{"id":672,"date":"2023-05-16T14:06:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T14:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/?p=672"},"modified":"2023-05-16T14:06:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T14:06:44","slug":"intro-to-flat-arcs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/?p=672","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Flat Arcs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today, we\u2019re starting a new series on Flat Arcs. If you\u2019ve been following my Positive Change Arc series, some of the terms I use in this Flat Arc series might sound familiar to you, but I\u2019ll try to explain them thoroughly for any new readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In essence, a Flat Arc is an oxymoron. We defined a Positive Change Arc as a character arc that generally moves upward. However, a Flat Arc (as the \u201cflat\u201d part of the name indicates) is when a character needs little to no development in their story. They start off believing the Truth and then continue to hold to that Truth despite the adversity that comes their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, though the character himself won\u2019t change much during the story, the Flat Arc is<\/em> still about change. It\u2019s about how the character\u2014through his steadfast belief in the Truth\u2014impacts the supporting characters and the world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pressure a Flat Arc MC is put under is almost like a stage… everyone is watching them to see what they will do. And when they display the Truth without fear, it makes a difference in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will be using two examples of Flat Arcs for this series. The first is the movie \u201cPendragon,\u201d which is about a young man who strives to protect the country of Britain from blood-thirsty Saxon raiders\u2014while facing treachery among his own allies. Despite being caught between powerful enemies on both sides, he still clings to the task God has called him to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second example is probably even less well-known\u2026 it\u2019s the Lamplighter Theater audio drama called \u201cThe Basket of Flowers.\u201d It\u2019s basically about a young woman who is falsely accused of a crime, and, along with her elderly father, is banished from her home. She continues to face trials and persecution until she is finally stripped of everything she holds dear. Everything, that is, except for her faith in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t watched\/listened to these examples, it would be a good idea to do so as soon as possible. That way you\u2019ll be able to better understand what I\u2019m talking about, and you can avoid spoilers. Also note that the plot examples I\u2019ll be using are from the \u201cPendragon\u201d golden edition, and \u201cThe Basket of Flowers\u201d audio drama, not the book. (The book differs slightly from the audio drama in some ways.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will also be attaching a Flat Arc template to next week\u2019s email. You can use it as it is, alter it to fit your needs, or you don\u2019t have to use it at all. It\u2019s simply a guideline that I find helpful when I structure my stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In two weeks, we\u2019ll be talking about the Flat Arc protagonist, so stay tuned!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Comment below your thoughts and questions!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we\u2019re starting a new series on Flat Arcs. If you\u2019ve been following my Positive Change Arc series, some of the terms I use in this Flat Arc series might sound familiar to you, but I\u2019ll try to explain them thoroughly for any new readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,5,4],"tags":[24,26,29,100,23,33,27],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flat-arcs","category-plots-and-character-arcs","category-writing-tips","tag-character-arcs","tag-characters","tag-christian-writing","tag-flat-arcs","tag-plots","tag-protagonist","tag-writing-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":675,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions\/675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}