How to Craft Negative Character Arcs For Your Novel
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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I wrote an article on how to craft positive character arcs.
In that piece, I explained the role that character arcs play in fiction, established the three types of character arcs, and broke down the ten major beats that comprise the most popular of the three: positive change arcs. I also asked if you were interested in articles on the remaining two styles (i.e. negative change arcs and static arcs) and your answer was a resounding yes!
Despite this, I found myself caught up in other articles and topics and failed to circle back around — until now, that is. Today, I’m excited to delve into the dark descent of negative change arcs with you all, soon to be followed by an article on static arcs as well.
Have a character for whom a bittersweet or tragic ending is in order? This is the article for you…
Examining the Negative Change Arc…
Like positive change arcs, negative change arcs deal in a tug-of-war between an Ultimate Truth and an Ultimate Lie. That said, negative change arcs aren’t universal in their makeup.
In her excellent blog series on this topic, K.M. Weiland of Helping Writers Become Authors identifies three major sub-types of the negative change arc:
• The Disillusionment Arc: a character overcomes their Lie but finds the Truth to be tragic
• The Fall Arc: a character desperately clings to their Lie despite the presence of a positive Truth, leading them further into tragedy and sorrow
• The Corruption Arc: a character lives in close proximity to the Truth but ultimately rejects it to embrace a Lie
Rather than dig into each of these sub-types, I’ll be taking a broad approach to structuring negative change arcs in today’s article, following the ten major beats found in nearly every arc of this nature.
If you’d like to delve further into one of the negative arc sub-types mentioned above, I recommend exploring K.M. Weiland’s excellent blog series on this topic.
Establishing The “Why” Behind Your Negative Change Arc…
As mentioned above, every negative change arc rests on the foundation of the Lie your character believes and the Truth that counteracts that Lie, though these elements can manifest in several ways. The Truth might be what your character needs to find happiness or peace, while the Lie represents what they falsely believe will bring them resolution. Or, the Truth might be a harsh reality, with the Lie serving as a false and often idealized notion of this reality.
Before developing your character’s Lie and Truth, identify the tragic flaw that will prove their ultimate downfall. Is it pride, fear, cowardice? Something else entirely? With this tragic flaw established, you can then define the limiting belief that will serve as the basis for your character’s story specific Lie and Truth. Let’s break down a few examples together:
Example #1:
Tragic Flaw: Anger
Limiting Belief(s): I can’t overcome my anger issues, which means no one will ever love me.
Story-Specific Lie: My new co-worker might be interested in me now, but she’ll hate me when she truly gets to know me. I need to keep her at arm’s length.
Story-Specific Truth: If I make an effort to overcome my anger issues, I can be the man I want to be, perhaps leading to a life-long romance.
Example #2:
Tragic Flaw: Insecurity
Limiting Belief(s): If I succeed at the highest level, my father will finally love me.
Story-Specific Lie: I can make my father happy if my start-up proves to be a success, so I’ll do whatever it takes to rise to the top.
Story-Specific Truth: There’s nothing I can do to earn the love and attention of my emotionally-abusive father, no matter the blood we share.
With these elements established, you can begin developing the goals and motivations that will drive your character to action (or a distinct lack of action) throughout your story, making it far easier to map the beats of your negative change arc using the structure I break down below.
During this time, you may wish to ask yourself the following questions:
What does my character want, believing it will bring them peace, happiness, or resolution?
What does my character actually need to achieve this or a far better emotional desire?
What are my character’s personal values and moral beliefs?
What line would my character claim never to cross, even under duress?
What would it take to push my character over this moral ledge?
What’s at stake if my character fails to overcome their Lie and/or accept the Truth?
What does my character believe is at stake if they release their Lie and/or acknowledge the Truth?
How does my character’s limiting belief affect those around them?
Mapping the Beats of a Negative Character Arc
Having established the core elements that comprise the foundations of a negative change arc, you can approach the process of mapping its beats with relative confidence and ease. Note that how these beats manifest in your story will depend on the type of negative arc you’ve chosen to write. I’ve done my best to address this variance below while keeping the breakdown concise.
Beat #1: The Hook
This opening beat introduces your character in their everyday world (i.e. before they become entangled in the arc’s core conflict). In Disillusionment and Fall arcs, the hook introduces how the Lie your character believes impacts their daily life, creating conflict within themselves and with others.
In Corruption arcs, this beat introduces your character’s Truth instead. This is best accomplished by showing how your character’s tragic flaw, which will eventually lead them to reject the Truth by the end of your story, creates conflict in their everyday life.
Beat #2: The Inciting Incident
Shortly after the hook, an unexpected event introduces a change in your character’s life.
Unlike in a positive change arc, where characters often mislike the opportunity the inciting incident presents, the change introduced in a negative arc often appeals to your character because it doesn’t contradict the Lie they believe. Rather, it offers the character an opportunity to reaffirm their Lie.
The most notable exception to this “rule” occurs in a Corruption arc, where the inciting incident prompts a change that will lead your character on a journey in which they reject the Truth in favor of a Lie.
Beat #3: The First Plot Point
Whether they’re attracted to or forced to accept the opportunity presented by the inciting incident, your character sets out on a literal or figurative journey in this moment, failing to recognize that this choice will prove the catalyst for their ultimate downfall.
