Today on the Go Teen Writers Book Club, we’re discussing “Depth,” chapter twenty-three of Story Trumps Structure by Steven James.

Chapter Recap:
This week’s chapter was primarily about if, how, and how much your character changes over the course of the story. Mr. James said that some writers write to reveal what a character is really like on this inside while others write stories to show a character transform. He says, “The more profound the internal struggle, the more profound the change in the character.” He talked about how conflict shapes character in all people, for good or for ill. What does your story call forth from your character that he or she would not have been capable of without having experienced the conflict in your story?

Readers want to see characters struggle, grow, and become better people. Mr. James gives four questions to consider in regard to your protagonist’s relationship to your story. He also briefly states that genre, and stand-alone vs. series affects the answers to these questions. This got me thinking about my characters, and I thought it might be fun to answer these questions on behalf of a few of my characters.

One trick that helps me with character growth is to use character growth words. I stole this idea from Stephanie, then added a twist for writing series. Read this post to learn more.

Character One: Martyr, also called Marty. He’s from my book Replication, which is a stand-alone novel. Marty is a clone who has lived his entire life in an underground lab. He has never seen the sky.

1. Does this character become more complex as a result of this story or does he remain unchanged? Marty changes a ton in this book. He sneaks out of the underground lab and discovers a whole new world. He has so many questions, which is part of what makes him such an endearing protagonist. The more he learns, the deeper questions he asks.

2. Does this story show what the character is capable of doing or who he’s on his way to becoming? From the start the story, Marty is both curious and brave. That part of him doesn’t change at all. I think that showing him as curious and brave early on in the book set him up to succeed when he learns the truth about him and the other clones. Because of who he is, he is capable of saving the day.

3. What does this struggle draw out of him, and what does it pour into him? The story forces Marty to wrestle with truth and lies. What he always believed was true he is now discovering were lies. So, lies are going out, truth is pouring in, and he refuses to keep these realizations to himself.

4. What affect would this event have on this character’s personality? Dreams? Aspirations? Self-esteem? Self-confidence? First he is simply in awe of all the things of which he has been deprived. His only dream was to see the sky before he died. Once he sees the sky, he must find a new dream. Once he learns the truth about himself, his self-confidence grows.

Character Two: Achan Cham, star of The Blood of Kings trilogy. He is a kitchen slave in the manor of a ruthless prince. He wants to change his starts, as Heath Ledger would say in A Knight’s Tale.

1. Does this character become more complex as a result of this story or does he remain unchanged? With a series, it’s important to space out character growth so that even after the end of book one or two, there is still something more for the character to learn or discover. Achan starts out as a defiant slave, and that part of his personality never changes. If anything, by the end of book one, Achan’s personally shrinks a bit because of what he discovers about himself. His self-confidence takes a hit, and it takes all of book two to build it back up again. In book two he comes to believe he is worthy. And in book three, he’s all in to take back what is his.

2. Does this story show what the character is capable of doing or who he’s on his way to becoming? Again, I start out showing Achan as brave and sometimes defiant to his owners. I did this purposely to show that he was capable of so much more—of leading others.

3. What does this struggle draw out of him, and what does it pour into him? Achan’s journey is a little different in each book. Overall, the series draws out the lies he believed about himself and pours in the truth. (I’m sensing a pattern here in my storytelling…) His defiance isn’t always a good thing. It shows his need for control, which is another thing that slowly draws out of him through the series while trust is poured in. He must trust others to succeed.

4. What affect would this event have on this character’s personality? Dreams? Aspirations? Self-esteem? Self-confidence? At first, he simply lives a live of acceptance. He dares to dream but likely would never have acted on those dreams had his nemesis not pushed him. He’s almost reckless in regard to his own life in how he responds to his owner. In book two, we lose his personality as he struggles with the truth. He’s depressed. Everything he thought he knew was a lie, and he feels unequipped to handle what is coming. In book three, he has committed himself to the path ahead and has become a young man worthy of leading others.

Character Three: Spencer Garmond. My spy kid. He is the hero of The Mission League, a six-book series about Spencer’s adventures in a unique spy organization and living out his high school years.

1. Does this character become more complex as a result of this story or does he remain unchanged? With six books, I had a lot more time to let Spencer grow. So he didn’t grow very much at all in book one. Spencer’s go-to is making really big mistakes, so that’s how I let him become more complex. He just kept screwing up, which left him no choice but to learn from it. By the end of the sixth book, Spencer has grown a ton. I’m proud of who he became, which likely sounds weird, since I wrote him. But he came to life over those six books and I sort of feel like I can’t take all the credit for who he became. Weird, huh?

2. Does this story show what the character is capable of doing or who he’s on his way to becoming? Book one showed he was capable of being a punk and not listening ever to the adults in his life. He did admit he messed up. So that was big for him. Book two had him behaving a little better (very little), but he learned some truth in that book that cowed him a bit. (Can’t help but notice that truth/lies theme in my storytelling.) As the books go on, while Spencer continues to make bad choices, I also give him lots of opportunities to show his character of being brave and (deep down) kind. These little moments are glimpses of the young man he is going to become.

3. What does this struggle draw out of him, and what does it pour into him? His ego is drawn out, over and over. It’s a massive ego, so it takes a lot to draw it out. Poured into him is humility, patience, honesty, trust. All the things that, in book one, he thought were lame.

4. What affect would this event have on this character’s personality? Dreams? Aspirations? Self-esteem? Self-confidence? It changes him, slowly, in subtle ways. Compare his book one self to his book six self, and he’s a different person. Ultimately, he doesn’t give up his dream of playing NCAA basketball. And he’s still overly confident. The ego is still there. But he learned what things matter in life and what things don’t. He could give up basketball, and he’d be okay.

I don’t know if you found that helpful or not, but I wanted to show you that your character’s growth doesn’t have to be absolute. That wouldn’t be realistic. I also wanted to show you if you are writing a series, you have more time to grow your character than you do in a stand alone story.

Tip of the Week:

“Stories aren’t just here for us to see what the characters are made of but to make those characters into more than they are. Readers aren’t simply interested in what this character is capable of doing but in who this character is capable of becoming. Conflicts don’t just reveal characterizations; they also develop characters.” ~Steven James

Go Teen Writers Archived Articles to Help You Go Deeper:

Character Growth Words
How To Know If You’ve Done a Good Job With Character Development
Your Characters Should Be Afraid
Why Hobbits Make Good Heroes

Questions/challenges:
Answer the four questions for your character and see what you find out.

1. Does this character become more complex as a result of this story or does he remain unchanged?

2. Does this story show what the character is capable of doing or who he’s on his way to becoming?

3. What does this struggle draw out of him, and what does it pour into him?

4. What affect would this event have on this character’s personality? Dreams? Aspirations? Self-esteem? Self-confidence?