The Character Arc meets Story Structure

This video covers how the character arc is structured.

Story Structure Series:

How to Write the Character Arc (components of the arc):

If you want to help support the channel, my Patreon is:

[samfowler]

When the world needed her most, she returned!

[timflatus]

Cannot be anything but grateful for an hour's worth of your expert advice. The occasional technical blips do not distract.

[mariliis]

Ellen, I don’t think anyone gives a hoot about the light or the camera battery, you’re literally giving away amazingly useful information and I’m super grateful. Thank you!

[EllenBrock]

I am SO sorry for the camera going out of focus at several points. When the sun got brighter, it shifted where the camera was focused. I hope it's not too terribly distracting! Thank you all for watching and for your support! ❤

[astrid]

I know I'll be referencing this video in the future, so I'll post this time stamps here in case it's also helpful for someone else.

2:15 The four components of the Arc
5:10 The Status Quo
9:46 The Disruption
12:19 The Debate
13:37 The Decision
14:43 The First Plot Point
18:16 The 2nd Quarter
26:07 The Midpoint
30:20 Reaction
30:49 Emotions Come to Light
34:30 Failed Attempt to Succeed
36:54 Things Get Even Worse
37:10 Lowest Point
39:31 The Second Plot Point
44:44 The 4th Quarter (Preparation & Approach)
45:53 Confrontation
48:21 Sacrifice
51:53 Aftermath
53:50 Summary 1st Quarter
55:04 Summary 2nd Quarter
55:59 Summary 3rd Quarter
57:24 Summary 4th Quarter

Thank you Ellen, as always, your videos are gold 💛

[patriciagordon]

There is nothing confusing about your presentation. You are always thorough and complete. Thank you!

[fern-vs]

It's always a good day when there's a new Ellen Brock video! <3

[mezlyndon]

Fantastic, Ellen. As for the camera stuff, it really didn't bother me at all. It's SO refreshing to have your videos stay framed the same way and not have endless cuts. I'm tired of videos cutting closer and further away all the time, and including a thousand editing cuts, as if the creator thinks my attention span is approx 2sec. I really like the constant angle and distance; it feels like I'm actually listening to you explain something, rather than watching a hundred tiny clips of a lecture back to back. So please don't worry about the occasional camera focus thing; it's far less distracting for me than the intentional editing other videos have. Also, I think we'd all deal with a lot worse tech issues to listen to such awesome content. Thanks so much for all the great information - I'm going to be watching this again & taking notes.

[Justpassingby]

Your writing videos have been my favorite on the platform. I’m looking to query my 3rd manuscript within the next few months.

[Poisonedblade]

53:50 Super Helpful Summary Here... shows how character arc is intertwined with the story arc.

[TheBossMan]

Legimately the only writing advice youtuber who clearly has experience and provides university level information for free. Thank you so much for all that you do :)

[myth]

Amazing video. I was already a big fan of the story structure and character arc videos. This one not only combined the two, but also enriched each of them individually. I'm really looking forward to the negative arc and flat arc videos. Also any additional video on scenes, particularly scenes in relation to chapters, would be amazing, since it's what I'm currently trying to improve

[LesterSuggs]

These videos are invaluable! Thank you so much for sharing.

[AmyLahr]

Ellen! I get so excited when you pop up in my notifications !
You’re a godsend, thank you for all your content, your channel is invaluable! And an hour! The writing gods are smiling upon us today, your long format vids are honestly a masterclass ! Thank you! So excited to dive in !

[raina]

This is excellent so far! And 1 hour long, we’re so lucky, thank you for making this!! You’re sooo helpful! 🙏

[LoveSaidNo]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your videos are always great, but this was just pure gold. The references were so helpful! Character arcs are still my problem, so I will surely rewatch this video a lot of times. And an hour of listening to your advice? Give us more! This is great! You can fully dive into the topic, you explain things so very well, always giving helpful examples. ❤

[Nnoy]

Oh, this looks like it's going to be a good one.

[katdenning]

Great outline.

I’ve had story ideas tumbling around my brain for ages I’ve been honing. This really helped me realize why I was struggling with certain shifts.

I kept trying to make a timid character jump in the deep end sink/swim style and I realized I needed to have her be tossed there unwillingly or find a different pathway for it to feel natural.

[Lorna-JWB]

I watched this on my streaming TV a bit back, and I just wanted to jump on my iPad to comment. I LOVE the way you break things down into bite-sized pieces. No gaps. It is what somebody like me needs.

[RobinEgbertss]

I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw this video pop up! Spent all afternoon watching it and taking notes. Great insights as usual. I'd been trying to meld my notes on the character arc and plot structure videos together myself, but this video definitely cleared up some tricky points for me, as well as just adding so much more extra information and ways of thinking of it. It's such a complicated subject where everything is interconnected and you really manage to explain it like no one else. I'm looking forward to looking through the outline of my current project with these new insights in mind.