In a flat arc, the character has no significant interpersonal change as it's related to facing and defeating the major antagonistic force or conflict in the story. Not really. The character with a flat arc already has everything they need inside of them to face and conquer the story's obstacles, though it will not be easy. Welcome to the Write It Scared podcast. I'm your host, Stacey Fraser, a formerly repressed creative soul, turned fiction writer, story editor, and author accelerator certified fiction book coach. At Write It Scared, we tell the truth about why writing a novel is so hard by acknowledging that most writers grapple with two stories. The one they want to put on the page to the best of their ability, and the often subconscious internal story that prevents them from doing it. This show is designed to help you identify and rewrite the internal narrative holding you back while you discover and write the story you want to tell and learn all the tools to help you do that successfully. Join me each week for a new episode where we'll talk about writing to deepen our understanding of the craft and of ourselves as writers. Writing a novel is an inside job that we do not do alone. Welcome to Red It Scared. I'm glad you're here. Let's dive in. Hi, writer. Welcome back to the Write It Scared Podcast. I'm your host, Stacy. Today's the solo show, and we are going to wrap up our conversation on character arcs with the flat or static arc. And if this is the first time you're tuning in, so far we've covered the positive character arcs, which are growth and redemption, and then the negative character arcs, disillusionment, falling, and most recently corruption. And I will link to all those episodes in the show notes if you would like to go back and listen. So let's dig into the flat arc, which is also known as the static or steadfast arc, and occasionally it's referred to as a hero arc. Side note, a positive growth arc can also be called a hero's arc. I know, there's a lot of overlap. But let's focus on the flat arc. So you may have heard that the protagonist with the flat character arc doesn't really change in these stories, but that's actually not the whole truth. They can, and they often do, but the way they change differs from that in other arcs and how it impacts the overall narrative arc of the story. It's definitely worth mentioning that a flat character arc should not be confused with a flat or one-dimensional character. When it's done well, these arcs are very dynamic, but sometimes they're misunderstood and often they're underutilized. So, really quick, here's a refresher on the definition of character arc. Simply put, a character arc represents the transformative interpersonal journey of the protagonist. Of course, other characters can have arcs of change as well, but we're just going to focus on our main character today for simplicity. So, for contrast, in a positive arc of change, a character is going to begin internally unfulfilled and likely in denial about something, and they will move to a more fulfilled and awakened status by the end of the story. In a negative arc of change, you will see a character go from an internally unfulfilled place to more unfulfilled or worse, and they will often go into a deeper level of denial. Now, in a flat arc, the character has no significant interpersonal change as it's related to facing and defeating the major antagonistic force or conflict in the story. Not really. The character with a flat arc already has everything they need inside of them to face and conquer the story's obstacles, though it will not be easy. So what this means is that who they are at their core and what they believe is not going to necessarily change, but their circumstances very well might. As with a positive and negative arc, the flat arc needs to have all the same ingredients. They need to have wounds and false beliefs and fears and a persona that they use to navigate the world and keep them safe. The major difference between the positive and negative arcs of change and the flat arc is that the story in a flat character arc is not about the character overcoming or falling victim to inner demons. The flat arc is not about an internal awakening or reckoning. A protagonist with a flat character arc already believes in something, which we'll just call the truth to keep it simple. And that is going to help them fight against the antagonistic force in the story. They don't have to go learn the truth first, like we see in a positive arc of change. So to create a really dynamic character who has a flat arc of change, they have to evoke empathy from the reader, just like in all the other character arcs. And for that, we need to understand what they care about and why. And we need to know what hurts them as well as what makes them happy. And so that's another reason why you have to build them up with the wounds and the fears and the false belief and the persona, how they present to the world that comes out of all of that. We hear all the time that stories are about change, and that's absolutely true. But the main takeaway here is for the flat character arc, it's not the protagonist that changes. It's actually the world or the situation around them that changes. And the protagonist is actually the catalyst for that change. So the keystone to crafting a compelling flat arc is that a character with this kind of arc needs to be in a world that has a problem. And this problem needs to affect them personally at some point and drive them to take action. And again, it's their action that creates the dynamic change in the story that the readers love and expect to see. And it's because of the character's faith in what they believe to be true that they invariably change others around them as well, and typically for the better. And that's why a flat arc is sometimes called a hero's arc. Now, the character's world, which is the people, the situation, and the controlling entities, they will be a representation of the inverse of what the character believes to be true. So if something in the character's world or the world itself is evil and corrupt, then your character is going to need to believe in truth and justice and stick to it. What the character fights against, which we will call the lie of the story, is not inside themselves. It's in the world around them. Okay, I think I have hammered that point home, but it's really important to just anchor into that. So here are some popular examples of the flat character arc in literature and film. Mick Dundee from the movie Crocodile Dundee, Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, Dr. Richard Kimball in The Fugitive, Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Pollyanna, Ferris Bueller, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Steve Larson. So today, we are going to use my favorite example of the flat character arc, and that is Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games Book One or Movie One. So we're going to look at Katniss's arc through the lens of story structure, which again is that emotional scaffolding that the story is built on that will create the change, which will resonate emotionally with the reader to deliver a satisfying resolution. So, really quick, let's take a moment to zoom out and refresh on story structure and specifically look at how it helps to shape a flat arc of change. In its simplest form, story structure is divided into three parts: a beginning, middle, and an end. And when we put the flat arc through the paces of structure, here's what we see. In the beginning, which is the first act, covering the first 25% of the story, we will be introduced to the world and the lie that lives within the world. The protagonist will be introduced and will already believe in the truth, but they're not acting against the lie directly just yet. But by the inciting incident, they will be forced to engage. That inciting incident is the first whiff of conflict that upsets the character's status quo or their normal world. In the second act of the story, which covers from 25% to 75% of the novel, the character will face escalating pressures to conform to the lie. The lie is trying to break them. And while they're doing this, they will form alliances, they'll suffer losses, and what they believe will be constantly tested. By the midpoint of the story, which lands around the 50% mark, there will be some sort of revelation or a shift in their external strategy to overcome the lie. By the third act, which is the end of the story, the last 25% of the book, we will see the world and the lie within the world at its most vicious. And the protagonist will refuse to bend. And the climax, the ultimate showdown, will be the protagonist making the ultimate stand in service to the truth. And the resolution will show how the protagonist actions and faith in the truth began to change the world around them. So, in this framework of the flat arc married with story structure, you see that it's the protagonist's truth, which is consistent and clear and tested through action that maintains the trajectory of the story. The structure is your tool for showing how harsh the world is and how deeply it pushes on the protagonist to bend towards the lie. And it's very powerful when the character stands up against it at the end. So now let's look at story structure as it plays out through Katniss Everden's experience in the Hunger Games book one. And we'll look at the major turning points. So huge spoiler alert for the Hunger Games here. If you've not seen this or read the series and you want to, you're going to want to pause this. Don't listen. Come back and listen later. So at the start of the story, we're going to see a protagonist living in their ordinary world. And here's a key. They may indeed be living inside a very deep false belief stemming from a wound, but that is not the thing that they actually have to overcome to defeat the antagonist in the story. But it does make for a super compelling character with lots of depth. And that's why I love Katniss Everdeen and why many other people do, because she is so dynamic and dimensional. So the point of the first part of the story is to show the world and the problem that resides inside of the world, the lie. Now, here is a caveat. Sometimes in this type of arc, there's actually nothing wrong with a character's world. It's kind of pretty easy peasy limin-squeezy, and they don't want to leave. An example of this would be Indiana Jones. He's not really thrilled about going on any of these adventures at the beginning of the story. But in a case like that, it's often the ordinary world that is at stake if the character doesn't engage against the antagonistic force, if they don't take the call to adventure. But that's kind of an outlier. But more often in a flat arc, the character's world is pretty much a shit show and it's steeped in whatever corruption or lie that directly opposes your character's truth. And during the first part of the story, the character again might not be aware of the global situation that's causing the problem, or it's just not personal enough for them to take action, or they don't feel like they can, but by the inciting incident, again, that first bit of conflict, they become aware of it and it becomes very personal and they are forced to engage. That's what kicks off the plot. So here's what we see. We see Katniss living in a world steeped in this very powerful lie. Those who are in control are strong, and the people, the masses, are powerless. And this is enforced by the government's creation of the Hunger Games, which is a brutal event where children are randomly selected to fight to the death. And the games serve as a punishment for past rebellion and as a reminder for the districts to stay obedient. Katniss, who lives in District 12, where survival is a daily paddle, is a very tough, pragmatic, stubborn, loner type character. And in the story, and in this the beginning of the story, we see her emotional wounds and where they come from. Her father died in a mining explosion, her mother's depression forced her to become a caretaker for her young sister Prim, and she will do anything for Prim. And if I could sum up Katniss's false belief, it would be you can't depend on anyone else to survive, and survival is the most important thing. So, but despite all of that, at her core, Katniss holds on to this very deep truth that the system she lives in is wrong and the people deserve freedom and dignity. But she doesn't believe she can change anything about it, but she does believe that the Capitol is corrupt. So the inciting incident happens when her sister Prim is selected for the Hunger Games, and Katniss volunteers to take her place. And this is where the lie in the world becomes personal. And her entry into the Capitol and the pregames that happen marks her jump into the second act. And so now we're in the second act of the story. Katniss's external goal is to survive, and she is driven by this internal drive to protect her sister at all costs. So once she is inside the Hunger Games, she does what she does best. She isolates, she avoids conflict, and she uses her skills to stay alive, she plans to win, whatever it takes. She even prepares herself to kill PETA, who is the male tribute from her district. Survival comes first. But her energy is more reactionary than proactive. And while she's avoiding others, the pressure keeps mounting, and the overlords are driving her back into the conflict. And then we have this moment at the middle of the story. We call this the context-shifting moment where the character gets a new awakening, and they will gain new information that often alters the plot's trajectory, and it also changes the protagonist's energy. Now, the midpoint for Katniss is when PETA, the other tribute from District 12, saves her after she's badly injured from a tracker jack attack. Say that five times fast. And surprisingly, PETA protects her and she