are the consequences of this decision?

The main character arc in Star Wars IV is different.  It's about Luke learning to believe in the Force (and therefore himself) culminating in his choice to trust it (and his own judgement) for a vitally important gamble (and foreshadowing the same decision in Star Wars VI).  But Han Solo has a desire character arc, discovering offscreen he can't abandon his friends in their attempt to destroy the Death Star -- even for money/long life.

Tip #319: Obstacles

Brick walls are not there to keep us out. Brick walls are there to show how badly we want something.

– Randy Pausch (found here)

Or how badly our characters want something.  What are your characters' brick walls?

Tip #272: Compelling emotional stakes

Emotional stakes are created by a character acting to prevent the loss of something important to themself and/or others.

Given examples of Important Things:

Love, a loved one, a secret, safety, life, a long-time goal, an emotionally important object, a pet, integrity, self-appreciation...

To make those stakes compelling, add in or increase one or more of the below:

Feeling of responsibility for risk/character at risk
Love/respect/strong emotion for character at risk
Risk/fear of failure
Difficulty of character recovery from failure
Another important thing/character at risk from the same threat (house of cards)
Importance of IT to character at risk physical/mental well-being
Character at risk deservingness
Act of bravery (overcoming fear)
Act of sacrifice (character accepts & bears a loss/hurt)
Catch 22 (has to choose to sacrifice one character for another character, or one IT for another. No decision = both lost.)
Failure

All increase how far the acting character is prepared to go, what they are and aren't willing to do. Like spices, a little goes a long way. 

H.R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, July 2012


...Is it just me or is that also the definition of a story up there?

Tip #268: Writing emotion

let the emotion come from the subtext. If we, as readers, know how a situation is going to affect the character—how this will make their goals harder to achieve, how this will hurt them, how their subdued reactions hide their true pain—then we will sympathize

http://jamigold.com/2012/06/3-tips-for-writing-heavy-emotional-scenes/

Tip #241: Sensation & experiences

IDENTIFY THE SENSATION AND EXPERIENCE YOU WANT TO EVOKE IN YOUR READER – AND THEN MAKE SURE YOU’RE EVOKING IT.

I cannot possibly stress this enough. We read novels to have an EXPERIENCE.

http://thedarksalon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/something-has-to-happen.html

Tip #222: Rebirth

The Dark Point is the crisis during which all main players are reborn - whether literally, whether their perspective has changed, whether others' perspective of them has changed (perhaps because they have a new role & responsibilities, or the truth is out). Readers and characters alike are now clear on where each character will stand at the battle lines of the Climax.

Unless of course you have a Trickster character... (I'm looking at you, Capt. Jack Sparrow)

H.R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, March 2012

Tip #204: Character arcs (in 5 easy steps)

1. Ask the impossible of your character.

2. Make them a) want it, and b) believe they can achieve it: this will motivate them to put themselves through hell to get/achieve it.

3. Allow them to reach a crisis where they realise they will have to change in order to get/achieve it.

4. Allow them a chance to re-evaluate their desire/need.

5. a) Your character changes and achieves their goal, b) your character realises they never/no longer need(ed) it, or c) your character tries to change and fails.

H. R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, January 2012

Tip #151: Turning points

Make sure your audience can feel it when the story has reached a turning point.

http://www.gointothestory.com/2011/07/writing-question-what-is-single-best.html?spref=tw
Comment by yyyyyyyyy.

Tip #114: Behind the flaw

Perhaps...

your character has a major flaw that came about as a defense mechanism to protect himself from his deepest fear, but he is also driven by a need that causes him to make plans (plot!) to achieve his goal

http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/04/20/character-builds-plot-builds-character/

i.e. That fear you're going to make your character face? How does it affect his/her behaviour?  The conflict between need and fear is compelling: we've all been there.

TIp #89: Deepest secrets

What won't your character do?  What would they die before doing?  And what do they say they would die before doing? 

H. R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, March 2011

Tip #53: Lackluster endings

Low points, defeats and the dark point can be used to develop a surprising or twist climax by threatening and taking away (one by one) the things that the protagonist (their mentor/allies, their antagonist, and the reader) think of as "essential" to victory.  Each permanent loss raises the stakes for every scene - not just the final showdown - and makes the climax and result harder to guess.  The Dark Point comes when the protagonist thinks they have lost everything and haven't a chance in hell. Then give them a glimpse of hope; a glimpse of insight into the strengths they have been forced to develop as a consequence of the losses, or have alway had and never taken seriously/thought about; into the antagonist's weakness... and let them off the leash.

H.R.Filmore's Reminders To Self, February 2011

Tip #34: Naked in the middle of the woods

Feel free to take every amount of support and help away from your character until you’ve left him or her standing in the middle of the woods completely naked in twenty below temperatures. But do this one layer at a time.

http://fictiongroupie.blogspot.com/2011/01/writing-teen-angst-guest-post-by-author.html

Tip #25: High Stakes

High stakes have consequences that will severely change the protag's life. The decisions made have far-reaching consequences and failing here will change who that protag is. Common high stakes include choices where the protag must make a sacrifice about something they care deeply about... It's about how that choice and the consequences of that choice will irrevocably change the protag forever.

Given example:  choosing to walk away from someone you love because it's the only way to save their life.

http://storyflip.blogspot.com/2010/12/up-up-and-away-raising-stakes.html