Robert is still on vacation, so Alida and Kathryn welcome special guest, Becca Puglisi back to the show to talk about character arcs and role emotional wounds play in our characters’ evolution over the course of a story. This episode is another one cram-packed with amazing takeaways!

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AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

Wait! If you haven’t yet listened to our first episode with Becca, go back and check it out! SWRT 028 Emotional Wounds 

What is a character arc? What are the three kinds of character arcs and four main components of a character arc? How can you use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to help with pre-writing? And how present does your characters wound need to be? Should you state it outright? Or should you weave it into the narrative? How many of your characters need wounds? And how can it affect your antagonist? Finally we discuss the details of finding your wound, and what it might do to your character.

Find Becca and all her books and resources at writershelpingwriters.net or onestopforwriters.com

What we talked about:

What is the character arc? (3:35)

What are the different kinds of character arcs? (5:23)

What are the four main components of a character arc? (7:20)

How can you use Maslow’s hierarchy in the process of pre-writing your character? (10:00)

How present does the wound need to be in the narrative? (13:44)

How do you reveal the wound on the page? (16:42)

What about wounds for secondary characters or antagonists? (19:37)

What to think about when crafting your wounds. (22:18)

What is shielding? What are the results of our wounding event and how do they effect the character? (24:57)

LINKS

 

Things we mentioned:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock
A Few Good Men 
The Incredibles

Want more about these topics? Check out:

Flash Tip: Character Motivation
SWRT 007 Arcless Protagonists
SWRT 023 3D Villains 

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.