# Character Arc Template

An editable planning worksheet from GeekArt. Copy it for one character, fill it in any text editor, or print the sections you need. No account is required.

Companion guide: https://www.geekart.ai/en/blog/character-arc

The Iris example is original teaching material. It is a proposed story sequence, not an excerpt from a published novel or the GeekArt sample workspace. Six checkpoints are illustrative; add or remove them to suit your story.

## 1. Blank arc plan

- Character:
- Story / draft version:
- Current chapter or checkpoint:
- Arc direction (positive change / negative change / steadfast / undecided):
- External goal:
- Starting belief or habitual response:
- What that response protects:
- Where it helps:
- Where it causes trouble:
- Pressure the old response cannot resolve:
- Possible ending choice:
- What that choice costs:
- What remains the same about this person:
- For a steadfast arc: what conviction is tested, and what does maintaining it cost?
- Questions still open:

## 2. Repeatable scene checkpoint

Copy this section for each consequential decision. Record what happens in the scene rather than only the emotion you want the reader to infer.

### Scene / chapter: __________

- Status (PLANNED / IN DRAFT / OPEN):
- Source passage or location, if already drafted:
- Pressure or opportunity:
- What the character knows at this point:
- What they want here:
- Available choices:
- Choice they make:
- Immediate cost or consequence:
- Evidence the reader can see or hear:
- Effect on their belief, habit, or commitment:
- Because of this choice, the next situation becomes:
- What an earlier scene needs to prepare:

Status notes:

- PLANNED: an event or choice you intend to write; the manuscript may not yet establish it.
- IN DRAFT: an event or choice supported by a passage you can identify.
- OPEN: an unresolved decision; do not treat it as a fact about the story.

A character's claim is evidence of what they say, not necessarily evidence that the claim is true. Keep their knowledge at this checkpoint separate from later discoveries.

## 3. Filled example: Iris and the floodgate records

### Overall plan

- Character: Iris, a volunteer archivist.
- Story / draft version: original floodgate planning example, version 1.
- Status: all six scenes are PLANNED teaching examples.
- Arc direction: positive change.
- External goal: secure a review of the disputed floodgate records before Friday's council budget vote.
- Starting rule: evidence is safe only while she controls who sees it.
- What the rule protects: the source documents and her sense of competence.
- Where it helps: she preserves originals carefully and notices discrepancies.
- Where it causes trouble: she prevents other people from verifying her interpretation.
- Pressure: the council clerk requires an independent comparison before placing the claim on the agenda.
- Ending choice: submit a jointly checked account that acknowledges an error in her earlier claim.
- Cost: other people can question her judgment, and she cannot control how they describe the mistake.
- What remains: precision, careful custody of originals, and a record of who receives copies.
- Open outcome: whether the eventual review confirms the remaining inspection discrepancy.

### Scene 1 — Monday: keep control

- Status: PLANNED.
- Pressure: Nell, a retired surveyor, needs a complete copy to compare the archive record with her field notes.
- Knowledge: Iris has noticed a discrepancy but has not independently checked her interpretation.
- Choice: she offers selected figures aloud and refuses the copy.
- Cost: Nell cannot carry out a complete comparison.
- Reader-visible evidence: Iris closes the ledger as Nell offers an empty folder.
- Arc movement: the old rule is active; careful preservation also restricts scrutiny.
- Next situation: Iris must present a claim without Nell's independent check.

### Scene 2 — Tuesday: pay for the old approach

- Status: PLANNED.
- Pressure: the clerk asks for independent verification before Friday's agenda closes.
- Knowledge: Iris knows the verification requirement and the deadline.
- Choice: she writes a more forceful statement instead of arranging the comparison.
- Cost: a day is lost, and she cannot check both the archive and the gate measurements alone in time.
- Reader-visible evidence: the statement grows longer while the verification remains missing.
- Arc movement: her preferred method cannot meet the practical requirement.
- Next situation: she needs to let another person examine the source material.

