I'm a big fan of rapper/actor/author Common. In fact, he's my all-time favorite rap artist. His thoughtful, often introspective lyrics appeal to me, as does his wit, wordplay and cleverness on the mic. But one of the things that makes me a fan of his has been witnessing his growth as an artist and (more, importantly) as a human being. He goes from being openly, unapologetically misogynist and homophobic on his first album in 1993 to accepting LGBTQ and constantly singing the praises of women 30 years and multiple albums later. He even takes accountability for his string of failed relationships with celebrity women (including but not limited to Serena Williams, Erykah Badu, Taraji P. Henson, and Laura Dern). This change does not happen overnight, and you can hear the gradual changes in attitude over the course of baby steps and giant leaps taken on each of his songs. This is something worth exploring in your stories, as a character that grows and evolves can add longevity to them and keep them interesting over the course of a narrative.
Why should a character show growth?
Having a character grow in some way makes them relatable, because in life, people grow and change. Perspectives change, opinions change, circumstances change and how one deals with those circumstances changes. Legendary pro wrestler Paul "Triple H" Levesque once said "if you're the same guy you were ten years ago....you've messed up." Change is part of the progression of life, and if your characters can have some kind of change or evolution then it becomes easier for the reader to keep an interest in following their storyarcs.
Ways to show change.
There are a number of ways you can chronicle the growth of your character. The primary form is in the decisions they make throughout the course of the story. You can show them facing similar situations at the beginning and later in your story, and have your characters make totally different choices in each situation, with the latter decision being made based on the lessons learned from the first decision. You can also delve into your character's mind and show their growth through a change in attitude, opinion or thought process. Showing your character thinking differently about a topic than they did earlier in the story is a powerful way to show growth. A third way is to change their relationships with the other characters in your story. This is a well-worn trope in buddy cop stories and rom-coms, where characters that don't particularly care for one another grow to respect, trust and maybe even like each other over time. The change in Ebenezer Scrooge was most evident in how his treatment of Marley and his family changed. The key in each of these approaches is to show a clear difference in how your character behaves at the beginning of your stories and how they behave later on.
You can even fake readers out by teasing a change and potential growth only to have the character reject the opportunity. A story in the comic book Astro City saw a would-be alien invader deciding whether to try to annihilate humans while interacting with them. It sees their redemptive qualities and almost reconsiders, until a callous action by a human reinforces his original attitude and cements his decision to destroy humanity.
How the world reacts to the change.
In the Discworld series, Samuel Vimes is constantly trying to prove to himself that he is a real cop and not a thug with a badge. This is always reflected in his actions and thought processes, where he compares the actions he would have taken in his more inexperienced days - or the actions he really wants to take in the heat of the moment, to his actual decision to do what he feels is the right thing. Even resisting the urge to say a clever quip at the expense of a vanquished foe shows his growth as an officer and as a man. As a result, the tyrant lord Vetinari has promoted him and elevated his status at almost every victory, from lowly night watchman to Commander of an entire police force and an official noble and ambassador of the city of Ankh-Morpork. Vimes constantly proves himself to be a trustworthy man of integrity and compassion, and Vetinari recognizes that as a valuable commodity.
Your characters' decisions and stances don't happen in a vacuum. There are real ramifications and ripple effects to their changes that should be shown in your story. Some people may feel betrayed by your characters' change of heart. The film Regarding Henry sees the supporting cast taken aback when Harrison Ford's amnesiac protagonist rejects his former way of life and tries to be a better person. Some might not take your character's growth seriously, thinking it will only be a matter of time before they resort back to their old ways. Despite the altruistic actions and benevolence of Marvel's Apocalypse during the X-Men's Krakoan era, many of his former adversaries refused to believe he had truly changed. Others may embrace your character's growth., Or take a "took you long enough" attitude. Either way, there has to be a real reaction to the changes your character makes, and that will help the change resonate more with your audience.
Baby steps vs giant leaps.
The evolution of a person happens in both large moments and small. It happens in epiphanies and choices made, revelations and actions. Some of these might be small details that are minute in the grand scheme of things, while others are grand, life-defining moments. For your characters' growth to be more realistic and relatable, you want to showcase both the quiet and the loud of your character growth, and you don't want to put all the weight of growth on just one defining moment. But a defining moment can be an integral part of the growth. In the case of Apocalypse, the establishment of a serious mutant nation on a land he was familiar with was the tipping point of changing his attitude; after all, mutant sovereignty was the very thing he was fighting for throughout his adult life, and he just got his wish. Growth is a process, and change doesn't happen like a flipped switch. So be sure to feed your character stimulus, both big and small, leading them down the path you want them to go down.
Reversion and imperfect growth arcs
Character growth in real life very rarely moves in a straight line. Even as one evolves into the next version of themselves, you can still see moments where in certain situations they revert back to their old selves. It's the recovering addict having a relapse or the newly converted religious person "backsliding" into behavior they exhibited before converting. You can use this to create tension in your story and your character progression. Just as your character reaches a new plateau in their growth (or descent), you can place them in situations that directly challenge their new way of thinking and make them choose between their old ways of doing things and their new way. And what if they chose the old way? How does that affect their journey, and how do they get back on their path after that (if they get back at all. I'm Dreamgirls, Jimmy had thought he left his heroin habit in his past, but when he lost his record deal he fully dove back into his habit and it killed him)? How does this affect how those around them see their attempts at growth?
Not all change has to be for the better
Just as a reader will find a character maturing and learning to make better decisions engaging, so they will also find a character devolving and becoming a worse version of themselves engaging if set up properly. Negative growth is still growth. Probably the most famous example of this is Anakin Skywalker. Over the course of the Star Wars prequel movies, Anakin went from an idealistic, well-meaning Jedi Knight exemplifying the light side of the force, to a vengeful, hate-filled dark lord of the sith that has embraced the dark side. And you witnessed each agonizing step of his descent over the course of the saga with each opportunity to choose a different path a failure. Negative growth might be a little harder to believably pull off than positive growth, but it can be done. Be sure to make the circumstances and situations where your character shows their devolution clear so the reader can understand how it would lead to the character making the wrong choices when earlier they would have chosen differently.
Conclusion
In a good story, the central characters are usually changed people by the end of the tale than they were at the start of it. Pay attention to the process of this change, and you will add more depth to your narrative and make your characters that much more engaging. A reader can track your character growth and parallel is with their own progression, and that is a powerful way to make your story more resonant and memorable.
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