When writing a Fall Arc, writers get to discover the gradual, usually heartbreaking course of of ethical or emotional decline. In such a Destructive Change Arc, the characters’ refusal to vary or acknowledge their flaws turns into a central theme. They maintain onto a Lie—a deeply ingrained perception or restricted notion of the world—that drives their actions and selections. Over time, this self-deception evolves into one thing darker, affecting not simply their very own decisions, however their relationships with others. Understanding the best way to write a Fall Arc may help you create a personality whose downfall feels deeply tragic and interesting.

In some methods, the Fall Arc is the darkest of the three Destructive Change Arcs. Though not as doubtlessly redemptive as the Disillusionment Arc (which hints characters could proceed their development right into a accomplished Constructive Change Arc someday of their future) or as tragic because the Corruption Arc (which gives the character a real likelihood of restoration that’s refused and which we’ll focus on subsequent week), the Fall Arc remains to be, for my cash, the quintessential Destructive Arc.

The Fall Arc gives an awfully highly effective window into the darkish potentialities for devolution discovered inside humanity’s great capability for self-deception. Greater than that, it reveals our virtually primal willingness to defend that self-deception even at crippling private price, actually on a religious degree, however usually on a practial degree as effectively.

Impressed by ponderings from my very own life, I needed to revisit this elementary character arc to discover among the nuances of the character’s fall from grace. What creates this fall? Why are even clever and “good” individuals prone to this insidious degradation? And how will you craft Fall Arcs in your individual tales that ring true to the patterns of actual life? Let’s have a look!

In This Article:

Writing a Fall Arc: At a Look

Let’s begin with an outline of the arc itself. Like its brethren, the Constructive Change Arc and the Disillusionment Arc, the Fall Arc begins with the Lie the Character Believes. From there, it deviates into darker and fewer redemptive territory, because the character proves keen to take no matter measures essential to defend that perception—irrespective of how more and more dysfunctional it might show.

Character Believes Lie > Clings to Lie > Rejects New Reality > Believes Worse Lie

The First Act (1%-25%)

1%: The Hook: Believes Lie

The protagonist believes a Lie that has to this point confirmed obligatory or purposeful within the current (usually harmful) Regular World.

12%: The Inciting Occasion: First Trace Lie Will Not Save or Reward

The Name to Journey, when the protagonist first encounters the principle battle, additionally brings the primary delicate trace that the Lie will now not successfully defend or reward the protagonist within the present circumstances.

25%: The First Plot Level: Lie Now Utterly Ineffective

The protagonist is confronted with a consequential alternative during which the “outdated methods” of the Lie-ridden First Act show ineffective within the face of the principle battle’s new stakes. The protagonist is given an early alternative between outdated Lie and new Reality. The character passes via a Door of No Return, which forces the character to go away the Regular World of the First Act and enter the Journey World of the principle battle within the Second Act.

The Second Act (25%-75%)

37%: The First Pinch Level: Halfhearted Makes an attempt at Reality Solely Half-Efficient

The protagonist could attempt to wield the Reality as a way of gaining the Factor the Character Needs, however does so solely with restricted understanding or enthusiasm. The character is caught in a limbo-land the place the outdated Lie is now not a purposeful mindset, however the place halfhearted makes an attempt on the Reality show likewise solely half-effective.

50%: The Midpoint (Second Plot Level): Glimpses Reality, Rejects Reality, Chooses Worse Lie

The protagonist encounters a Second of Reality, coming head to head with the thematic Reality (usually through a simultaneous plot-based revelation in regards to the exterior battle). That is the primary time the protagonist consciously sees the complete energy and alternative of the Reality. Nonetheless, the character additionally sees the complete sacrifice demanded in an effort to observe the Reality. Unwilling to make that sacrifice, the character rejects the Reality and chooses as a substitute to embrace a Lie that’s worse than the unique.

62%: The Second Pinch Level: Lie Is Efficient, However Damaging

Uncaring in regards to the penalties, the protagonist wields the Lie effectively and finds it efficient in transferring towards the Need. Nonetheless, the nearer the character will get to the plot purpose, the extra harmful the Lie turns into each to the character and the encircling world.

The Third Act (75%-100%)

75%: The Third Plot Level: Full Failure to Acquire Both Need or Want

The protagonist is confronted by a Low Second, experiencing an entire failure to achieve the Need. This failure is a direct results of the collective harm wrought by the Lie within the Second Half of the Second Act. The “means” caught as much as the character earlier than the “finish.” Nonetheless, even when confronted by all of the proof of the Lie’s harmful energy, the protagonist nonetheless refuses to repent or flip to the Reality.