### Scene 3 — Wednesday: try limited cooperation

- Status: PLANNED.
- Pressure: Nell needs the complete page, including its date, to check the claim.
- Knowledge: the claim is still provisional; Iris has not yet noticed her date error.
- Choice: Iris shares the full copy, with questions recorded on a separate sheet.
- Cost: Nell's check reveals that one accusation rests on Iris's misreading.
- Reader-visible evidence: Iris strikes through her note without hiding it and asks Nell to check the next entry.
- Arc movement: collaboration improves the account while exposing an embarrassing mistake.
- Next situation: one accusation must be withdrawn, while a second discrepancy still needs investigation.

### Scene 4 — Thursday: retreat under pressure

- Status: PLANNED.
- Pressure: the inspection engineer challenges the date error in Iris's original submission.
- Knowledge: Iris knows Nell's check was useful and that her original statement contains an error.
- Choice: she tells Nell not to attend and takes back their working copy.
- Cost: she loses the independent witness the clerk requested.
- Reader-visible evidence: Iris gathers the papers instead of accepting Nell's offer to explain the correction.
- Arc movement: embarrassment restores the old habit, now despite evidence that cooperation helped.
- Next situation: the filing deadline forces a choice between unsupported control and accountable collaboration.

### Scene 5 — Friday: accept the cost of a different choice

- Status: PLANNED.
- Pressure: Nell will sign a joint account only if it includes the correction; the deadline is approaching.
- Knowledge: the date error invalidates one accusation, not the need to investigate the remaining discrepancy.
- Choice: Iris acknowledges the error, signs beside Nell, and supplies matching copies to Nell and the clerk.
- Cost: her mistake is visible and other people can evaluate the account themselves.
- Reader-visible evidence: she writes the correction, invites Nell to read it, and distributes the copies while retaining the original in the archive.
- Arc movement: preserving evidence now includes allowing it to be checked.
- Next situation: the clerk schedules a review; its eventual findings remain open.

### Scene 6 — Following week: show the new habit

- Status: PLANNED.
- Pressure: a resident requests a different archive record.
- Knowledge: collaboration helped secure a review, but its outcome is not yet known.
- Choice: Iris makes and logs a copy, requesting that corrections identify their source.
- Cost: she accepts that another person may find something she missed.
- Reader-visible evidence: the resident leaves with a copy; the original remains protected.
- Arc movement: precision remains, while access is no longer treated as an automatic threat.
- Next situation: future records can be checked through a process Iris is willing to share.

## 4. Revise an abrupt change

Use this sequence when an ending announces a change the earlier scenes have not prepared.

1. Quote the ending decision or claimed change:
2. Find an earlier choice that establishes the starting habit:
3. Identify a consequence that makes that habit costly:
4. Find or plan a limited experiment with another response:
5. Decide whether a setback adds useful pressure or merely repeats a scene:
6. Make the final choice specific and name what it risks:
7. Identify a trait or value that survives the change:
8. Check whether a later action confirms the pattern, if the story needs one:

For Iris, the ending needs the missing verification, Nell's useful correction, and Iris's embarrassed retreat. Adding a sentence that says she now trusts Nell would not supply those events.

For a negative arc, track each compromise and what makes the next compromise easier. For a steadfast arc, track the increasing cost of maintaining the conviction. Neither requires a last-minute conversion.

## 5. Review checklist

- [ ] The goal is specific enough to grant, refuse, or obstruct.
- [ ] The starting habit affects a choice in the manuscript.
- [ ] A consequence follows from that choice.
- [ ] A later decision grows from what the character has experienced.
- [ ] The final choice offers a real alternative and has a cost.
- [ ] The ending does not require knowledge the character has not acquired.
- [ ] Stable traits remain recognizable where the story calls for them.
- [ ] PLANNED and OPEN items are separate from events already IN DRAFT.
- [ ] Repeated scenes add new pressure, consequences, or understanding.
- [ ] Any claim of change is supported by a passage, not only by this plan.

## 6. Optional focused review request

Reference the plan and the relevant draft scenes in your writing tool, then adapt this request:

> Read the referenced arc plan and scenes. For each checkpoint marked IN DRAFT, quote the action that supports it and name the source file. Flag any claimed change that the scene does not establish. Keep PLANNED and OPEN items separate from events already written. Identify where a later choice needs preparation in an earlier scene. Do not edit files yet.

Check the quoted evidence yourself. Decide which revision fits your story, then update the plan to match the passages you keep.