Activity

@the-inkspiller I think one of the most important things you can do to make sure your readers don’t feel like your character arcs all follow the same formula is to, well, make sure they don’t all follow the same formula. XD But even if you have a large number of main characters become redeemed, I think one way that you can make this profound and interesting to your readers is to ensure that their past will continue to effect their lives – whether continually wrestling with guilt (internal) or having to face external trials. In the long run, over a long storyform, this turns a strong, impactful transformation arc into a growth arc. Giving those to the same character will add complexity we don’t see done very often with narratives that contain conversions.

This kind of ties into your concerns about how to make good characters ‘good’ while not making them either saints, cynics, or zealots. I think part of this can be achieved by internal complexity – giving them an internal struggle with one or more of those very tendencies. One tends to forget the nature of grace and is more zealous than is healthy. Another struggles with cynicism. Giving your characters an awareness of these failings/tendencies will allow you to deal with those themes without your characters actually falling into those categories.