I haven’t been reccing as many fics lately and I realised I’m already losing track of them so I’m dropping them all here to make them easier to find (for me and anyone else that’s curious), and I’ll keep this updated. Links take you to my original rec (or in one or two cases by re-blog of an authors post). All Steddie unless otherwise stated. Think I need a tag to help me too.
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That beautiful photograph of Joe Quinn as Eddie by Tina Rowden made me go hunting. Her website is great, and if you haven’t already seen them there are more portraits here.
see writing is funny because sometimes you have to google things like “can the human body survive with every rib broken” and other times you have to google things like “is there an ikea in manhattan???”
Reasons google is going to send someone round to do a welfare check:
Anonymous asked: My MC will have a "not my circus, not my monkeys"- behavior, but I want her to slowly want to help peopel as she gets more powerful throughout the series and eventually grows into her role as protector of the people. I want to give her natural character growth without it seeming "out of nowhere" or "out of character" since it will be a total 180 from the start of everything. Do you have any tips for the natural transition in character development that is drastically different from the start?
(Ask edited for length...)
Having a character do a complete but natural 180 between the beginning and end of the story is what's called a "character arc."
Here are the steps in creating a natural character arc:
1 - Understand the Internal Conflict - Stories are either plot-driven (centered on an external conflict/problem in the character's world), character-driven (centered on an internal conflict/problem in the character's self), or a combination of both. Character arc occurs in stories that are character-driven or both plot and character-driven, mainly in the protagonist and other important main characters. It's this problem in the character's self that causes who they are in the beginning of the story, and it's this problem that they must resolve in order to change by the end.
2 - Choose a Relevant Internal Conflict - Your protagonist needs to have an internal conflict that is relevant to the story events. If your story is entirely character-driven, the character arc is the whole story. The events of the story should naturally stem from your character's journey to resolve their internal conflict. If your story is partially plot-driven, the internal conflict should tie into the external conflict in some way. Both conflicts should stem from the same problem, or the path that leads to resolving the external conflict should lead to resolving the internal conflict--either directly or indirectly.
3 - Events = Experiences = Change - As the events of your story unfold, your character should have experiences as a result of those events that impact their understanding of their internal conflict. Let's say your character's internal conflict is the belief that they have no value beyond their role in a villainous organization. As the events of the story unfold, they would need to start seeing evidence that challenges that belief, makes them ask questions, and motivates them to push against the boundaries of that belief. In other words, as this character gets involved with things outside the organization, they start to see evidence that they do have value outside their role in the organization. This avalanches into questioning not just their belief but the organization itself and their involvement of it. As they test the waters of this new understanding and find confirmation that change is right for them, the change naturally takes place.
4 - Include Doubts, Fails, and Setbacks - Although you want the overall trajectory of their arc to be in the direction of their change, you still want to illustrate their doubts (Could this really be true? Do I really have value beyond the organization? Could the organization be bad? No, surely that can't be right...) and have the occasional failure or setback in their attempt to change. In other words, you don't want them to have an easy transition from where they are at the beginning to where they are at the end. Their internal conflict's claws are in pretty deep, so there needs to be some struggle as they try to move in a different direction.
5 - Show the Completed Change in Action - Wherever they end up, you want to give the character the opportunity to show that they've changed. For example, maybe the villainous organization comes at them with an "offer they can't refuse," and the old them would have jumped at that opportunity, but they're not that person anymore. Showing them refusing this offer illustrates that they've really and truly changed once and for all.
Happy writing!
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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!
vankaar
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