Whether the character succeeds or not is up to the writer. At a certain point, the character will appear beaten, ready to give up on spreading the truth. The world doesn't want to see the character's truth, and so resists. But the conflict in a flat arc is that of the odds stacked against the protagonist. A story without conflict is likely to bore readers, after all. The flat character's truth is known at the beginning of the story, and his or her (or its) quest is to make others in the world around them see that truth. The most common journey for a flat character is one of changing the world around them, as opposed to changing internally. The hero's journey for a flat character is different from that of a rounded character. If you write in a genre where character-driven stories are expected, your flat arc character probably won't be well received. But it takes a special skill to pull this off - and you have to know your genre well. Just because a character is flat doesn't mean he or she can't lead the reader on an interesting and adventurous journey. This is common in plot-driven novels, such as thrillers, mysteries, and crime novels. But flat characters can, and often do, take center stage as a story's protagonist. Usually, each flat character has a specific use in the plot to further the story. You often see the flat character type used as secondary characters. As you can probably guess, dynamic characters experience change and therefore have a positive or negative arc. Note: A static character is often referred to in comparison to a dynamic character. In short, a flat character is always static, but a static character isn't always flat. Static characters, although they lack a change arc, can still be much more interesting and nuanced than flat characters, who only have one or two defining traits. But, there's an important distinction here: A static character can be complex and nuanced in terms of personality, relationships, and backstory. A static character is one that doesn't change over the course of the story.Ĭonfusing, right? Didn't I just say that flat characters don't experience change? This is because there tends to be significant overlap between the two. It's easy to confuse flat and static characters. But, this isn't always the case, as we'll discuss below. Round characters are often protagonists because readers can grow bored or impatient with flat protagonists. Round characters have internal conflict, flat ones don't. This can be a “good” change as in a positive character arc or a “bad” change as in a negative character arc.Īdditionally, a rounded character will be complex in terms of desires, personality traits, relationships, and backstory. A round character, on the other hand, changes over the course of the story. A flat character is defined by the lack of an arc, either positive or negative. The biggest difference between a flat and round character is the arc. Follow this template and you'll find your characters are just jumping off the page at you (not literally, unfortunately) Get it FREE! Flat Characters vs. To further explore flat characters, it's helpful to compare them to round and static characters.īy the way, if you want to really flesh out your characters, we've got an all-inclusive character profile builder that you can look at. We'll get into some examples later, but for now just know that a flat character can be used to great or detrimental effect, depending on their purpose in the story and even the genre in which you're writing. They also usually lack complex personality traits. The two-dimensional character's journey is often described as having a flat arc, meaning they don't change from the beginning of the story to the end.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |