Video: The Easiest Way to Set Up a Satisfying Character Arc

Forget wrangling the old “flawed character turned good” trope - there is a much easier way to develop a character arc that makes sense to your readers, and makes for much more likeable characters!

In this video I share a tip for developing a key piece of the puzzle of your novel planning such that, if you find this piece and you place this piece first, the rest of the pieces will slot into place so easily and beautifully and you'll just love this.

Set up your character’s Wants in opposition to their Needs. This allows for a beautiful plot integration where the character is trying to do something and the plot is working against them trying to force them to eventually work out what they need and how they have to actually let go of their wants.

The character’s wants should be very understandable and relatable. Readers or viewers are going to root for that character to get what they want because it's sensible, it makes sense, and then gradually through the plot we all work out, hang on, that's not going to work.

It's not the right goal for the character. So work out what the character might want and how their needs can actually be very different. It doesn't have to be the opposite, but opposites work beautifully. Conflict the needs with their wants and then, as the author, orchestrate that when the character is moving towards what they want, they are “punished” for it. When they're moving towards what they need, the plot rewards them. And that's how the very subtle foreshadowing happens, and how eventually we guide the character to the right end point.