learns that he's not allied with other competitors as she believed. He has been faking it to survive. And so the idea that everyone is out for themselves just kind of starts to go out the window for Katniss. Though she still has this goal of survival, so she can return home. She's kind of awakened to the fact that there might be more than one way to accomplish this. And in the second half of the story, from the midpoint on, we see a significant reversal in Katniss's solo act as she allies with another player named Rue. And later she risks everything to save Pita when he's wounded. And so her actions are still reflecting her inner truth. The system is broken and corrupt, and dignity matters. She's still in the games, she's still fighting to survive, but she's starting to push back in a different way than she was before. Then we come to the final leg of the story, the last part, which it covers the all is lost and the climax and the resolution, the last 25% of the book. Now Katniss's lowest moment comes earlier than expected in this story, and it's when Rue is killed, and she mourns her. And in that moment, she performs this gesture of solidarity and defiance with this three-finger salute. And that's not a strategic move on Katniss's part. It's an act of truth and it sends a message to the watching world, because this is a televised event, that we're still human and dignity matters. So the climax of the Hunger Games is where the true story questions are answered and it lands about the 85 to 95% mark. It begins when the announcement that two players from the same district could share the victory. So Katniss and Peter think they have a way out and a way to defeat the remaining players, but then the rules are changed again and it says there can only be one winner. And we see this very climactic moment where Katniss refuses to bend to the lie of the world. She refuses to give in to the wrongness and corruption, and she finds another way. She will not play their game, and she is not going to fight PETA to the death. Instead, she calls the overlord's bluffs and threatens to commit suicide by eating some poisonous berries. And that had been beautifully foreshadowed earlier in the story. And so her plan is to take herself out and PETA with her. And what she's betting on is that the overlords of the game will not be able to afford this type of disruption. And this is what I absolutely love about the Higher Games. Katniss, who at the beginning of the story was this very solo actor and didn't trust anybody. And she believed that she couldn't depend on anybody or anything, has to turn around and trust that PETA is going to go along with her plan of eating these poisonous berries, and he knows they're poisonous. And so there is interpersonal change here, but it's not the dynamic change the story centers on, but it gives the reader this really emotionally satisfying conclusion. Now, the end-all-be-all is that her long shot works. Both her and Pita are declared victors because the overlords can't afford a disruption to the system that they have set up to control others. So Katniss's actions have shown the world, the masses, that she has outsmarted the corrupt game. And maybe the weak are not as powerless as they seemed. So, in essence, Katniss has started to defeat the lie that lives inside her world. By the end of the story and the resolution, the world has not completely changed, but the system has some cracks. And of course, it leaves it open for subsequent books. And this is why The Hunger Games is one of my favorite stories. Not only is it an action-packed thriller with an interesting dystopian setting, with a character with this steadfast arc who leans in and doubles down on her values and what she believes and has to stay true to that. But because she does it, she fights the corruption and makes the changes in the world. And that's just so good. And still, on some level, she does have interpersonal change that shows she did grow, but it wasn't her internal growth that created the major shift in the story. It's just damn good storytelling. So here are some takeaways for crafting the flat, also known as static, sometimes called steadfast arc of change. Number one, the character's core belief has to remain unchanged. The protagonist already possesses all the necessary qualities, values, and truths they need to face and overcome the story's obstacles. Number two, the character's world needs to have a problem in it, and the problem has to become personal enough to the protagonist that they engage in order to make a difference and a significant change. Number three, in order to create a really dynamic character that will evoke empathy from your reader, you need to focus on their past wounds, delve into their past, understand what hurt them, what they're afraid of, what they believe to be true that doesn't serve them, and what kind of persona they adopt to navigate their world to keep them safe. By understanding their backstory, you will evoke empathy from your reader. Number four, remember it's the protagonists' actions, which are based on their core beliefs, that become responsible for the change you will see in the world. Number five, the world the character inhabits is flawed or corrupt, and it embodies the lie that contradicts what the character believes to be true. And number six, the climax of the story is responsible for several things. It showcases the character's unwavering commitment to their belief system and values as they refuse to conform to the antagonist's rules or expectations, and it leads us to the decisive moment where the character's actions reveal their true strength and inspire change. And secondly, it's the place where the ultimate story questions are answered. So I hope that digging into the mechanics of the flat character arc and looking at the example of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games Book One helps you have a better understanding of one of the most dynamic and I think probably underrated character arcs in literature. And for me, it is just so fun to dig into these case studies. So if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at sacey at right at scare.co. And make sure to tune in next week as I'm talking to a new guest, Alexandria Fulkenberry. And we are going to be talking about her debut novel, Somewhere Past the End, which is going to release in May of 2025. And she is going to share all about her journey to publication. She was an absolute delight to speak with, so I can't wait for you to tune in, and I will see you next week. Thank you for listening to the Ride It Scared podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please make sure to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode. And please leave a review. Reviews help other writers like you find the voices and messages they need to hear to continue to write their stories. Let's lift each other up. Remember, you can be scared and still be unstoppable. I'll see you next week.