I've been blogging about how to write any piece more literary. Character is story; story is character. If your story isn't about your character's voyage on at least some level, there's a good chance your character will fall flat. Even the hero's journey is supposed to show a hero's growth from some who denies the call to adventure to a master of both worlds. Otherwise, no matter what else happens in a story, a big part of it should be the protagonist's story arc, or your story will lack the spark that will make it resonate.
Even children's books can be about character growth through lessons learned, though there are still plenty of fun kids' stories about flat characters. If the characters of books like Captain Underpants did learn their lesson, the stories that grow out of their irresponsibility would dry up. But other children's books often show a child, or child stand-in like an animal, making discoveries and learning about their world. These are often Bildungsroman, coming-of-age stories about the child's discovery of the world. The beloved and ageless "Velveteen Rabbit" shows a story of growth of a stuffed animal to real rabbit capable of emotion and love because of the love of a child. The lesson taught by children's books may be about love, responsibility, or any other lesson the reader is supposed to learn. But the lesson is learned through the discoveries of the main character in a story, through a story arc.
Different authors and experts on writing describe this character arc differently. Some show a mastery of magic, fighting, or other skill, a growth of a character trait, a movement from misunderstanding to understanding. One way or another, it's about character development. If your character starts out perfect, there's no arc, nowhere to go. We can all imagine a wide variety of stories with the spark of character development. Harry Potter grows from a lonely, scared child wondering if he'll ever fit in to a self-assured young man with friends and family who love him. His mastery of magic is only a piece of this because he is meant to represent muggle children in the real world who grow into their own. His growth happens one step, one lesson, one understanding at a time. Just as he turns one misunderstanding into understanding, he discovers another piece to the puzzle.
Movies and shows feature the same sort of character arcs, where it's clear the author planned the growth in advance, though the character makes the development one step at a time, especially when the story's primary audience is for children. Elsa of Frozen depends on her parents, thinking they can protect her from the world, then loses her parents and has to adapt to a world wherein she is in charge but not in control. She continues to live the secluded life her parents taught her would protect her with her powers (code for disabilities). Then, she's forced out of her seclusion to take charge, only to do the very thing she most feared by displaying her power/disability, banishing herself to that same isolation.
She has grown to understand her parents and isolation at home won't protect her, so she isolates herself apart from others. She proclaims her independence to the rattle of her chains that still lock her to the misunderstanding of her youth. Only after her sister shows her how to love does she learn she can still be herself and make a human connections, overcoming that isolation imposed on her in her youth. She does, indeed, become the master of both worlds.
Movies and shows for adults do it as well, though not all do. "The Incredible Hulk" from the seventies showed a character stuck in his prison of isolation, migrating from one place to another, seeking understanding but never learning to accept all of himself. The show ended with his character, always in pursuit of understanding but never really gaining it, ending his journey by defeating the bad guys in an explosion on a plane and falling (as Hulk) to the pavement, dying as Banner. He never did overcome his demons, literally or figuratively because to allow him to grow would end the story.
The recent MCU "Incredible Hulk" picked up the story where its predecessor left off, with Banner wandering the world, hiding away and treating the Hulk like a curse or disease for which he sought a cure. Its creators showed their loyalty and connection to that earlier show through the use of the familiar refrain of "The Lonely Man." But when he fell from an exploding flight as banner, hitting the pavement (with the same angles used to show the fall), he emerged as Hulk. Over the course of the MCU storytelling, he grew to first accept the Hulk then work with him, treating him almost like a friend, then, as of the most recent movie, merging with him to become "Professor Hulk," mastering the worlds of intellect and strength. This character took 40(ish) years to complete his story arc from fear and isolation to acceptance of the whole self.
Read and watch stories with good character development and watch how they do it. What is/are your characters' arcs? What growth or understanding does she/he/they attain? What steps can you pursue with each scene, each chapter to get the character(s) to where they need to be?
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