Growth arc, fall arc, or flat arc: Which character transformation is right for your story? 

Character transformation is the life force of romantic fiction. 

It guides your plot decisions. It sets up the reader's emotional journey. And it creates the framework for delivering the story's message.

There are three different types of character transformations you can harness, and each one opens up unique story opportunities.

What is a character transformation?

Before we look at the three 3 types of transformations, let's first talk about what a character transformation is. (Already know? Skip on down to the 3 types.)

A character transformation is the change from their original self to their final self in a story. This change is usually drastic enough that their newly evolved self embraces a totally different set of core values than they started their journey with.

In my article on character arcs, I gave an example of a caterpillar who transforms into a butterfly. The young grub has completely different needs, fears, and desires from its future butterfly self. Becoming a butterfly is the caterpillar's transformation.

Character transformation examples

Character transformations aren't always positive, and they're not always big and flashy. We'll talk more about positive vs. negative transformations a little later, but let's first look at some extreme examples.

In the Star Wars prequel movies, young Anakin Skywalker starts out as a sweet, naïve boy who only wants to protect his mother, then slowly begins to walk a darker path after he fails that early goal. He eventually lets his grief and need for revenge dominate his choices, until he becomes a hate-filled shell of a person that even his closest friends don't recognize and won't accept.

But in Episode 6: Return of the Jedi, Anakin (now acting as his transformed persona, Darth Vader) chooses to sacrifice himself to save his son. Through that action, and through his son Luke's example and influence in the movie's events, Anakin transforms himself again. This time, his motivation is love, not hate or revenge, and he dies at peace, as a better version of his previous self.

Anakin's journey in the first three movies is a negative transformation, illustrated through scenes that capture the five character-arc stages in a fall arc.

His evolution from homicidal overlord to protective father during Return of the Jedi is a positive transformation. The specific set of plot moments that enables his positive evolution is an example of a growth arc. 

Now that we understand more about what character transformations can look and feel like, let's talk about the writing frameworks that will help you craft powerful character arcs. 

Character arcs vs character transformations

In my editing work, I often interchange the terms character "transformation" and character "arc", but there is a difference.

The character arc is the 5-stage framework that defines how the character evolves from their original self to their fully transformed self. The arc is the set of specific stages the character must pass through in order to start and finish the change.

The transformation is the change itself and its scope of personal evolution.

No matter whether your character becomes a better or worse version of themself, they must go through each of the five stages in the character arc framework to become fully transformed.

In today's article, we're focusing on the 3 most important types of character transformations you can tap into as a storyteller and what the stages of those character arcs look like.

Growth arcs, fall arcs, and flat character arcs

Every character transformation is powered by one of these three types of character arcs:

What's the difference? And when should you use each type of character arc?

1. Growth arcs

Most main characters in romantic fiction experience a positive transformation during their story, so their character arc is a growth arc. 

In a growth arc, the character realizes they are hiding from a fear and takes steps to face and overcome that fear. 

If you mapped out the plot points on a graph, with their emotional journey as the Y-axis, their character arc might look something like this:

Notice how the character's emotional health ends at a higher place on the graph than it started, even though there are some bobbles along the way. 

In my Return of the Jedi example above, Vader experiences a positive growth arc even though he is an antagonist in the story. Growth arcs aren't just for the "hero" characters. 

Here are the five stages of a growth arc:

Viewed in order, the stages of the character's transformation may seem easy. All they have to do is progress from one stage to the next, right?

But in reality, there are temptations and failures between each of the steps above. That's why the example graph above isn't a simple, straight line.

You can craft your character's growth arc as a roller coaster of highs and lows or weave it into a warm-sweater hug of a story. The way you connect the 5 stages in the character's transformation arc to the 6 steps on their Emotional Transformation Ladder determines the intensity of the transformation journey.

2. Fall arcs

In romantic fiction, fall arcs are usually reserved for the antagonist of the story.

In a fall arc, the character starts out with good intentions but begins making compromises that erode their ethical foundations. Over the course of their transformation, they sacrifice the pillars of their moral compass to gain power, wealth, control, or some specific out-of-reach goal. 

On a plot-point map, the emotional journey of the fall arc could look something like this:

The five stages of a fall arc are similar to those of a growth arc, but the first and final stages are reversed.

Anakin Skywalker's journey from Jedi to Sith is a fall arc.

In the movie Leaving Las Vegas, lead character Ben Sanderson starts the movie in the middle of a fall arc (and continues on that path until he dies). 

3. Flat arcs

Flat arcs are as prevalent in romantic fiction as growth arcs, but because they don't depict a significant change from the character's starting self, they're often overlooked as a storytelling tool.

The two main ways romance writers use flat arcs for the protagonists of their stories are:

In both examples above, the character may have already transformed. Or the story may be establishing their pre-transformed self.

A hero with a flat arc might experience temptations and have on-page highs and lows, but they end their character arc in the story in roughly the same psychological, emotional, and/or physical state as they started: untransformed.

Questions and comments

Which of these character-arc types is right for the most prominent three characters in your WIP? 

What we covered in this article is just a starting point to guide your storytelling decisions, so think about ways you can use the framework of a character arc to craft a truly transformative story.

Leave a comment below and tell me what's tripping you up in your current WIP's character arc.