88%: The Climax: Final-Ditch Try and Salvage Need

Upon getting into the ultimate confrontation with the antagonistic drive, the protagonist doubles down on the Lie in a last-ditch try to salvage the Need.

98%: The Climactic Second: Whole Destruction

Crippled by the Lie (in each the inner and exterior conflicts), the protagonist is unable to achieve the Need (or features it solely to find it’s ineffective). As an alternative, the character succumbs to complete private destruction.

100%: The Decision: Aftermath

The protagonist should confront the aftermath of all decisions. The character could lastly and futilely settle for the inescapable Reality. Or the character could also be left to manage, blindly, with the results of decisions.

The Catalyst of a Fall Arc: The Character’s Refusal to Change

Just like the Constructive Change Arc and the Disillusionment Arc, the Fall Arc character’s story begins when the protagonist is prompted to look at the restrictions of the central Lie the Character Believes. Though this can be a literal deception in some senses, the Lie is most correctly understood as a restricted perspective. As such, it begins as a wholly regular and germane a part of any human’s life.

For Instance:

In Les Misérables, Inspector Javert’s incapacity to simply accept ethical complexity leads him deeper into his personal self-deception, in the end making him incapable of seeing a world past his inflexible perception system.

We all maintain numerous restricted beliefs. Certainly, arguably, all our beliefs about ourselves and actuality are restricted. To the diploma we settle for this and are keen to embrace change as new data and expertise permits us to refine and increase these beliefs, that is merely a part of the regenerative cycle of life. Nonetheless, when this cycle is derailed by an unwillingness to simply accept corrections to our notion of actuality, the consequence will be more and more harmful for each the person and, ultimately, everybody within the neighborhood.

Though Fall Arcs usually look, at first look, to be enormous tales of nice downfalls, they usually have humble beginnings. The preliminary Lie the Character Believes will possible be one thing fairly small and innocuous.

For Instance:

The unique Lie may very well be one thing so simple as refusing to simply accept accountability in a relationship spat: “It’s not my fault.”

From there, characters who’re really doomed will discover they need to bolster this preliminary Lie with additional arguments: “It’s her fault. I’m in the precise. I’m righteous. I’m a sufferer. She’s egocentric. She’s a narcissist. And so forth.”

From right here, the corruption can develop to actually staggering heights, as characters’ resistance to actuality could even cause them to turn out to be the worst model of the very factor they’re denying: e.g., the character turns into the narcissist.

Various tales deal with this downfall to totally different levels. Some could reveal the extra mundane face of the Fall Arc, during which the character’s Lies are “small” sufficient to not intrude enormously with on a regular basis performance. In different tales, the character can be proven to fall all the best way into the very pit of darkish potentialities.

For Instance:

In Nightmare Alley, Stan Carlisle begins the story as an bold, although morally compromised, man. He desires to climb out of his working-class roots and construct a lifetime of wealth and affect, however he’s pushed by the fallacious motivations: greed, ego, and a need for standing. At first, he tries to justify his actions, believing he’s in command of the individuals round him. Nonetheless, his more and more manipulative habits, deceit, and manipulation spiral uncontrolled, main him additional down a path of ethical decay and self-destruction. His delusions of grandeur and the idea that he can outsmart everybody are his undoing.

In both case, the Fall Arc reveals a lethal spiral. Because the character devolves from Mislead worse Lie, the likelihood grows ever larger that the spiral will proceed with the character veering additional and additional into delusion.

The “Worse Lie” in a Fall Arc: How Smaller Lies Shield the Character’s Self-Deception

For simplicity’s sake, I discuss with the top state of a Fall Arc character because the “worse Lie.” As you may see, nonetheless, what this worse Lie actually quantities to are many “smaller” Lies ultimately constructed right into a grand phantasm.

For Instance:

In Black Swan, Nina begins with the small self-deception that she have to be “good.” This Lie snowballs right into a worse Lie: that she should destroy herself to realize perfection, one thing that occurs piece by piece and second by second all through her story.

Understanding this vital nuance makes it potential to write down a way more compelling and life like Fall Arc. In actual life, it’s uncommon for an individual to grandiosely self-delude besides in conditions of great trauma or excessive stakes. More often than not, the slide into delusion is the consequence not of 1 unhealthy choice or notion, however of a seamless refusal to simply accept and confront actuality.

The character could do that for any variety of causes. Virtually at all times, these causes quantity to a primal want to guard the established order. One of many nice ironies of human life is that although change is requisite for survival, our brains and nervous methods are wired to protect the established order at virtually any price. We do that not simply to keep up the equilibrium our nervous methods need, but additionally, by extension, to protect the ego identities we use as coping mechanisms.

