Discussion How Long Are Your Character Story Arcs?

[Jsc]

Sup Chaos!

So, recently I've started experimenting with shorter story arcs amongst some characters of mine and, I've got say, It's been a pretty amazing payoff. I've been used to the old method of just: 1. Making a character 2. Seeing what sticks over the course of 200+ threads. And then, 3. sort of just summarizing the good bits into something resembling a story. Lol.

But now. Most recently I started doing short little arcs. Only between one and three threads long. And wow. It's been a really great feeling of completion. Very cool.

So, like I usually do, I want to reach out to the fan writing community and get some feedback from ya'll. So I'll start with the question,

Q: How long are your Character Story Arcs? (In threads/posts?)

As, I'm curious to see what everybody else has been experimenting with and getting some good results with.

Thanks!

 

[Junko Ike]

depends but usually I dislike endings so never finish and just move it along into something new.

 

[Ravenous]

I always set a goal for my characters (I.E Get really expensive Jewel) and the Arc goes on until I complete the goal or undergo some significant change like when my spine got destroyed.

 

[Boggo Flib]

Short.

Im done doing long stories. On chaos it is difficult to keep track of imo. Longest stories ive done were for Kezeroth, my Gen'dai and his father Saverok. Short stories are were its at.

 

[Auteme]

As people have said above — pretty short, and go with the flow.

For my Imperial Knight, Dorian, it only took fifty posts for him to overcome some of his major flaws and change as a character. Admittedly I didn’t spend as much time in private threads really developing, but I think his story is coherent and the arc is punctuated with powerful moments and time for reflection. Still, I’ve given him more room to continue growing and enjoy writing him.

Auteme started much like you described; I had ideas but no real concrete plan. I was over a hundred posts in when I decided where I wanted to take her, which was enough space for me to define her starting point. Now she’s completed her arc — overcoming her issues of self-worth and entering knighthood — she’s become an impact character, or a character with a flat arc.

Is there a formula? No way. Lots of writers don’t have a plan and go with the flow, others plan meticulously. The former tends to work better with the hectic nature of role play, but I’ve found having a bit of a plan works wonders for organizing my thoughts about a character. Something I’ve taken up is creating a “writing” tab/section in my character bios with all of my thoughts, inspirations, and ideas on arcs. I feel like it’s made my characters more consistent and my stories more coherent.

(Yeah, I didn’t really answer the question, but I wanted to organize my thoughts and present them. )

 

[Aloy Vizsla]

Joti\Aloy's arc has been... Long. For the most part anyway.

I started writing her as "Joti Johayc" early last year. She started as a simple bounty hunter, Wandering aimlessly after her clan was destroyed(something she sadly played a part in), A real depressing story to b honest. But her arc developed naturally. She met another Mandalorian ( Darsch Vizsla ) who showed her that there was more to life and kinda dragged her out of the mental hole he'd gotten herself into. She learned to feel and to trust again.

Then we both left chaos for a time, And when I got back, I thought I was alone again and so did Joti. So she returned to the hunter's life, got involved with some assassins and her first arc was basically complete. Then came a very short arc that tbh might just be the beginning of her current arc, Where she donned her new armour and put her skills to the test doing higher risk, higher reward jobs.


And then, Darsch came back. Joti found her, Fought in a war beside her, and what do you know, it's looking like they might be a couple! Joti shed her old name, Took on the name "Aloy" and joined Darsch's clan, Currently living life as her right hand woman and lover. She's almost completely changed too. No longer the angry hotheaded mercenary, But the calm and observant(but still fun and mischievous!) military leader. She's even reclaimed her honour as a mandalorian.

TLDR: As long as they need to be! Everything has developed organically and it's been amazing so far! 1 year in starting december! Might even throw Aloy a Birthday party ;p

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Well, I...

glances at threads based on a random idea that were either never finished or stopped abruptly because I couldn't think of anything else to do with them

y'know...

stares at the ongoing mammoth multi-thread Lord of Doubt storyline half my characters are part of

uh...

tries not to look at all the solo threads I've written by myself purely for story purposes

just...

or the two threads I've been waiting two months to do because they're major plot threads and I'm waiting to post with a writer I trust and have collaborated with before I want them to be juuuuust right

... yeah.

My preference is usually for threads to be a small part of a broader story, which I (foolishly, according to some of my friends) actually plan out ahead of time. I approach my writing here less from the perspective of it being a "game" where the goal is to simply have fun playing as a wacky and wonderful character, and more like a "project", which I take a little more seriously (just a little - you don't want to make this your whole life or get pissed off if things don't go your way) and put more "work" into than play, although the two are intertwined in this case. If I can find a way to incorporate elements from the major plotline into a smaller thread, then that's great. But I also acknowledge the fact that it really isn't everybody's thing (in fact, it's almost nobody's thing. What the hell am I doing, plotting RP threads months in advance? Am I crazy?), and you can't always do that anyway.

Besides, if you always stay within the confines of your self-contained little story, it will eventually get stale. Sometimes you just gotta cut loose and do a one-off heist thread with a bunch of strangers. And who knows? Maybe something bigger will come of it, or maybe it'll just be a nice little wild ride, a fond memory. At the end of the day, though:

(Oh, and the three-thread arc is great, you can play it like a trilogy or a three-act structure. )

 

[Fatty]

Literally years if they get an arc at all.

Am a slow snail boi

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

As long as it necessary and I have new concepts to try out with the character. Sio's and Kaida's arcs have never been that planned out, whereas those of say Elpsis or Enyo had a lot more planning once I started writing them seriously. Enyo's main story is pretty resolved, while Elpsis' is still very ongoing. I also like long threads.