Character Growth vs Character Development
Understanding the tools of building character through story.
Semantics-Shemantics
I have a way with words…
Or at least I’ve been told as much. I am a bit of a provocateur but this is largely due to the fact I honestly don’t understand connotation or implication of words and I often say what I think.
This handicap (if you can even call it that) requires that I focus hard on the definition of words, terms and idioms. If you know me you know I have a serious problem with the word “trope” because of it (look it up).
So a term that I see thrown around a lot lately is “character development” and to a lesser extent “character growth”. The two terms though, are often used interchangeably, and it irks the fuck out of me because they are distinctly different and there’s reason for said distinction.
So rather than fume and rage in comment sections at folks, I decided it would be best to simply explain the terms to the best of my abilities. Hopefully, through understanding the difference, not only will folks be able make the distinction themselves but also apply the ideas to their own craft.
Core Concepts
In order to explain this there needs to be an understanding between you and I. Much like telling a story this is the jumping off point. Where you decide (if you haven’t already) that everything I have to say is bullshit and a waste of your time OR that I may be on to something.
First things first, I’m going to pull from ideas I’ve already explained before here. It’s nine minute read about how to approach writing a story.
Now that that’s out the way let’s get to the meat of this thing.
What you have to understand and comprehend is his:
Characters are not what they say. Characters are not what other characters say about them. Characters are what they do and what they do not do.
Dialog serves one purpose and one purpose alone: to manage distance. We use words to bring people closer to us or to push them away. In story just as in life, dialog works the same way. Every piece of dialog is meant to manage the distance between characters and the distance between characters and the audience. Distance being emotional, conceptual and or physical.
But there are reasons why we want people to come closer, or to push them away. There are reasons as a writer you want characters to be closer to your audience or more distant.
The reasons are what make up the composition of any character and they are only found through that character’s actions or reactions.
as the old adage says “actions speak louder than words.”
If we accept that characters are the sum of what they do throughout a story we are capable of understanding the difference between development and growth.
What’s at stake?
As I’ve mentioned before there are two types of stories:
Plot driven and Character driven.
These two can of course overlap, however, one will always be primary and the other ancillary. The key to identifying what kind of story you’re telling or enjoying is to focus on what’s at stake; the world or a particular character.
Plot driven stories mostly deal with the fate of the world. The world being literal or figurative. In any case, if the hero of the story were to be defeated, the world as they know it, will cease to exist. In a character driven story something or someone important to the protagonist is at stake; It can even be the protagonist.
which brings us to the distinction at hand:
If your story is character driven then you will have character development. If your story is plot driven your character will have character growth.
Defining the distinction
Imagine, if you will an apple seed and a caterpillar.
First imagine you plant plant the apple seed.
We have no guarantee that seed will grow into a tree. It will take things like water, sun light room for roots to spread and for the tree to grow to ensure that we get a healthy apple tree that bears fruit. Many factors can come into play that may affect the tree’s ability to grow. However, what is certain is that if the tree can somehow overcome these obstacles, it will grow into an apple tree, it will bear fruit, it will be exactly what we expect it to be.
Now imagine the caterpillar.
The caterpillar, lives a light where no particular end is promised. The caterpillar must make many choices to reach the end of it’s life cycle. They could be stepped upon, eaten, they may not find enough food or their food source may be taken away. Then there is a chrysalis moment where that caterpillar may turn into a butterfly. This moment is crucial, the caterpillar may never emerge from the chrysalis. The chrysalis may be destroyed. We don’t know what kind of butterfly will emerge from the chrysalis (shape, color, etc). All the choices that the caterpillar made up until this moment will inform what happens next…if anything happens at all.
So as it goes with character growth, and character development.
Growth speaks to the obstacles a character goes through and overcomes. What we get at the end of this kind of arc is an improvement on the initial. Maybe a character was lacking confidence, or humility, or love. But at the end we have an upgraded character. A character that hasn’t changed but has just been added onto. What is also true is that external forces create the obstacles that the character must overcome in order to gain what they lack. The character may effect the external world but all their conflict, all of their obstacles, are manifested in external elements.
So we plant and apple seed we get an apple tree. The trick here is the more obstacles we put in the way of that tree’s growth, the more extraordinary, huge, small, dynamic that apple tree turns out, easier it is for audience to believe they’ve witnessed change.
but the truth of the matter is seeds don’t change into trees, they grow into them; and no matter what the seed goes through to become a tree, that tree will always bear apples.
Character development, on the other hand is what is akin to the caterpillar.
A character encounters a conflict, and they are forced to make an irrevocable choice, this choice leads to irreversible change. Though the caterpillar is too limited in what it may become, it still has to make choices that effect whether or not it ultimately changes into a butterfly. Same goes with development of characters. The character at the end of this arc is completely unrecognizable, from the one that started, not just in appearance but in character. Developed characters will never make the same choices, they’ve either learned or suffered so greatly that the option isn’t even available to them.
This arc also has a chrysalis moment, where the character’s choices build up to a final choice that affirms who the character has become as result. Much like the butterfly or moth for that matter, there is no going back to being the caterpillar.
Why both development and growth are necessary.
Characters that grow and characters that develop are equally important for different reasons.
We need unchanging characters because they work as symbols for values and morals that we believe in. A constantly shifting and changing symbol will ultimately lose it’s meaning with some while gaining meaning with others. The moral value of such characters will constantly be in flux and as symbolism goes, it’s constant nature is what allows us as humans to aspire to be like them.
This is why Spider-man, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are largely unchanged in the core concept of the character. They go through many things that test what is they stand for, however, their identity is largely intact.
Conversely, Characters that change allow us to process our inner desires and personal struggles. We see the changes and choices these characters make and we identify with them or at the very least sympathize with others in those situations. Red from Shawshank redemption, Zuko from Last Air bender, and Nina Sayers from Black Swan are great examples of character development arcs. Like caterpillars to butterflies these characters have gone through transformations that make them completely unrecognizable from the people they were at the start of their arc; and the change is irreversible.
Application of the ideas
Understanding the difference between growth and development helps you to better understand how to plan out the arc of your character.
While arcs are 100% optional in the case of plot driven stories, the are not in character driven ones.
So if you confuse growth for development in a character driven story, the arc will be flat because we’re not seeing the character make choices that exhibit the change that indicated development.
By that same token, if you are telling a plot driven stories and give your characters actual choices you will write yourself into a corner you never intended to be, meanwhile the growth of character will be largely static increases the chances of your audience viewing the character as one dimensional.
but by understanding that our characters in plot driven tales are required to grow in order to move organically within a plot we can give our audiences transitional character arcs without being burdened with actual choices.
And by understanding our character driven stories require choice and change we can avoid inconsequential growth that flatten an arc out, and we can instead develop characters through their choice into complex representations of moral dilemma.
At the very least, I hope after reading this you can better identify the difference between character growth and character development.
