Creating Character Arcs

The Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development

By: K.M. Weiland

Narrated by: Sonja Field

Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

Powerful character arcs create powerful stories.

Have you written a story with an exciting concept and interesting characters - but it just isn't grabbing the attention of readers or agents? It's time to look deeper into the story beats that create realistic and compelling character arcs. Internationally published, award-winning novelist K.M. Weiland shares her acclaimed method for achieving memorable and moving character arcs in every book you write.

By applying the foundation of the three-act story structure and then delving even deeper into the psychology of realistic and dynamic human change, Weiland offers a beat-by-beat checklist of character arc guidelines that flexes to fit any type of story.

This comprehensive book will teach you:

• How to determine which arc - positive, negative, or flat - is right for your character.
• Why you should never pit plot against character. Instead, learn how to blend story structure and character development.
• How to recognize and avoid the worst pitfalls of writing novels without character arcs.
• How to hack the secret to using overarching character arcs to create amazing trilogies and series.
• And much more!

Gaining an understanding of how to write character arcs is a game-changing moment in any author's pursuit of the craft.

Bring your characters to unforgettable and realistic life - and take your stories from good to great!

©2016 K.M. Weiland (P)2017 K.M. Weiland

Why We Read (Listen To) These Books

If, like me, you have read all of the other books in this genre (Story, Screenplay, Save the Cat, etc.), there is nothing really new to be found beyond a deeper look into the specific aspects of character arc. I like these books because sometimes a different perspective on the same subject can be illuminating. Instead of hearing Robert McKee for the fifth time, I can listen to Ms. Weiland say nearly the same thing. but from a slightly different perspective. Sometimes this is all I need to break through writer's block or a particular problem I may be having with a story. i would rank this book just after Story and above Save the Cat.

Doesn't waste your time

One problem I've grown increasingly tired of with advice books is excessive padding. Rather than specific advice, most books drag on forever finding new ways to rephrase the core thesis of each section, substituting repetition for insight.

Not so with Creating Character Arcs. This book is packed with pointed advice and clearly articulated examples. What little repetition exists merely serves to reorganize the majors points at the end of each chapter in a way that you can quickly reference for your own projects.

I also appreciate the bravery in giving real advice, as opposed to couching everything in murky terms of "personal judgment" or "taste." That's not to say that every piece of advice will apply to every project, but the writer recognizes that we can make those decisions for ourselves, avoiding the unnecessary qualifiers that plague so many other books in this genre.

This book is surprisingly dense with useful information, and it sets the standard, not just for writing advice books, but for advice books as a whole.

Character Arc Perfection!

If you could sum up Creating Character Arcs in three words, what would they be?

Character analysis mastery!

What other book might you compare Creating Character Arcs to and why?

There are dozens of books on character building, but this book shows how your character faces the challenges in your story.

Have you listened to any of Sonja Field’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first time I heard the voice of Sonja Field.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

This book equipped me with the tools necessary to help my characters fulfill their purpose in my novels.

Any additional comments?

Before you publish your novel, read this book!

Brilliant Resource

The ebook and workbook weren't enough; I couldn't leave for work without grabbing the audio version, too. It's packed with so much great character-building information you'll need to slow down the read rate and take it all in. During a rough week at work, this selection made the commute more than worthwhile.

This is a must own for story writers.

good tips but ironically lacks character

this plays like a cook book and really only has strenght if you can pace it and dart around looking for certain points.

because of its persistent point after point as an audio book it is forgettable

flat arc characters

If all the books on screenwriting and writing in general that I have read, this is the only book that covers flat arc characters. worth reading for that alone.

For what it’s worth

It’s odd for someone to refer to their success writing stories when they have write more books about writing stories than they have books containing actually stories. But this book generates good reflection. Take it for what it’s worth, which could possibly be a lot.

Best writing book I've read.

I'm so thankful for this book. The information was clear and understandable, there were a lot of examples and I loved the question at the end of each chapter. They made me think as I was listening and ultimately saved my novel from the trash folder (figuratively, I'd never actually toss it out permanently.)
There is a lot of repeated information from Structuring Your Novel, but I read this one first, and now that I have read that one I think this is ultimately the better book. I can't wait until the workbook is released.

I don't think this book translates well to audio.

I've tried several times to listen to this casually and I can't do it. The narration is (to me) flat and boring. The narrator has life to her delivery, you can hear vocal shifts but it's like one emotional tone or something. Hard to describe, like all the emphasis occurs in a narrow band and is delivered at a somewhat constant rate.

I think this book would be better in your hands than read to you.

I don't want to be too harsh on this narrator. I'm thinking this book was a tough task. Like "We'd like to hire you to bring life to the dictionary." Valuable information, a tough narration nut to crack. I'm too new to listening to audio books to know if the narration could have been done better or if its simply tough material to inject life into so the ear enjoys it and digests the message.

She delivers what the book promises.

An audiobook filled from end to end with Great teachings. I highly recommend to fellow storytellers.

Condescending

I coul not get past the first chapter where she assumed that her own misunderstandings about character arcs were also true for the reader. I bought this book because I thought it would be informative but I don’t trust the author as she hasn’t quite got the hang of writing this book. One rule of writing is to not underestimate your reader. Respecting your audience is a cardinal rule, you are serving them through your writing.

Disappointed

I was disappointed with this book and felt that it was covering the same points used in some of her other books. I chose to get an audio version of this book too, I felt the reading performance was below par for two reasons: 1. it was read much too fast, 2. it didn't feel like the reader had engaged with the factual content, and was just reading it to get through it, not to communicate with the listener. I've abandoned this audio book at 30% as I can't spend another 3 hours listening to this reader. I will probably dip into the kindle book for the rest of the content.

creating character arcs

absolutely loved it. so well explained with great examples. really fascinating and such amazing content

Learn to Write Mediocre Stories

Great book if you want to learn how to write contrived seeming stories that try to bash the reader over the head with a moral lesson.

Clear and relevant.

The topic of creating character arcs is presented in a clear, accessible way with relevant examples.

Not just for aspiring writers

Informative and compelling, I'd recommend listening to anyone looking to write or even engage with stories at a deeper level.

Thorough examination of the topic

Starts with the basics but then delves deeper. Discusses positive, flat and negative arcs. Gave me additional insight regarding various arc related questions in the last part.

You either want to take notes or get the book edition too, to access the checklists for each act.

Provides examples based on popular stories.

Content has been boiled down to the essence, without creating a boring read.

Speedy narration, needed to slow to the player.

This is a keeper for future reference.

An excellent tool

This wonderful book has given me a useful touchstone to use while planning and outlining my fiction. I think so highly of it that I intend to buy the print copy so I can have it in front of me while I work. The audiobook narrator did an excellent job, too.

not for listening

buy ebook (googleplay, Kindle etc) this is the way to read this kind of books. The book requires making notes and then re-reading those notes and re-reading specific moments, which is really hard to do with audiobook, especially on the go. If you have time to sit and listen to it with legal pad, then why not reading instead of listening? Personal opinion and experience, by no means this is a rule for everyone.

Excellent and Thought Provoking

As someone with a long standing idea for a book but little confidence in my ability to structure it well or develop characters well this was a real source of strength and confidence. I've read a few books on writing and structure but this has been the best. Prompting me to lose any sense of a false dichotomy between the two. That's one of the main considerations I took from it but it's primarily a wonderful book on character development and construction that I'll definitely listen to a few times as I go.