Quick Writing Lesson: Character Arc with The Song of Achilles (Patreon)

Another lesson! Though these lessons are for romance specifically, they obviously really broadly apply to all types of writing, so I think they work even if you don't write in that genre. Also, Patroclus is technically the main protagonist of The Song of Achilles but Achilles' character arc is a lot easier to explain and simpler to use as an example.

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It was fantastic to meet everyone's characters last week! I saw a range of vivid and intriguing characters already, which is great, because we're going take them through character arcs.

I'm going to use Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles as an example as we discuss character arc. The story is a romance between Achilles and Patroclus from The Iliad. Since the fates of the lovers in the ancient myth are well known, it's a good one to discuss without worrying about giving away the ending.

This week you'll all be participating in the [redacted Discussion]. You'll answer some questions about the main characters of the novel you chose to read. How do you think they will evolve and change over the course of the book? If I was answering this using The Song of Achilles, I'd note that Achilles is one of the rare romance protagonists who undergoes a largely negative character arc. He starts out as loving and innocent child who brings Patroclus out of his shell, but after being conscripted for war, he grows more less empathetic and more arrogant and violent, which leads to disaster. Next, we consider the character's goal. For Achilles, his goal was to say together with Patroclus and keep him safe. He also wanted to avoid his prophesied death. How does he attain it? He doesn't. He tries to, by both protecting Patroclus and vowing to not kill Hector (as that is what he's told will lead to his death). However, he fails spectacularly on both counts. Romances generally have happy endings, but it's not an iron-clad rule. The Song of Achilles is an example of a popular tragic romance.

Now we have your [redacted assignment]. Here, you'll go into more detail about how your character transforms over the course of your novel. Once again, I'll use Achilles as an example.

Achilles starts as an innocent, loving boy. His turning point is when he is conscripted for war, he slowly starts to revel in his own power and becomes more violent and arrogant. When Agamemnon wounds his pride, he abandons his fellow soldiers. He does not listen to Patroclus' pleas to let go of his pride and this leads to Patroclus' death as well as Achilles violent response. This leads to the end point where in his grief, Achilles starts to see how he let Patroclus down, he becomes more humble, he shows mercy towards his enemies and strives to reunite with Patroclus in the afterlife.

Looking at Achilles' arc overall, the big inciting incident is when Achilles is conscripted for war and goes along with it despite the dire prophecy hanging over his head, and Patroclus chooses to comes with him out of love. This is what sets all the big changes for both Achilles' character and for the central romance in motion. It is this decision that truly upsets the balance of the lovers' lives. It is because Achilles becomes involved in the war that he becomes more prideful and loses some of his compassion. This change is what leads to Achilles having a conflict with Agamemnon over his wounded pride. In turn, that conflict drives him and Patroclus apart and directly leads to the death of Patroclus. And because Achilles loses the love of his life, he realizes where he went wrong and becomes more like the man Patroclus fell in love with again. You can see through this arc how that single action Achilles took changed his entire life and led to a complicated sequence of events and a huge journey of transformation. This is the essence of the inciting incident.

Remember, characters can change, but they should be consistent. Achilles goes through a lot of change, but his core as an emotionally driven and powerful person doesn't. He progresses and regresses, but he still feels like the same person. He's a warrior from a young age, so regardless of what stage of his journey he's in, he's not going to suddenly cry over a skinned knee or faint at the sight of blood. You still need to consider the character's background and make the changes make sense and feel organic.

One important piece of advice for crafting a character arc is one I got from Beth Revis, who wrote best-selling romances like Across the Universe. She told me to consider what a character wants vs what they need. Often a character will start out a story wanting something, but that will be different from what they need and that's what leads to conflict and transformation. For instance, Achilles wanted to be remembered as a hero famous for his skill, but what he needed was to learn that violence is not strength and that humility and kindness are what makes a person great, which is what his love for Patroclus helps him realize. Thus, we have his character arc. So if you're stuck, you can write "what my character wants at the beginning is... but what they need is..." and that can get the wheels turning. It can be as simple as your character wanting to date a certain person, but not realizing they need someone else. It can be anything.

[Assignment stuff after this].