Discussion - Character Growth

[Hasith]

Character Growth is another main aspect of story writing. Most of the time writers prefer to let their characters grow along the story. This happens in various ways. Physical grown or mental growth (A kid become an adult or weaker become strong )  etc. Doing this carefully makes the story more realistic.

This thread is to discus all related things about Character Growth when it comes to stroy writing.

I found this interesting small article about various character growth types. This is a pretty good start for those who want to write stories.

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Regardless of whether your Main Character changes or not, how does he or she get there? Does your character simply flip a switch at the end of the story? Or does he or she grapple with and grieve over the issue right up to the moment of truth?

In fact, there are a quite a number of different dramatic pathways by which a Main Character can arrive at the moment of truth. The more you have in your writer's bag of tricks, the more dramatic variety you can bring to your characters' journeys. Let's look at a few of your options....

1. The Steady Freddy

This kind of Main Character starts out with a fixed belief about the central personal issue of the story. Act-by-Act, Scene-by-Scene, he gathers more information that leads him to question those pre-held beliefs. His hold on the old attitude gradually weakens until, at the Moment of Truth, he simply steps over to the other side - or not. This kind of character slowly changes until he is not committed to either his original belief or the alternative. It all comes down to which way the wind is blowing when he ultimately must choose one or the other.

2. The Griever

A Griever Main Character is also confronted with building evidence that his original belief was in error. But unlike Steady Freddy, this character suffers a growing internal conflict that starts to tear him apart. The Griever feels honor-bound or morally obligated to stick with his old loyalties, yet becomes more and more compelled to jump ship and adopt the new. At the end of the story, he must make a Leap of Faith, choosing either the old or the new, with such a balance created that there is not even a hint as to which way would ultimately be better.

3. The Weaver

The Weaver Main Character starts out with one belief system, then shifts to adopt the alternative, then shifts back again, and again, and again.... Like a sine wave, he weaves back and forth every time he gathers new information that indicates he is currently in error in his point of view. The intensity of these swings depends upon the magnitude of each bit of new information and the resoluteness of the character.

4. The Waffler

Unlike the Weaver, the Waffler jumps quickly from one point of view to the other, depending on the situation of the moment. He may be sincere but overly pragmatic, or he may be opportunistic and not hold either view with any real conviction.

There are also two kinds of characters who change, but not really.

5. The Exception Maker

This character reaches the critical point of the story and decides that although he will retain his original beliefs, he will make an exception "in this case." This character would be a Change character if the story is about whether or not he will budge on the particular issue, especially since he has never made an exception before. But, if the story is about whether he has permanently altered his nature, then he would be seen as steadfast, because we know he will never make an exception again. With the Exception Maker, you must be very careful to let the audience know against what standard it should evaluate Change.

6. The Backslider

Similar to the Exception Maker, the Backslider changes at the critical moment, but then reverses himself and goes right back to his old belief system. In such a story, the character must be said to change, because it is the belief system itself that is being judged by the audience, once the moment of truth is past and the results of picking that system are seen in the denoument. In effect, the Backslider changes within the confines of the story structure, but then reverts to his old nature AFTER the structure in the closing storyTELLING.

An example of this occurs in the James Bond film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." This is the only Bond film in which 007 actually changes. Here, he has finally found love which has filled the hole in his heart that previously drove him. He resigns the force and gets married. End of structure. Then, in additional storytelling, his wife is killed by the villain, and his angst is restored so good ol' James Bond can return just as he was in the next sequel.

Variations....

Each of these kinds of characters may be aware that he or she is flirting with change or may not. They may simply grieve over their situations, or just breeze through them, not considering how they might be changing in either case. Each of these character may arrive at a Leap of Faith where they must make a conscious decision to do things the same way or a different way, or each may arrive at a Non-Leap of Faith story conclusion, where they never even realize they have been changed, they just are. The important thing is that the AUDIENCE know if the Main Character has changed or not. Otherwise, they cannot evaluate the results of the dramatic argument.

