Redemption Arcs

Something I was recently made aware of, and accidentally included in my own book, is the concept of redemption arcs. Redemption arcs are basically what it's called when a bad, or evil, character makes a slow transition into being what we would call a 'good' character (basically, they start to side with the protagonist). 

Here I'd like to pause and emphasize the word 'slow.' Just like with emotions, a good redemption doesn't happen instantly. It's a process in which your character is fighting against what they've always thought was an acceptable way to make themselves heard or to get what they want, be it through violence, manipulation or what have you. Your character will make some progress, then slip back into the habits because it's easier. Sometimes a mentor will call them out on this, sometimes their own conscience will. The point is, IT'S NOT OVERNIGHT!!! The biggest mistake I make when trying to create a redemption arc is having it happen immediately, kind of like a light switch being turned on. True, there will be a moment when they realize what they've been doing wrong and that something needs to change, but the actual process should be hard. Make them suffer. Make those watching them and rooting for them to achieve their goals want to grab them by the shoulders and shake some sense into them, because that is how life works. Often, we don't see the things we do that hurt others, or that are glaringly obvious to those who love us.

A redemption arc will add depth to a character, will really get your readers invested in their struggle. I have a story that I am currently working on where there is a redemption arc, and you don't necessarily see what's going on (because he isn't the main character and I prefer to write from the first person point of view) but it is happening. First, he's one of the villains, the main villain that a reader would see face to face, but then he changes. We're introduced to his sister, a young girl he's hidden from their madman father ever since their mom died. And then, even though he needed her to give him an edge against said madman father, he lets the main character go, for her own safety.

Now, I realize that this seems like a dramatic switch, but most of it is in the time before the book begins, when he sees what his father is trying to make him into. He realizes that, in order for the country to be strong, he needs to stand against his father, and what his father taught him. The prince has to go against everything that he ever learned from his main role model growing up and forge a new path. And he falls, more than once. He betrays the main character again, gets her younger brother thrown in jail in order to curry favor with his father and to save his own skin, and he has most of the rebels arrested. But that's not because he is a bad person in general. The sister, remember? He also has a sanctuary, where he protects his servants from his father's temper and shelters beggars. 

Everyone is complex. We all wear different masks with different people, and sometimes we let one mask overtake the others. A redemption arc is fighting against this, fighting to take back the good masks from the bad ones, fighting to let our hidden good side come out into the daylight.

I'd like to shout out to the creators of Avatar: the Last Airbender. Zuko, the fire prince, has the best redemption arc I've ever seen, and I wish that I could write something as powerful as that. 

Anyway, write lots!

Onward!