Arcs & Plots: Do We Need The Visuals?

Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of content on social media about character arc types and plot charts. So I had this moment of panic—did I create my main character’s arc or my plot incorrectly in my first novel?

“A character arc is a character’s personal journey. The most general and commonly-mentioned character arcs are positive, negative, and flat.”

Protagonist Dani Moran has a positive character arc, as she ends up better in the end than she is in the beginning, in spite of the conflicts and obstacles she faces along the way. A negative character arc would be the opposite, where the character ends up worse than they were at the start—usually in terms of their morality. And then there is the flat character arc, where a character remains unchanged internally at the end of their adventure.

There are lots of other character arcs—more specific ones—you might find while searching the internet or reading a book on the subject. I found that Dani’s personal journey also fits the arc types of overcoming and redemption. I even came across a chart that maps out what plot developments should exist in a redemptive story, and where. I was surprised that A Wonderful Place To Die follows it almost exactly, despite the fact that I’d never seen such a chart before.

When I began drafting A Wonderful Place To Die, I honestly put zero strategy into Dani’s character arc. From what I’ve heard and read, it’s common for a writer’s first book idea to just show up and demand to be written. That’s how it happened for me.

I knew automatically who the characters would be, how their individual stories, and the story as a whole, would start and end, and what the biggest plot points would be.

I did, however, have to strategize when it came to connecting different parts of the plot, especially to ensure proper pace was maintained. I also put more hours than I can stand to think about into weaving themes and concepts I wanted to address throughout the story in ways that felt natural. I probably rewrote certain passages of inner dialogue containing big ideas 20 times or more. But the peaks and valleys of the plot basically fell into place.

Although I have over a decade of professional writing and editing experience and a writing degree, realizing there are all these maps and lists about what comprises a good plot or a specific type of character made me feel sort of stupid and amateur. My bachelor’s is in Journalism, but I did take a handful of literature courses while getting it, and I also did a year in an MFA in Creative Writing program, and such things were never discussed during my studies.

One day, I happened upon the article, “Story Structures: 7 Types All Writers Should Know.” I read it, and I thought, but is it really essential to know these? Is any part of my process going to change as a result?

I’ve scrapped many a story idea. I never needed a chart to tell me something wouldn’t work. I just felt it. I think when we write, we instinctually emulate stories we’ve heard and read throughout our lives. They give us a kind of inner compass for storytelling.

Perhaps the new popularity of visual fiction structures comes from them being easy to make into—I’m going to say a phrase so overused in corporate America that I noticeably cringe when I hear it at work, because I just know someone who made one of the ads, blog posts, or infographics I saw about arc types and plot maps used it to describe their creation to other people—“digestible content” for brand promotion.

Certainly, there are good tips to be gained from lessons on arc and plot structures. For some people, having a formula to follow could eliminate analysis paralysis and save time. I struggle with analysis paralysis quite a bit. I see endless possibilities and am always going back and forth between which is the best. But I also think that trying to stringently follow a set of guidelines can cause you to become trapped in a little box creatively and limit the potential of your stories, as well as potential to grow intellectually. I shall stick to freeform with my character and plot developments.

Do you prefer to allow the rising and falling of your stories and characters to happen organically or to have a cheat sheet? What’s your process like? I’d love to hear from you. Message me with your thoughts at nightowl1471@gmail.com.

MJ Biggs is the author of the novel A Wonderful Place To Die.