Everything You Need to Know About the Lie the Character Believes

[@chrisk9613]

I like studying psychology and therapy to understand how lies and inaccurate beliefs about ourselves and others make our lives worse (or prevent us from thriving, to put it a more optimistic/positive spin on things). The book “Games People Play” was a game changer for me in that regard. I also acted as a counselor as part of a college course in a low-stakes situation, and this firsthand experience really showed me how transformational an “ah ha” moment can be! It was a slow process that took about six sessions to reach with my “client”.

[@ceciler6534]

You might like to read 'Love on a Faultline', Cecile Ravell

[@blackforestgiant648]

What maybe is useful to write down the different stages of coping with the lie, from fully convinced, over first doubts to the final overcoming. As you explained, it's not a lightswitch on/off, and exactly with this believable change I struggle recently, because I have an enemy-to-lover-storyline.

[@curiositystoryer]

It would be amazing if one of your next books just focused on this concept narrowly and alone. Thank you for this video. XO

[@rachelthompson9324]

I am buying your book based on a suggestion from another author. Thanks for writing it.

[@jennifertooker98]

Excellent presentation and articulation of character arc! Exceptional, and a video I will watch more than once. The Lie-Truth spectrum explains so much! Thank you!

[@litabrooker7872]

Excellent episode. "Grumpy-Bumpy" character moments pre-Midpoint, resonates as I revise this iteration of the novel. 'Consequences' in the characters development and choices, is such a powerful word in relation to the Lie. Thank you.

[@pastureexpectationsfarm6412]

I love the clarity and definition in your answers! You have helped me outline and plot my mystery. Thank you, KM. Just purchased your "Outlining Your Novel" and "Outlining Your Novel Workbook." I'm spending the long weekend of Independence Day 2024 plotting and scheming!

[@csb78nm]

Nicely done! It's always fun to learn new truths, see new perspectives, and ponder how that can improve our own lives.

[@PaulRWorthington]

Thanks for another enjoyable and educational presentation!

[@ChemicalVoyageStudios]

Oh wow! I just bought your book a month or so ago and love it! Awesome work!

[@BelvedereSchumack]

Well said. ❤

[@Soothingyou45]

Great way of explaining! Thanks!!

[@18Aleziita]

This is really great. It is exactly what I was lacking and you solve it so easy Sometimes KZbin creeps me out😅 But thanks for that

[@didyoujust7810]

The way you explain things is very clear. Thank you! Subbed.

[@cosmic-fortytwo]

Can you talk about how this works in serialised fiction and short stories? I'm not trying to be fatuous with this question, but what is the lie that Sherlock Holmes believes in each story, or for a Spiderman comic, what is his mistaken perspective? In serials and short stories we don't see a lot of character change. Wolverine doesn't have an epiphany every time he whips his claws out in the X-Men comics. It's just fight the bad guys and please buy another comic book next month. I can only see this in Rick & Morty where Morty wants something, he gets it, and he has a learning experience: Morty realises maybe that's not what he wanted at all, or oh boy there is more responsibility involved in this thing than I realised. So Rick & Morty seems to be about Morty's growth but Sherlock Holmes and Spiderman do not. Yet Sherlock Holmes and Spiderman are effective serials.

[@KMWeilandAuthor]

Not all protagonists will follow a Change Arc. They can also follow a Flat Arc, in which they do not change, but rather change the story world around them. Most serial protagonists fall into this category.

[@tezzag818]

Maybe what Spider-Man and the others believe is that justice is their sole responsibility, that they are indispensable and that others can’t manage without them.

[@cosmic-fortytwo]

@@KMWeilandAuthor Thank you, I will look up Flat Arc so I understand it more. Cheers!

[@brixan...]

I always think about this with long-running manga (700+ chapters)

[@allisonabbott7134]

thank you for this video it's so helpful

[@alanlim6238]

thx u ms weiland!

[@Wordslinger48]

Could you talk about how this character arc concept might be different (or similar) when applied to the antagonist rather than the protagonist?

[@KMWeilandAuthor]

It will depend on what type of arc the protagonist is following. Because the story structure revolves around the protagonist, how the antagonist functions will grow out of the protagonist's arc. See this post: www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-the-antagonist-functions-in-different-types-of-character-arcs/

[@Wordslinger48]

Very helpful article! Thank you so much!

