coil and the circle cont.

June 6, 2005

Continuing what Chris and I were talking about two weeks ago, concerning the coil or the circle….

A Change character is the coil, he’s come around to a different place at the end of the story. The Steadfast character’s path is more of a circle, basically coming back to the same place they started. But it’s not 100% accurate. Why? Because all characters grow. They really aren’t the same character they were at the beginning, but they can come to the same conclusion. Their path can go along and they can end up in the same place, but they’re really not the same person. They’ve either grown into their Resolve and they’re really confident, or they’ve grown out of it and are really tempted.

Sometimes a character will take a path, but not really invest much into it. Like Luke in Star Wars (a Change MC) - he wants to leave the farm and join the rebellion but really hasn’t put much effort behind it. In that particular story, it’s more the events that transpire around him that lock him into the story and prevent him from going back.

Contrast this with The Fugitive. Like most Steadfast stories (typically) it’s a really really big deal from the very beginning and the only work required from them is to stick it out. He didn’t kill his wife and there’s no way he’s going back until he proves it to everyone around him. But again this is only for most Steadfast stories, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.

In the story of Job, the MC Resolve starts out small. Just like Luke, as the forces of antagonism around him grow larger and larger, Job’s resolve grows stronger and stronger. The difference to note here is that although the growths are similar, their final Resolves are opposite - Luke is a Change Character, Job is a Steadfast Character.

(Note: the story of Job here is used only as an example of a weak to strong Steadfast character. It is not considered a Grand Argument Story in the Dramatica sense)

Now I said that he was a weak to strong Steadfast character and this isn’t entirely accurate either. In the beginning his resolve is really strong, but it doesn’t take that much effort to maintain because of how sure he is of himself. As the conflict grows, his resolve grows even stronger.