Comments on: Character Arcs: Making a Long Story Short

By: Jami Gold

Jami Gold — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 20:21:39 +0000

In reply to Shaquanda Dalton. Hi Shaquanda, So happy I could help. :D And yes, people don't realize how complex romance story structure can be with two protagonists, usually both with emotional character arcs. Good luck with your story!

By: Jami Gold

Jami Gold — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 20:19:39 +0000

In reply to V.M. Sang. Hi V.M., Oof to having to start over, but that sounds like a great realization! Good luck with your story. :D

By: Shaquanda Dalton

Shaquanda Dalton — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 19:27:24 +0000

Thank you for sharing this post about character arc it was very helpful 🙂 I’m working on a romance novel so the couple are both are going to have to go through a nice growth character arc.

By: V.M. Sang

V.M. Sang — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 12:06:46 +0000

Thank you, Jami. I am writing a story at the moment, but don’t seem to be able to find the conflict I need. As a result, it’s a bit flat. I suddenly realised that I’m telling it from the wrong POV. It’s inspired by Beauty and the Beast. I’ve been telling it from the ‘Beauty’ character. She hasn’t much development, but the Beast character has a tragic background and he’s the one who needs to develop.
Of course, that means starting again! After 4,000 words!

By: Jami Gold

Jami Gold — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 20:16:07 +0000

Hi everyone!

I’ve written a companion post to this one with even more insights on my blog: https://jamigold.com/2023/03/short-stories-can-they-still-have-character-arcs/.

If you write romance or other multi-protagonist stories, in that post, I also explore our options for multiple character arcs in shorter stories. 🙂

By: Jami Gold

Jami Gold — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 20:13:29 +0000

In reply to ANGELA ACKERMAN.

Hi Angela,

Yes! I’ve written a couple of short stories successfully because I can cut things down to the essentials, but I struggle even more with novellas — lol. My brain is like “ooo, more word count, add all the things!” No, bad brain. 😉

That middle ground is definitely the trickiest for me because then you have to figure out which elements you could add that would make the story even better and more than just its parts. You don’t want to add stuff that’s not going to improve the overall story. That takes hard thinking for me, so it was interesting for me to use this post to examine the options and better understand how those pieces can work together. 😀

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 13:58:24 +0000

This is really helpful, Jami. With shorter pieces, it feels like there’s so much to cover and so little room to do it in when you’re used to the luxury of novel-length word counts, lol.