[@bigheartedgal833]

This information is so dense and covers so much (thank you, by the way!), I can't help but think your delivery would be helped by adding a co-host withw whom you could discuss each step of the message in a back and forth manner.

[@Truthshallsety0ufree]

love you KM

[@hhoi8225]

This was a helpful video but I would love to know what eyeshadow you're wearing if that's not too much to ask...

[@KMWeilandAuthor]

Hah. I believe that was RMS Beauty's Eye Polish in the shade Magnetic.

[@hhoi8225]

@@KMWeilandAuthor Thank you! It suits you so well!

[@KMWeilandAuthor]

@@hhoi8225 Aww, thanks! :D

[@cosmicprison9819]

I’m still wondering how this works with sequels. Does the truth of part 1 become or at least inspire the lie of part 2? You don’t want to accidentally debunk the “truth” of your first volume, right? You also don’t want to regress the character to the same state they were in at the beginning of part 1, to essentially tell the same story all over again for part 2. Do you simply not let the character gain the complete understanding of the overarching truth of a trilogy for part 1? Meaning, you only give them a snippet of the truth, much like at the midpoint - but there’s still something missing, and that omission is the gap of knowledge that the new lie can sneak through?

[@KMWeilandAuthor]

It depends on how the series is handling the overarching story. If there *is* an overarching story, then the character will likely follow an overarching character arc in which the main Lie/Truth will not be resolved until the very end. However, each installment will deal with a "smaller" part of that Lie, allowing for mini-arcs along the way to the final realization. In a different type of series, the character may interact with a new thematic Lie/Truth separately in each installment.

[@cosmicprison9819]

@@KMWeilandAuthor Thanks for your quick answer! So I guess it’s going back to the old question of having an episodic vs. a continuous story. One of the reasons why most TV shows that have a continuous story arc tend to jump the shark once they’ve exceeded what was originally planned (which may just be one season, or the first three seasons etc.): If you’ve distributed the pacing at which the character approaches the “ultimate” truth over three instalments, the character discovers the final truth at the end of instalment three - and then, you add another one after the fact, then that fourth volume will quite literally feel tagged-on. The strange thing is: Sometimes, this seems to work. And not just “work decently”, but excel: The first Star Wars movie was a standalone - Empire Strikes Back was only invented after the fact, because of the popularity of what would later be called A New Hope. So even though Empire Strikes Back was tagged on, some people regard it as an even better movie than A New Hope. And only Empire Strikes Back was then intentionally written as the second volume in a trilogy, which is why it could afford having the good guys lose at the end - because at this point, it was already clear this wouldn’t be the final volume.

[@danieljackson654]

Okay. I have a simple confusion about a negative arc. If the protagonist must make the Noble Sacrifice (real of symbolic) at the end of the Story, is that a Negative Arc or a Positive Arc?

[@KMWeilandAuthor]

Usually, that would be Positive, although it's possible to see it in a doomed context, in which the character comes tot he crucial realization (thematic Truth) too late.

[@danieljackson654]

@KMWeilandAuthor Thank you, Rebbe

[@rbloch66]

It seems like this topic runs parallel to writing a hero/ine with a flaw.

[@DaltonKevinM]

What if the truth, the real truth, that the character is finally forced to accept, is this dark and terrible thing?

[@KMWeilandAuthor]

It depends how the character responds to it in the end. Even a dark Truth may be liberating for some characters. If, however, the character is horrified by it and has a hard time wanting to integrate it, he may be following a Disillusionment Arc. This is a Negative Change Arc that, for all intents and purposes, is the same as a Positive Change Arc *except* that it ends with the character feeling negatively toward the newly learned Truth. See this post for an overview: www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/learn-5-types-of-character-arc-at-a-glance-the-3-negative-arcs-part-2-of-2/

[@paultimson6674]

the matrix would be the perfect example.

[@JohnVKaravitis]

What if Luke's father really wasn't Anakin, but everyone BELIEVED this to be true. What then?

[@odatbygrace8643]

Stop. For the love of all that is good please stop

[@gotonewchannelshamelessanimals]

I needed more examples from literature to really be able to understand this concept. I think your own examples were too concrete and simplistic.