Hello! I kept going back and forth on this post, so . . . it’s a day late. I know! I know! I should be a bit more brave about putting things out there.
Anyway, this will hopefully be helpful!
Let’s go.
Characters don’t stay static. Or at least, they shouldn’t.
As Robert McKee points out, true character is revealed when someone makes choices under pressure. The arc is the trail of those choices: the transformation, or the refusal to transform.
Chuck Wendig says it a little less academically (because he’s Chuck Wendig), “Make your characters move, change, break, burn, grow. Don’t let them be oatmeal.”
So how do you actually build an arc? How do you keep those characters from being oatmeal?
Here’s a simple outline. I made steps! I feel so adult and organized. :)
Step 1: Define the Starting Point
Ask: Who is your character before the story rips them open?
What do they believe about themselves?
What do they want (conscious desire)?
What do they need (the deeper, hidden thing)?
Example:
Pogie believes love is a trap. She wants independence (conscious). She needs connection (unconscious).
Step 2: Throw The Character Into Conflict
Zainah Yousef stresses that characters feel alive when we see them in tension—when their wants collide with obstacles or other characters.
Action Step: Put your protagonist’s desire against a wall.
Test their flaw.
Push them where it hurts.
Example:
Pogie meets someone who offers genuine connection—exactly what she needs—but it terrifies her.
Step 3: Midpoint Realization (or Refusal)
At the story’s midpoint (the middle spot of all the words/pages), your character should glimpse the truth.
MasterClass calls this the “reveal of the inner want.” This is fancy.
They can begin to pivot … or double down on denial.
Either way, the midpoint sets the arc’s trajectory.
Example:
Pogie admits (briefly) she wants love. She lets her guard down. Then—panic. She bolts.
Step 4: The Crisis Choice
McKee says, “The climax of a story is the point at which the values of the protagonist are most fully tested.”
This is the choice that forces your character to confront their deepest fear.
Action Step: Decide what belief your protagonist must challenge—or cling to—for the climax.
Example:
Pogie can walk away (cling to her old belief) or stay, terrified but present (embrace growth).
Step 5: The New Equilibrium
By the end, your character either:
Changes: they integrate want + need, flaws + growth.
Refuses to change: they solidify the flaw, and the tragedy is that they can’t or won’t evolve.
Example:
Pogie chooses to stay. She’s still scared. But she’s there—messy, human, real.
Quick Arc Template (You can totally steal this!)
Start: Who they are before (belief + want + need).
Inciting Incident: What cracks their world open.
Rising Conflict: How their flaw and desire clash with reality.
Midpoint Shift: What they glimpse of their truth.
Crisis Choice: The big decision under pressure.
Resolution: Who they are after (changed or not).
Action You Can Take: Take one of your characters. Write a single sentence for each of these six steps. That’s it. You’ll see their arc in black and white.
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