Character Development

Character Development is NECESSARY in my book, literally and figuratively speaking. First my agent hopped on my back and rode me until I gave my protagonist an "arc" - then my editor joined him with the same demands, thereby forcing me to rethink how to demonstrate character growth through dialogue, action, etc..This is a tough market. So keep working at it! Good luck.

It's possible to write any sort of book, you can write without dialogue, character development, without any sort of plot. The question is, is it the best story you could write, and is your character well served by being stagnant?

Is it possible for the things that are happening NOT to affect your character, and if so, then are the things that are happening a big enough deal? Only you can answer that for your book, I guess.

I think a book isn't possible without a change in one of the major characters.

And, just my opinion, in the beginning of LOTR Frodo was happy, he was in love with the Shire, he was content. By the end, he was haunted and nearly broken, although he still loved the Shire, he found that in saving it, it had been ruined for him, which is why he went to the Grey Havens, right?

I would say that he was completely altered by his experience, that he went from very innocent and optimistic, to very world weary.

Yup-if he dies and comes back reincarnated as a hunk of plywood-just think of plywood and the concept that it is ALIVE and can SEE and can HEAR-and can PUNISH-it could be Vonnegutian-Kilgore Plywood sees the world from the teinted yet somehow fresh view of plywood!

I think it is possible to write a book where the MC doesn't change, but if that happens, you at least have to have the MC coming to a new understanding about herself or her situation. Change and growth is ideal, but IMHO, a profound kind of discovery can have the same sort of story impact.

Or you could possibly have a story in which the MC desperately needs to change - and the reader sees this -- but is unable to. That would be a downer, but dramatically viable and often realistic.

ClaudiaGray said:

I think it is possible to write a book where the MC doesn't change, but if that happens, you at least have to have the MC coming to a new understanding about herself or her situation. Change and growth is ideal, but IMHO, a profound kind of discovery can have the same sort of story impact.

Or you could possibly have a story in which the MC desperately needs to change - and the reader sees this -- but is unable to. That would be a downer, but dramatically viable and often realistic.

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Discovery is change. understanding is change. I stick with what I said. It is impossible.

I'm about to get tomatoes thrown at me, but I disagree. Yes, most books in our genre are character-driven, and therefore going to require an arc of the main character's development. However, some books are more plot-driven and do not require this - for example, the mystery genre will rely on plot twists and turns, rather than the MC actively changing and growing, because it is more effective.

So, my question - is your book plot-driven? Is there a quest, a mystery, some outside influence involved? You may not necessarily need a large character arc in those cases, you are more concerned with having your character figure everything out and your plot be wrapped up in a nice, shiny, logical bow.

Now, that isn't saying that you don't need interesting, 3-D characters. People wouldn't love Sherlock Holmes mysteries or the Amelia Peabody series without the main characters' depth. They don't actually change much because of the mysteries they solved, but they do entertain the readers and keep them involved.

Also, if you are planning this as the beginning of a series and you are introducing some major plot elements and problems-to-be-solved, any arc you have isn't going to have to be as big...that will happen over the course of the whole series.

All that being said...character arcs do make things a little more interesting and if you aren't writing a very plot-driven book, it will be harder without one. Good luck!

People change. You cannot write a book without ending up with a changed character. If it were possible, which it isn't, nobody would read it.

Nancy Drew never changed. She may have learned this or that, but her actual character, what makes her up, never changed. People weren't reading to find out more about Nancy's life, but to find out which mystery she was going to solve and how.

There are also plenty of books where the author intentionally makes the character refuse to change...and that is another method of dealing with characters - stagnation. The character may have gone through all of these issues and problems, but they don't learn anything and that is the message of the book. It happens.

Not saying it's a good idea, but there are non-character-driven books. And I don't think we are talking about small changes when we discuss character development. As in: yes that person has technically changed because when we started the book she was blonde, but her friend died her hair and now she's a red-head...but what makes up her personality, thoughts, and feelings could be exactly the same. She didn't actually develop, which is the issue.

Just my opinion though, I think people just have a different definition of what character development constitutes...hooray for such a subjective area!

MerryDay said:

Nancy Drew never changed. She may have learned this or that, but her actual character, what makes her up, never changed. People weren't reading to find out more about Nancy's life, but to find out which mystery she was going to solve and how.

There are also plenty of books where the author intentionally makes the character refuse to change...and that is another method of dealing with characters - stagnation. The character may have gone through all of these issues and problems, but they don't learn anything and that is the message of the book. It happens.

Not saying it's a good idea, but there are non-character-driven books. And I don't think we are talking about small changes when we discuss character development. As in: yes that person has technically changed because when we started the book she was blonde, but her friend died her hair and now she's a red-head...but what makes up her personality, thoughts, and feelings could be exactly the same. She didn't actually develop, which is the issue.

Just my opinion though, I think people just have a different definition of what character development constitutes...hooray for such a subjective area!

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She never once borrowed what she learned from one experience and used that information to help her through another? I thought she was a bit like the Hardy Boys...they developed their skills from book to book. That's change. I don't mean to argue...but this is challenging what I believe novels to be for...

Sometimes, it's just as poignant to have a character to through hell, to see everything wrong with who they are and what they're doing, and then not change.

oh stop it. That rollercoaster to hell ride always changes the character. Am I a one-man army, here? (-;

I wonder did Indiana Jones in harris tweed change?

i have to agree with ktc.
there has to be a character arc. all characters should go through some sort of change.
It is not natural or human for people not to react to and change according to the situations, people, circumstances, fortunes/misfortunes and life that surround them.

Yes.

yes, I agree that characters must change for a really well-rounded book. I don't really like books that are so about the plot that they use the characters only as tools. People are important. I like to hear about them, too.

Danger Jane said:

I wonder did Indiana Jones in harris tweed change?

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I would say that he did! don't tell me that being thrown into and getting out of a snake pit, while being horrified of snakes didn't change him.


Novels are different than movies too, in that changes can be so subtle.
I just got done with Disobedience, by Jane Hamilton. small path changes in the character's life, HUGE changes in philosophy and understanding.

I just got done with Franny & Zooey again...for the love of God, talk about CHANGE. Not to mention one of my summer readings>>>The Old Man and the Sea. Beautiful change. weeping change! I think it's time we pick up that book again, Trishka...you know the one. Paris. You. Me.

I completely agree that they should...just not that they always do. Again, that probably depends on what you consider character development though. I think it is a bigger change in the fundamental core of the person, something that will alter the way they look at life and respond to it. Not just a oh, well now she knows this one fact change. I'm definitely not supporting a lack of character arc though, just saying there are some books that don't have it. Because if there weren't a possibility of not having it, why would people stress so much the need for it?

Honestly though, I think this is just a matter of differing definitions of CD. It's a pretty gray area.

KTC said:

I just got done with Franny & Zooey again...for the love of God, talk about CHANGE. Not to mention one of my summer readings>>>The Old Man and the Sea. Beautiful change. weeping change! I think it's time we pick up that book again, Trishka...you know the one. Paris. You. Me.

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It is time we pick up that book again.
It's the perfect weekend for it, and it will help me with "Taking Lessons..." to be sunk into that world of change again.
pack light - we'll hop the next flight.

Some people change.

Some people go through a long period of denial and self-repression and act exactly as they did before because they can't face what happened.

Some people are so world-weary that a negative event can't touch them, or so optimistic that a positive event has little impact.

I think it depends on the character. Not everyone is going to change all the time. Most mature characters change by a very small degree in each novel, while the younger characters change a lot more.