Changes are in the air...

Friday Afternoon


Saturday Afternoon -->




Yes that's a wind surfer in Friday's picture and snow in Saturday's.



I'm wrapping up Prince of Light, the third and last book in my Night of Gryphon series and all my characters need to achieve their arc. Not just the hero and heroine but FIVE characters! This is causing me to eat way too many gummi fish and M&M's and drink too much diet coke. Unlike the weather, I can't have Taraly acting one way and then with the turn of the page she's totally different. She must repeatedly be put into situations that make her reassess who she is even if it's subconscious. The reader has to follow her progress.
Everyone wishes they could go to bed and wake up with that one flaw gone (I'll never procrastinate again) but it doesn't happen in real life and it can't happen for my characters.
Another challenge in my character arc is the fact it's a series. So growth has to take place over all the books while the change in that book needs to make sense. I'm sure we've all read books where we've thought, 'What? Did aliens just take over this character?' Since I don't have any outer space mind alerting characters in these books, I need to plan and plot (the dreaded four letter words).
But also I'm face with how much change is too much? People can make dramatic changes in their life but if one of my characters goes through this will my readers still like them? But if they don't change enough they become a cardboard or one dimensional character. So goes the tightrope walk of character arc…..I need some M&M's.
Have a great week!