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Ereki,

We are moving on in our discussion to Growth Arcs! We’ll look especially at which kind of characters this arc tends to suit best of all. Short introduction today, so let’s dive in. 😛

First, a definition to refresh our memories: Growth arcs do not fundamentally change the character, but (as the name implies) simply bring them through a process of growth and development as a person. From beginning to end of the story, a character undergoing a growth arc will ‘feel’ the same, and will probably be able to ‘take up life again’ after the grand adventure is over. If it’s a grand adventure in the first place. Doesn’t have to be.

Let’s look at a few hallmarks of growth arcs, and then think through how this relates to the plot and to other characters who undergo transformation arcs.

1. Growth arcs are not dramatic.  The Central Motivating Principle (CMP) of this character will remain the same throughout the whole story. It will be strengthened, and their life will begin to more fully and maturely reflect what motivated them all along, but it will not fundamentally change.

2. Growth arcs feel slower to your reader than transformation arcs. Because these arcs are less dramatic, the level of tension involved in the internal process of change and growth is lower. It doesn’t involve the unmaking and remaking of their CMP (as in a transformation arc), so the amount of emotional energy needed to process the change (from the reader’s POV) is not as large. Growth arcs are the slow-burning fires, producing valuable charcoal. Your readers will recognize the direction of change, and be pleased to see it taking place if you do it well, but it’s a very hard arc to hide.

3. Growth arcs shouldn’t sustain a story all on their own. Unlike transformation arcs, which can take that kind of weight and carry it very well, growth arcs do not innately have enough ‘zing’ to be the prominent focus of a story.

This is not to say that you must always have a character who undergoes a transformation arc in every one of your stories. Not at all. I’m simply pointing out the fact that growth arcs interact with the plot in very different ways than transformation arcs, and you must be aware of this in order to make proper use of growth arcs.

Transformation arcs, as I delineated last week, have a very close and intricate connection with the main plot, and the ups and downs of the character arc are inter-related with the ups and down of the plot. However, because a growth arc does not have those same dramatic ups and downs, it has a very different relationship with the plot. Most often, the major events of the plot inform the major moments of internal discovery/progression in the arc, and it is less common for the moments of discovery/progression in the arc to effect the major events of the plot (plot effects arc more than arc effects plot). Of course, in a good story, everything is very closely interwoven, so I can’t lay things down hard and fast. But we can recognize that a plot that is driven by a growth arc will be rather slow, hard to maintain tension, and bordering on boring.

Something else has to drive the story.

That ‘something else’ is often an MC who undergoes a transformation arc; thus making it a side character who undergoes the growth arc. Think Frodo and Sam. Frodo has pretty thoroughly changed by the end of the story, and he cannot go back to ‘normal life’. Sam, however much he has grown, is still the same stubbornly loyal hobbit who loves Daisy and the Shire just the same – if not more than – as at the beginning. In addition, Sam’s arc doesn’t drive the plot. He does effect it, and quite significantly, but he grows stronger in the literary ‘shadow’ of other characters who undergo more powerfully transformative arcs.

Other times, the ‘something else’ that drives the story is a powerful, (sometimes complicated) external plot with a lot of ups and downs to maintain the tension and interest of your readers. This doesn’t always have to be the case, however. A very strong theme that is being explored in different ways by the whole cast of characters can maintain the sense of progression, tension, and conflict-that-will-be-resolved-at-the-end.

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That’s about all I have in the tank for tonight, as far as discussion goes. I hope that proves helpful as you read and think about it, and helps you understand how to best make use of your characters who undergo growth arcs.

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I’ve been shying away from discussion questions for the past few weeks and I’m not exactly sure why. So I wanted to ask at least one question this week.

Say that you have just discovered that the MC of your current WIP undergoes a growth arc over the course of the story. What other storytelling elements are you going to be paying special attention to in order to ensure that you will have a strong, compelling story?

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