Reverse Character Arc

saltylasagna · May 22, 2019

So I finally realized that if I want to really progress in my novel, I need to write out what the main characters arcs will be like. I've been brainstorming for the past few hours and I just came up with something that's either genius or absolutely awful.
A reverse character arc.
I'm not going to get into the specifics of the story, so I'll just say that the ending of it is extremely violent, and no sane person would walk out of the situation as a mentally stable person with good morals. Especially the main character, who is the target of the violence.
However, I still love my characters, and I don't want them to decline throughout the whole story. I was thinking that I could have a normal, positive character arc throughout most of the series, until the main antagonist really starts to get crazy and the characters start to decline rapidly. I might include a prologue that shows how each of the characters have recovered years later, but I'm not entirely sure.
What do you guys think?

ap123 · May 22, 2019

saltylasagna said:
So I finally realized that if I want to really progress in my novel, I need to write out what the main characters arcs will be like. I've been brainstorming for the past few hours and I just came up with something that's either genius or absolutely awful.
A reverse character arc.
I'm not going to get into the specifics of the story, so I'll just say that the ending of it is extremely violent, and no sane person would walk out of the situation as a mentally stable person with good morals. Especially the main character, who is the target of the violence.
However, I still love my characters, and I don't want them to decline throughout the whole story. I was thinking that I could have a normal, positive character arc throughout most of the series, until the main antagonist really starts to get crazy and the characters start to decline rapidly. I might include a prologue that shows how each of the characters have recovered years later, but I'm not entirely sure.
What do you guys think?

Novels that center around a MC's fall from grace aren't a new idea. (Wolf of Wall Street, American Psycho, Death of a Salesman, etc)

No matter what plot/character arcs you choose, it's all about the execution, and a big part of that is demonstrating consequences--good or bad--resulting from your MC's actions and choices, not just what the Big Bad does to him/her.

saltylasagna · May 22, 2019

Yeah, I know it's nothing new. But I've never done it before and I don't know if it would be a good idea to use it here, because the story would end with the main character in a worse state of mind than when the book started. However, using an ending like that creates a good opportunity for a sequel if I ever wanted to write one.

LJD · May 22, 2019

I recently read Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Weiland. Much of the book is about positive arcs...but it also discusses flat arcs and multiple types of negative arcs, which would fit what you're describing. Negative arcs don't really apply to my work (since I write romance and it requires an HEA) but you might find the book of interest.

ap123 · May 22, 2019

If the idea is clicking for you, try it, why not?

angeliz2k · May 24, 2019

Oh, yeah, negative arcs are a thing. And you don't necessarily need a prologue (or epilogue) to show that the character is dealing with it later on, unless you think that your intended audience will expect at least a hint of redemption for your character(s) after they tread into morally icky territory. It's a bit like a HEA ending; it's not necessary. You can end on a dark/bleak/bittersweet note. You don't want it to come across as contrived.

One of my favorite series as a kid was Animorphs. As a kid it passed me by, but when I reread as an adult I was flabbergasted by the way one of the MCs falls apart in the final few books. Just emotionally goes to pieces and does some very questionable things. There's a hint at redemption in that we see him beginning to cope again at the very end, but he's still pretty clearly messed up. Negative arc, one of the best examples I can think of.

Laer Carroll · May 28, 2019

ap123 said:
Novels that center around a MC's fall from grace aren't a new idea. ...

Absolutely. Witness Agamemnon etc.

As for character arcs, I improvise my books. And every time surprise myself when I end each that a character arc has clearly emerged spontaneously without any planning whatso ever.

Lady Ice · May 29, 2019

Well, all tragedies have a negative arc in that the character doesn’t learn/learns too late because of their fatal flaw. Just make sure you’re not being negative for the sake of it.

Reverse Character Arc

saltylasagna

ap123

Twitching

saltylasagna

LJD

ap123

Twitching

angeliz2k

never mind the shorty

Laer Carroll

Aerospace engineer turned writer

Lady Ice

Makes useful distinctions