Not solely are we’re able to believing in absolutely anything, however we additionally have a tendency to include these beliefs into our very identities—in order that to problem the idea appears like a risk to our very existence. This is the reason we admire heroic tales of Constructive Change Arcs; they show the great braveness required to simply accept challenges to our beliefs, identities, and methods of being. In most cases, it’s a lot simpler to stuff away the cognitive dissonance each time we’re offered with a bit that doesn’t match. It’s simpler to disregard the (tens of millions) of nuances that problem our tidy narratives each single day.

The catalysts that create tales of every kind are those who interrupt a personality’s life with such drive that change turns into inevitable. Characters should both courageously face the catalyst and be taught to increase themselves—or refuse the decision and as a substitute, inevitably, change negatively by more and more proscribing their view of actuality and their capability to increase.

For Instance:

In Gone Woman, Amy Dunne begins her deception by crafting a small Lie—that she’s the proper spouse. Over time, this self-image morphs right into a grander fabrication, the place she not solely deceives herself however manipulates everybody round her into believing her model of actuality.

Highly effective Fall Arcs present us the peril of refusing to assert braveness and Reality. In addition they present, poignantly, how even the smallest of preliminary denials can ultimately snowball into “worse Lies” that completely crack a person’s private integrity.

Within the Finish: Character’s Self-Deception Decays Into an Outward Deception of Others

Within the worst situations, the Fall Arc character’s warping of actuality can turn out to be so insistent and highly effective that it harms others. Typically, this may be the results of others being equally deceived by the protagonist’s insistence that the Lie is, the truth is, true. Most frequently, the unfavourable impact will consequence from the protagonist’s unwillingness to keep up essential integrity in relationship with, first, themselves, then others, then the world at giant. Relying on the ability the character wields, the impact of 1 character’s insistence on a Lie can have really horrifying results upon a complete neighborhood—and even the world, as witnessed within the demagogues of World Warfare II.

For Instance:

A media mogul obsessive about energy and management, Kane in Citizen Kane begins off deluded by the idea that wealth and affect should buy love and happiness. His incapacity to confront emotional truths and his manipulation of public opinion leads him deeper into isolation. As he clings to a distorted model of actuality, his relationships deteriorate, and his empire collapses.

How far you resolve to take your Fall Arc will rely upon the wants of your story. The consequences can vary all the best way from characters who merely “miss the boat” as a result of they lack the braveness to hop on, to characters who severely restrict and even destroy their lives, to characters who sway others into mass delusion.

In the long run, the Fall Arc is a gradual unraveling into self-deception. Characters cling ever extra desperately to a Lie that may in the end destroy them. The Fall Arc is a narrative of tragic inevitability. The character may have modified—however did not embrace the braveness of honesty earlier than it’s too late.

Understanding this arc permits writers to craft deeply compelling character journeys that really feel heartbreakingly true to life. The very best Fall Arcs resonate as a result of they replicate one thing deeply human: our resistance to vary, our determined must justify our decisions, and the methods during which small Lies, if left unchecked, can spiral into one thing much more harmful. Whether or not your character’s downfall is quiet or cataclysmic, mastering this arc can add highly effective layers of complexity to your storytelling.

In Abstract

The Fall Arc is a Destructive Change Arc that follows characters’ gradual descent into destruction as they cling to a Lie that in the end undoes them. In contrast to different Destructive Arcs that enable for redemption or a aware embrace of darkness, the Fall Arc is outlined by missed alternatives for development, making it one of the vital tragic and compelling character journeys.

Key Takeaways

• The Fall Arc is a gradual unraveling, marked by a personality’s rising self-deception.
• In contrast to the Disillusionment Arc, there is no such thing as a final redemption.
• In contrast to the Corruption Arc, the character shouldn’t be making a aware option to embrace darkness, however relatively resisting “the sunshine” of a tough Reality.
• The tragedy of this arc lies in the truth that the character may have modified however refused to.
• This arc displays actual human struggles—resistance to vary, justification of unhealthy decisions, and the compounding penalties of small lies.

Need extra?

When you’re fascinated by the darker sides of character arcs, try my electronic mail course Shadow Archetypes: Writing Complicated Fictional Characters. This course dives deep into the psychological underpinnings of morally grey characters, tragic figures, and antiheroes. Learn to craft compelling, multi-dimensional characters who wrestle with their very own interior demons.

Wordplayers, inform me your opinions! What challenges have you ever encountered when writing a Fall Arc? Do you battle extra with crafting the character’s ethical descent, holding them relatable, or nailing the ending? Inform me within the feedback!

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