Character Beyond Arcs

    Knowing what a character strives for is important to drive the story forward, but just as important is where that character came from. This is defined as the backstory of the character, which has two aspects of character arcs: The Ghost and The Lie the character believes. As mentioned by some writers other than K.M.Weiland, The Ghost is also referred to as The Wound or an open wound. This is known as a harsh event that occurred to the character that still resonates with them presently. Some examples of  The Ghost would be leaving a homestead, having a fight with a loved one, being a sole survivor of a crash etc.. This event gives reason for a false belief the character now has, either about themselves or the world around them. This false belief is known in writing as The Lie , which defines the actions a character will take.      These two elements (The Lie & The Ghost) shed light on "why" a character behaves a certain way. In the case of Olive...

     When creating a character there are common aspects to think about such as their appearance, color scheme, maybe their fighting style, what the character likes and dislikes etc. Furthermore, what makes a character on a deeper level is how they act and react to their surroundings. This deeper level stems from the various parts of character arcs which answers "why" the character acts a certain way. This section reveals The Want component of character arcs.         K.M. Weiland  states within her site that a character's Want is defined as   their goal(s). In regards to the monkey faunus, Oliver Orilyus, his goal is to become stronger to face the Grimm, given he has been avoiding them throughout his travels. This goal furthers his search for power and leads him to the training academy called Beacon known for raising Hunters who prevail against Grimm, physical manifestations of darkness. If a character were to have no goal, there won't be...

     Below is an introduction of a character I have created over the years, named Oliver Orilyus. My process for making this character was through watching an animated show called RWBY by Rooster Teeth , who's series creator, Monty Oum, shared a character creation guide of the show for role-players. At the time of the show's release I was new to the role-playing experience, but through finding like-minded people on Facebook I began my journey as a creative writer. This blog will focus on the origin story of Oliver the monkey faunus, the components of making character arcs in general, and how his character arc is defined. Backstory:      As a young monkey faunus, Oliver seemed to loved his large faunus family. They traveled around to vast places across the forest they lived in. From the woods of the east to as far as the deserts and oases in the west. In their travels the family of monkey faunus encountered various creatures of darkness, known as Grimm ...