A character arc is the transformative journey your character goes through over the course of the story. I often see character arcs as equations in my head. Who is your character at the beginning of the story? Who is your character at the end of the story? What affected the change?
Developing your characters effectively ensures that they evolve, learn, and change in meaningful ways.
Forgive my handwriting.
How to do this
Study your plotline. Study your character profile. Study the inciting incident, the plot points, the climax and the resolution. How does your character react to obstacles as they arise? Are there significant changes in how your character reacts?
Plan character arcs that involve a natural progression from an initial state to a changed or evolved state by the end of the narrative. If your character is hot-headed and quick to action, how do they react at the end of the story? Are they calmer, and more likely to think before they act?
Consider the challenges and conflicts that will prompt this growth, as well as the lessons or realisations characters will experience.
Maybe brash action from your protagonist resulted in injury or the loss of a loved one. Consider how this affects your protagonist and how the change is reflected in their attitudes.
One prominent example is Lockwood in the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. At the beginning of the story, we meet Anthony Lockwood, a young man with a lot to prove. After the suspicious death of his parents, Lockwood inherits their house and uses the space to set up the ramshackle ghost-hunting agency, Lockwood & Co.
Lockwood is…audacious, to say the least. Along with two other ghost-hunters, teenagers like himself, he tackles cases no one (in their right mind) will take on. Initially, we meet a charismatic but reckless young man. One with deep-seated trauma surrounding the death of his parents and his sister. He wants to prove himself. To his dead sister, to his parents, to the elite ghost-hunting agencies, to DEPRAC (the police-like agency-monitoring system), to Lucy and George (his companions). And most of all, to himself.
He is often brazen and impudent. But as his actions bring his colleagues and friends closer and closer to danger, we see Lockwood change. Anthony mellows. He thinks before he dives. He opens up about his past. He stops responding to provocative words. Yes, once in a while, we still see a glimpse of that cocky teenager, but at the end of each book (and the entire book series), we see a new Lockwood.
One polished by a great character arc.
If it isn’t obvious, I enjoyed Jonathan Stroud’s book series and I have read it numerous times. And each time, I see a new way to improve my character arcs.
This is what a character arc should do. Show growth and development.
What not to do
Unrealistic and rushed character development.
This is a common pitfall. Characters must change in response to experiences (the plot), and these changes should be portrayed gradually and realistically.
Lockwood didn’t change in one chapter. He didn’t completely change in one book. His character arc spanned the entirety of the five-book series and it was a delight to read.
Summary
Foreshadow character development, showing the gradual impact of experiences on the character's beliefs and behaviours.
Do not rush character development or force changes that are inconsistent with the character's established traits and experiences.