Writers often hear about plot arcs and character arcs, but there is one arc that often gets skipped over: relationship arcs. I’m not talking about romance books that are centered on a relationship. I’m referring to all the characters your protagonist journeys alongside throughout the story. Today, we are going to look at the key to writing good relationship arcs for your book.
What Is A Relationship Arc?
A relationship arc is an interpersonal plot arc between two characters. It can be with an enemy, friend, family, lover, or even an animal. The point is to not treat relationships in your book as just fun interactions. Don’t include a witty conversation or funny time with friends just to make the protagonist feel like he isn’t alone. The other main characters in the story need a purpose. Part of that comes from an internal arc for each one, but it also means they need to affect and be affected by the other characters. You have your external plot and your internal plots, but relationships are their own plots too. They need to serve both the external and internal plot, but they must have complete arcs of their own as well.
What Should It Include?
The trick to a great relationship arc is to treat it as a subplot in your book. The two characters will start out in one way, have ups and downs, and change in some way by the end. You need to develop it as a plot with its own goal, antagonist, conflict, and stakes.
Goal
Every relationship should have a goal. As September Fawkes says, there are three goal types: draw closer, grow apart, or maintain. If you have two coworkers who just met, they may wish to get to know each other and draw closer. On the other hand, the protagonist and the antagonist may desire to grow apart. Or, if you have two best friends at the beginning, they will want to stay best friends by the end.
It’s important to note that both characters may not want the same goal. In the case of the coworkers, one may wish to get closer while the other wants to maintain the status of strangers. This difference in goals can pave the way for conflict between the two characters.
Antagonist
Every relationship will have an antagonistic force, something that gets in the way of the goal. It could be a person, circumstance, event, etc. Let’s say our protagonist wants to befriend his coworker. If that person doesn’t want to be friends, the coworker is an antagonist. Or, there could also be a strict code within the business that restricts the employees’ free time, making it hard to find time to get to know the coworker. Whatever it may be, there needs to be one big force that works against the relationship goal.
Conflict
When the goal and the antagonist is set, they will naturally clash against each other to cause conflict. The relationship arc happens when the protagonist either overcomes or succumbs to the obstacles in his path to his goal. This is where you can put in some Try/Fail cycles to show him slowly making progress toward or way from his goal.
Stakes
Lastly, there needs to be stakes attached to the relationship goal. What happens if our protagonist doesn’t make his new coworker a friend? If the answer is nothing, then there is no plot. There needs to be consequences and risks attached to each relationship. Perhaps he will lose his job if he doesn’t befriend the new person. Or, if the two don’t become friends and get along, the project they have to pull off won’t happen and the business will fail. You can also give the arc an internal stake. Maybe he has a hard time making friends, and, if he fails with this coworker, he’ll give up on people for good. Get creative with your stakes, but make sure they are present in the story.
Final Thoughts
Life is not simple. Everything we do affects the world around us, ourselves, and those in our lives. Books should be the same. You need external plot arcs, internal plot arcs (otherwise called character arcs), and relationship arcs. If you can weave these all together in a story, readers will feel the depth of the tale and it will have a greater impact on them.
Thanks for reading!
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