The Metamorphose of Main Character
In this article, writers will learn
- The importance of change
- How plotting sets up change
- The difference between internal and external change
Story is about change!
Change is inevitable. There’s no getting around it or side-stepping it. It’s an obstacle we have to push through, similar to feeling stuck in the middle of the tunnel. Our fear takes over and all we want to do is either lie down and cry, go back the way we came, or do what we were meant to do—put on our big-girl chonies and fight until the light at the end of the tunnel reveals itself.
When we fight to see the light, we are transforming, or changing. We battle our mind’s demons and truly feel the experience in order to adjust our way of thinking. That adjustment we made is change; whether we like it or not.
We often read stories to learn how other people, or in story’s case, how character’s, act and react to a situation in order to help us as readers understand how we can deal with a particular predicament. The same is true in writing stories. We must make our characters change, whether they like it or not.
At the heart of every story, the protagonist starts out wanting one thing and winds up with another due to all the events, or plot points, that happen throughout the story. As Lisa Cron states in Wired for Story, “A protagonist without a clear goal has nothing to figure out and nowhere to go.” And this, of course, leads to a boring book.
Plot Points Create Change
When we outline or plot our novel, we’re creating a kind of timeline of events. The events alone are boring. Because let’s face it, plot points don’t have feelings. And if there’s no feelings, there’s no change.
Let’s use Grady Hendrix’s novel, How to Sell a Haunted House to tap into the main plot points, both internally and externally.
The main character, Louise, wakes one morning to a horrific phone call stating her parents are dead. Learning of your parents’ death is traumatic, but for the time being, let’s keep those emotional thoughts hidden and focus on the external plot points that make up this tale. And keep in mind, external plot points are merely events that will take place in the novel. We’ll incorporate feelings in a bit. Don’t worry, I’m not giving any of the book’s secrets away here.
- Louise travels across the country to find the house exactly as she left it; creepy dolls and puppets
- Her brother has a contract to throw out everything and start the remodel
- The dolls are alive
- The realtor says the house is haunted and to sell it, they need to get the evil dead things out
- The puppets and dolls come alive and try to kill the siblings.
- After the climax, Louise and her brother spend more time together.
This basic check list of external events is invigorating, but there’s no emotional appeal, other than you might have your own analysis of talking and moving puppets and dolls.
Remember, Louise’s internal plot points force her to adjust and change her actions and reactions throughout the story. This change is what makes this story more compelling. She starts with a goal in mind, and the external events effect that goal. Everything that happens to her should change the way she looks at her family and her mindset, and these experiences allow her to grow as a character, and a person.
Different and separate external events must take place that effect Louise on an emotional, or internal level. She left her hometown with a specific goal in mind—ridding herself of her crappy childhood memories, getting the heck out of Dodge, and moving forward to raise her child the way she deems best. Honestly, having walking and talking possessed dolls roaming around the house you want to sell isn’t enough. We need to know how she’s handling the external events on an emotional level, her level of response, and why she chooses that particular reaction to the situation.
Below, you’ll see the external events in italics. The following sentences are the internal drive showing the character arc of the story.
- Louise travels across the country: Louise is hesitant about leaving her five-year-old with her ex while she deals with her parents’ death and the real estate. She’s torn and sad because she feels her parents were the only one who truly understood and loved her.
- Her brother has a contract to throw out everything and start the remodel: The siblings have been estranged for a decade and they get into a physical altercation on the front lawn. Louise’s emotions are all over the place and seeing her jobless brother, who she thinks exploited her parents financially, is in the way of her grieving and completing the intended task.
- The dolls are alive: After throwing out the creepiest of the doll collection, Louise must face the creatures coming back to life and attacking her in her old bedroom. The dolls coming back to life are symbolic of how she hasn’t dealt with her childhood emotional trauma. By facing her childhood dolls, she’s also confronting her dysfunctional childhood.
- The realtor says the house is haunted and to sell it, they need to get the evil dead things out: Brother and sister have to work together to sell their childhood house. The siblings are airing out their dirty laundry and learning to understand each other’s childhood dilemmas.
- The puppets and dolls come alive and try to kill the siblings: The siblings have to work together by facing their fears between each other, their parents, and misunderstandings.
- After the climax, Louise and her brother spend more time together: Louise has a new perspective on the importance of family and will keep an open line of communication between her and other family members. She has learned throughout the story that her parents weren’t the only ones that loved her; they created the problem.
Hendrix established the underlying tone of Louise’s character arc. He started with her personality baseline from the start, and shows a clear temperament switch by the end of the novel. The ebbs and flows of her emotions are the character arc; one that starts in one place and ends in a completely different one.
To reiterate the character arc, Louise began the story believing her parents were the only one that truly understood and loved her. By the end of the story, she realizes that she’s been mislead and it was her parents that created the monsters (both the siblings and the puppets).
-RADolence