Beat #4: A Series of Discomforting Events
As your arc’s core conflict gets underway, a series of events begins to shake your character’s firm hold on their Lie or Truth. In a Disillusionment arc, your character experiences a series of conflicts that hint at their tragic Truth. But instead of facing this Truth, your character clings to the comfort of their Lie.
In a Fall arc, this series of conflicts sees your character’s Lie act as an obstacle in their pursuit of a goal or resolution.
Finally, in a Corruption arc, your character is repeatedly tempted to reject their Truth in favor of achieving a desire related to their Lie. They may being showing signs of corruption during this time, though they’ll likely experience great inner turmoil as a result of their choices.
Beat #5: The Midpoint
Roughly half way through your negative change arc, an event forces your character to confront their Lie or Truth, leading them to take seemingly irreversible action.
In a Disillusionment arc, your character recognizes the tragic Truth at last, leading them to question and even act against their Lie for the first time. Alternatively, in a Fall arc, the character recognizes their Truth but actively chooses to reject it.
In a Corruption arc, your character rejects their Truth in favor of taking action to achieve the desire related to their Lie.
Beat #6: A Series of Devolving Events
After the events of the midpoint, your character’s ultimate downfall should be firmly underway. In the series of events that follow in Fall and Corruption arcs, your character embraces their Lie, even as part of them recognizes the consequences of doing so and tempts them to return to the Truth.
In a Disillusionment arc, this series of events sees your character come to understand their tragic Truth more deeply, even as part of them yet wishes to reject this Truth and return to the comfort of their Lie.
Beat #7: A Tragic Realization
Throughout the second half of your arc, your character has glimpsed the consequences of the Lie they’ve embraced or the tragedy of the Truth they now recognize. However, it isn’t until this beat that they truly experience the devastation of their Lie or tragic Truth.
Suddenly, an event makes this devastation painfully apparent. In Fall and Corruption arcs, this event is typically a tragedy that forces your character to confront the consequences of their actions after having embraced their Lie.
In a Disillusionment arc, your character is instead forced to watch as their tragic Truth proves to be their own undoing or the undoing of those they love.
Beat #8: The Third Plot Point
Devastated by the tragedy of their Truth or Lie, your character sees no hope for the future. It’s in this moment that characters in Fall and Corruption arcs wholly reject their Truth and willingly devolve into the darkness of their Lie, pursuing their Lie-driven goal with reckless abandon.
In a Disillusionment arc, your character instead rejects their Lie once and for all and sets out to either remove themselves from the tragedy of the Truth or face its inevitable consequences.
Beat #9: The Climactic Sequence
In Fall and Corruption arcs, the climactic sequence proves the culmination of your character’s attempt to achieve their Lie-driven desire. Ultimately, they’ll either achieve this goal and find the victory to be hollow or simply fail to achieve any victory at all.
In a Disillusionment Arc, the climactic sequence instead sees your character experience one final tragedy, often as a result of a course they previously set in motion. It’s all your character can do to stand by and watch the tragic fruits of their labor unfold.
However, depending on the events of your particular arc, this moment might instead see your character actively cause a tragedy, often their own death.
Beat #10: The Resolution
Most negative change arcs wrap up quickly after their climactic sequences, as there’s little your character can do to resolve any of the consequences of their tragic downfall. Instead, the resolution usually gives readers a glimpse of the character’s new unhappy reality or shows how the character’s actions during the climactic sequence impacted those around them.
Once more, I’d like to give credit to K.M. Weiland’s work on character arcs. Much of my knowledge on this topic stems from what I’ve learned from her website. Notably, her blog series on character arcs offers a detailed look at how each of the three types of negative arcs plays out using The Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights, and Stars Wars I, II, and III as examples.
Curious to explore other stories that include negative character arcs?
Disillusionment Arcs: Sansa Stark in A Game of Thrones, Tyler Durden in Fight Club, Frank Wheeler in Revolutionary Road
Fall Arcs: Ned Stark in A Game of Thrones, Achilles in The Song of Achilles, Dorian Gray in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Corruption Arcs: Cersei Lannister in A Game of Thrones, Gollum in The Lord of The Rings, Satan in Paradise Lost
A Final Note on Crafting Effective Negative Change Arcs…
When crafting negative change arcs, many writers make the mistake of trying to shock readers with an unexpected tragic ending, such as death or imprisonment. However, what makes a negative change arc so tragic isn’t the character’s ultimate downfall but rather all the opportunities they had to avoid that downfall.
For a negative change arc to play out successfully, readers need to see the tragedy coming. Perhaps not in explicit detail, but your character’s actions should nevertheless foreshadow their ultimate downfall. As a writer, you want readers on the edges of their seats, screaming at your character to stop being so bull-headed, or weeping into a pillow over your character’s hurts.
More often than not, shock factor will only leave your readers feeling cheated because it so rarely pairs with any real narrative purpose.
To craft a truly effective negative arc, instead establish exactly who your character is as a person and ensure that any actions they take reflect the person they are and the journey they’re experiencing. The more intentionally you highlight your character’s inevitable downfall, the more successful your negative change arc will be.
