Title: Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland
Medium: Book
Genre: Nonfiction (writing, how to)
Initial Thoughts: As always when I read something by K.M. Weiland, I love the break down of how she looks at each part of what she’s talking about. In this case, it is Creating Character Arcs. There’s a great explanation of how character arc, structure, and theme all play an integral and inter-twining part of any story. So it really sets things up as you read and gives you something to pay attention to, to think on as you read. It takes something that can seem quite complicated and breaks it down into something not only quite manageable but a lot of fun.
Favorite Part: Once again, I love the examples. Just having examples is always helpful, but using the same examples throughout for each part is a great way to really get to SEE how each part plays into the whole and gives some concrete ideas of how it might look in your own story. This, combined with the clear explanations make this an invaluable resource on how to write proper character arcs.
Overall Impression: I really enjoyed this read and am finding it super helpful in my own planning. In fact, I am using the questions listed in this book for my own characters as I outline my current WIPs. It is organized in a clear, concise way that builds on each section. THere’s also a great FAQ about character arcs in general and a nice little section on character arcs in series which is helpful since I seem incapable of writing just one-off pieces… Go figure XD
Recommendation: I would recommend this for anyone that has ever had any questions on how to write a good character arc or who may need help with writing characters in general. This is also great for someone that may just not know how to set up a character arc. If you’ve read her Outlining and Structuring novels already, this is a must-read!
To check out this and others, go here! https://www.kmweiland.com/ For further reading, she also has a terrific writing blog here: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/
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