steadfast characters and resolve

August 17, 2005

If you have a Steadfast Character with a huge Resolve at the beginning, a very strong Resolve, then you’ll want to tear that down over the course of the story so that there is some kind of mystery as to their final decision.

You want the audience to think, “You know, in the beginning, this MC really knew what he wanted and stood firmly for it. But now…now, I’m not so sure they’ll go through with it.”

This is in contrast to the Steadfast Character that starts out slow then builds over time. These are the kind of stories where they think, “Sheesh, this wasn’t that big of a deal in the beginning, but it was important to me, and now…now look where I’ve done to myself. Should I go through with it?”