"What is a positive character arc?", "A positive character arc occurs when a character (1) believes a lie (2) is confronted with the truth (3) and rejects the lie and embraces the truth (4) the acceptance of the truth allows the character's arc to improve: the character gains something such as redemption, etc." "What is a negative character arc?", "In a negative character arc, (1) the character believes a lie and is confronted with the truth. (2) The character either rejects the truth or fails to adjust adequately to the truth. (3) The rejection of the truth and the doubling-down on embracing the lie leads the character's arc to spiraling out of control." "Static Character", "A Static Character has depth (a few sides we can see and complexity), but the character does not change throughout the story. He/she is "static."" "Round Character", "A Round Character has layers of complexity that change depending on the scene and his/her motives, fears, ambitions, and priorities and values." "Flat Character", "With a Flat Character, we typically only see one side of the character." "Dynamic Character", "In a Dynamic Character, we see a character change during the story arc. That character might realize the errors of his/her ways or is forced to recognize the complexity and consequences of his/her situation." "Muse", "A Muse is a character that inspires another character to reflect, think, act, or to believe." "Protagonist", "A Protagonist is a character that the author or narrator wants you to sympathize with. That character might have flaws, but as an audience, we forgive them." "Antagonist", "An Antagonist is a character that the author or narrator does not want the audience to sympathize with." "Character Traits", "Watch for: sources of power, redeemable qualities, how the character moves in his/her space, tragic flaws, alien other, etc." "Personal Aesthetics", "These elements relate to the fate of birth: era, location, race, ethnicity, social class, relative wealth, family values, access to education, fight or thrive environment, profound experiences, values of society, community, and family, and what the character values, feels, fears, prioritizes, and what the character is willing or unwilling to sacrifice to get what he/she wants. Home is a big part of self-identity. Watch also for the conformity and propriety expectations of society and how that impacts the CUMULATIVE EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE and reactions of the character." "Atavism", "Atavism is any primitive instinct and is impulsive and emotional: anger, fear, love, passion or resentment." "Destiny", "Destiny is something the character thinks he/she can influence based on his/her faith, hard work, and beliefs." "Fate", "Fate is when a character thinks he/she has no control over where he/she ends up. The randomness of the universe controls events." "Foil", "A Foil is a character that has attributes that highlight the character he/she is compared to. An antithesis character might be not quite as good looking, not as poised, or not as intelligent." "Cumulative Emotional Baggage", "This baggage comes from the events and experiences in the character's life that influence how he sees himself and others. It can impact perceptions and might or might not guide the character in the right direction." "Sources of Power", "All characters have Sources of Power: beauty, wealth, strength, power, social standing, charisma, sense of humor, poise, cunning, savagery, or courage and the antithesis of those traits. Figure out what the character's strengths and weaknesses are and in what scenes or circumstances those powers are enhanced or weakened." "The Bigger Idea of Work", "The Bigger Idea of a Work is typically the hidden message that becomes a critique of the misplaced values, priorities, and beliefs of a character, society, or human nature. Watch for which characters get punished or rewarded and how and why to figure out the bigger idea." "What drives a story?", "Stakes and Tensions between characters competing for the same goal or resource DRIVE the story arc, IMPACT character arcs, and ILLUMINATE the bigger idea of the work." ""The Function of"", ""The Function Of" means how a specific element of the work "works/functions" to put the character under increasing pressure to ILLUMINATE the bigger idea. Watch for the increasing pressure on a character that forces him into increasingly difficult decisions and watch for what he is willing or unwilling to sacrifice to get what he wants." "Freytag's Pyramid", "(1) Exposition of Setting (2) Inciting Incident (3) Rising Action (4) Complication of rising action (5) Climax (6) Reversal of Fortune (7) Falling Action (8) Resolution. Watch for characters to gain, lose, and regain power and watch for which characters are eventually victorious or disenfranchised or marginalized or punished or rewarded to discover the author's critique of human nature, nature, society, or a culture's priorities, values, and beliefs." "Narrator", "A narrator is the "teller" of the story. (1) The narrator can be objective: reports what is seen but isn't in the story (2) The narrator can be a character in the story and be subjective: we can't always trust the narrator because he allows his emotions to create an implicit bias toward or against certain other characters or events. (3) A narrator can be omniscient, able to read the minds of all other characters. (4) Or a narrator can be limited omniscient, meaning the narrator can read the minds of some characters but not the minds of others. (5) Typically, though, a narrator who is a character in a story cannot read anyone's mind, but he might report what he thinks and might also interject his opinion." "Symbolism", "Symbolism is when an object or some other representation is used to convey new meaning to enhance a scene or to represent another idea in the story. For example, a raven might indicate bad luck. A storm might indicate trouble ahead. A teapot whistling might indicate building pressure. A clock might indicate time is running out, etc."
Download CSV
