“For the love of transformations”
Transformation is also known as Character Arc in writing.
“[A character Arc] is primarily centered around the idea of change, where by the story’s conclusion, the character is distinct from who they were at the start, often as a direct result of plot events.” –Greene, Jim, MFA Published in: 2020
Characters typically change as you move through the story. They can start out “good” and transform into something on the other end of the spectrum or vice versa. Humans aren’t so rigid that they shift completely from one extreme to the other. It takes humans time to adapt to new ways of thinking. But in writing there’s techniques we can use to show character arcs in less than a lifetime or within a novel length read or less.
I am someone who loves transformation in humans. I think most people love to see other humans transform into something brand new and that’s why character arc is so important when it comes to story telling. Not just in stories handed down but also novels, movies, comic books and more. We even gush over seeing what seems like transformations in celebrities.
When it comes to being human there’s different parts that can transform. Without getting into the nitty gritty (like cell turnover) I sum it up to three basic parts which would be physical/material, our mindsets, and our skill sets. I don’t know if there’s one that people favor most but bodies and wealth are probably the easiest for everyone to see without much insight. This can be used in writing in a various amount of ways. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk has the main character digress mentally without his or the readers full understanding of how far he really declined. In the movie Karate Kid written by Christopher Murphey and Robert Mark Kamen the main character transforms his mindset first then his skillset transforms later. That’s just a few fun examples from popular movies. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster transforms from curiosity and wonder to resentment, spite, and vengeance. These are examples of mindset/internal transformations with Karate Kid including a skillset transformation. The Little Mermaid is an example of a physical transformation. I’m sure you could think of more great character arcs.
Why are we so entertained by transformation?
It’s nice to watch transformations because it shows us possibility, it helps us see ourselves, and a shorter timeline. There’s a lot of learning going on when we observe the transformation of others.
Possibility
When we see that other people can change this way or that, we get a concrete example of humans who aren’t in a fixed state. We can shift a stuck mindset into something more expansive and flexible. Transformation gives us permission to change, to try new things, and to shift toward our dreams when it feels like nothing is working out.
It helps us see ourselves
Some characters remind us what can happen when we make choices that don’t benefit ourselves and/or those around us. We can see how that character transforms into something we don’t want to be. Simone de Beauvoir says that we only know ourselves in contrast to others. We learn more about ourselves or the idea of ourselves from watching characters transform. The truth is we don’t really know who we are or how we are going to react until we experience things.
Shorter Timeline
Often transformation takes time especially when we are in control of our own transformation. There are times when something happens and it changes us immediately and forever. This can be good or bad. When we’re speaking of long term transformation, being able to watch movies gives us a visual representation of how transformation can change us over time but within a shorter time span. Instead of waiting years to figure out what might happen, we can learn from the characters in stories over night.
This just offers a few different ways on to look at Character Arcs and human transformation. I’ve added a link below to a resource on the importance of character arcs from Readers Digest if you’d like to dive in a bit more.
Feel free to message me and let me know what you find!
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
Resources
Here’s an article from readers digest about the importance of emotional arcs https://www.writersdigest.com/heart-first-brain-later-why-your-characters-emotional-arc-matters-more-than-your-perfect-plot
the Journal Article on Character Arc by Greene, Jim. This is where I got the definition from at the beginning of this article: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/psychology/character-arc-character-development/#full-article
