Re: Without a character arc?
Read Keith's article - it is great.
I prefer to think of this stuff as "emotional conflict" rather than Character Arc, becuase that covers more ground. The reason for an emotional conflict is because it makes a character human and allows the audience to identify with them. It's a doorway into the character for the audience. That character doesn't need to arc, but they need to deal with some emotional conflict that makes them more than a cardboard cutout the writer is moving through the plot.
I think the main "rule" in screenwriting is to do everything on purpose. So if your character does not have a character arc - that's because this particular story will only work if they do not have a character arc... not because you are a lazy writer or a bad writer and just didn't make the protag human. Anything you do in a screenplay must be on purpose - you did it for a specific reason that you can articulate... when you get into that development meeting and they ask why there's no character arc.
- Bill
Read Keith's article - it is great.
I prefer to think of this stuff as "emotional conflict" rather than Character Arc, becuase that covers more ground. The reason for an emotional conflict is because it makes a character human and allows the audience to identify with them. It's a doorway into the character for the audience. That character doesn't need to arc, but they need to deal with some emotional conflict that makes them more than a cardboard cutout the writer is moving through the plot.
I think the main "rule" in screenwriting is to do everything on purpose. So if your character does not have a character arc - that's because this particular story will only work if they do not have a character arc... not because you are a lazy writer or a bad writer and just didn't make the protag human. Anything you do in a screenplay must be on purpose - you did it for a specific reason that you can articulate... when you get into that development meeting and they ask why there's no character arc.
- Bill
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