There are many ways to Change or Not to Change. If you avoid getting stuck in a simply linear progression with a binary choice, your characters will come across as much more human and much more interesting.


Source

Share your ideas and opinions.

[Coryn]

while these are all good character types its best in my opinion to decide for yourself how you character would change. perhaps your main character doesn't even change at all. you dont HAVE to change the way you character thinks. in my story for instance the main character never truly changes any particular belief system. he does however effect those around him.

[crowheart7]

The main character I came up with is a

Self-Hating Nihilist

He may be a good person does but not believe he is a good person

He hates murderers and considers himself a murderer, so he hates himself

The more he kills, the farther he sinks, but he needs to kill.

[Iceh]

Stereotypes are sterotypical. O:
Hahha.
It's kind of hard to avoid some of those character types though.

I'll try to stray far away from them, but I know all of my characters will always have a bit of each of those in them.. I'll try to switch it up for the surprise factor though.

[animeABC]

oh i find that site useful.
once i was a writer :laughing11:

[everlastin01]

this is really helpful thanks!!! XD

[Suuper-san]

tvtropes.org is really useful in this, except its way more specific and probably have 200 or more personality types.

one way a character develops when they are placed in a situation where they can understand another person's viewpoint, and this affects how they view that person and can also affect how they act and treat everyone else.

[ekpeet]

I feel like character growth does matter, but characterization matters more. There are some stories that do well and don't have any character growth and those are because of characterization. Building up a character, their backstory. their interests, it's one of the most important things and rather or not that changes is up to the writer. I think if there is a lot of growth though, the whole story kind of just shifts onto that, rather than if you are aiming for a more deep plot. The reader may focus too much on the growth and not the plot you want them to see. With a deep plot you don't want to emphasis character growth too much, or it will takeover the story, but if your entire story is about that growth then definitely emphasize like no other.

[Lumaria]

It really depends on whether the story is based on character growth or not. In manga, it usually goes hand in hand. Character development can't proceed without the plot and vice versa.

[MahluaandMilk]

Another dorky idea to develop the basis of a character is to study the Chinese Zodiac, the Japanese Blood Type stereotypes, and the Westernized Horoscope. While they don't fit every person by any means, they can provide fun ideas of a building block of what might turn out to be a unique character given your own writing style or perception.
Once there is a base, you can begin adding detail, and with detail, weave in the story. Why does he or she act this way? Why does this character like or dislike this thing? Does it relate to this story? How so? So on and so forth until you've molded story and character together in a way that works for you.

[Crackhead Johny]

The other big question is do you want your characters to grow or just for the reader to get to know them better (or possibly both).

For getting to know them so they seem more tangible and less like cardboard cutouts, I find lots of witty/clever/good dialog to do a good job of this. good banter can cover for a multitude of sins.

Which gives you more real characters?
1. Your characters spend 7 pages sitting in an alley shooting the breeze and throwing empty beer bottles at the wall.
or
2. Character talks about how his dad had a drinking problem and beat him. His mom left home when he was 8 to go become a world famous cupcake chef, until she was killed by ninjas, who were not paying attention to the road, while rushing to a fast food joint, so they could get there before it closed (or ran out of commas), and how his best friend died trying to eat a live pit bull, on a bar bet. All while prepping for some fight.

I think 1 will give better results as you will have to sit in that alley with those characters. With 2 you just slap some cliche's in place and roll with it.

[Storytime]

I think character growth is very important in a good story. As the character grows the reader grows with them. As does the story. I also feel that, the character and reader, growing together creates a bond between the two. This in turn also works toward a deeper plot line. One in which you can find yourself personaly invesyed. The relationships you create and the obstacles you over come in your own life help to shape the person you are. I believe a good character, main or supporting, should also reflect this. 
     
     Anyway, thanks for the great post. An aspiring writer can never have too much knowledge.

[UnityCentrall]

I like to have the main characters keep their personality throughout the entire series but their opinions and outlooks change.