Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Dynamic characterization: How do you show development/change in an inherently flawed character, like a psychopath?

Robert McKee maintains that people don't change, and that a story arc is not about them changing, but about showing how far they will go. A story arc, per McKee, consists of a character with a desi...

posted 8y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-03T20:41:52Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25933
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:54:15Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25933
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:54:15Z (about 5 years ago)
Robert McKee maintains that people don't change, and that a story arc is not about them changing, but about showing how far they will go. A story arc, per McKee, consists of a character with a desire meeting a series of increasingly difficult challenges to that desire until they are pushed to the edge of their capability and we (and perhaps they) discover who they really are. They don't change, but their true nature is revealed.

I'm not sure I agree with McKee on this, but I do think he points out something important about the nature of story. In some sense, at least, it is an exploration of the character by the application of increasing shocks to their system. Revelation may be sufficient payoff, rather than change.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-01-08T15:31:27Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 3