24. Lucy's Arc: A Slow Thaw

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Let's check out Lucy's character arc with the six main questions you should be asking about each character you write.

One, What does she want? Just to let you know, book 2 is going to be exploring a lot more of the motivations and characters of both Lucy and Diana and their backstories. But you can expect to learn that she want's acceptance from her peers while also finding meaningful connections - despite her icy persona.

Two, What does she need? If you've read the story at all, you know that Lucy is very "stand-off-ish." She's cold and calculating and doesn't care much to engage with others. So she needs to realize she has to work for relationship. She needs to thaw out that cold heart of hers and allow others to get to know her and take the time to get to know them.

Three, How will she change to get what she wants? She will have to make the effort to actually TALK with others. I know right! She'll have to be willing to let people in and share her life so that relational investment can happen.

Four, What lie does she believe? She believes that other people are only a means to get what she wants. She believes that they are simply stepping stones rather than living, breathing, individuals.

Five, What truth must she accept? She must accept the reality that people have value and worth and that the time you have with others is precious.

Six, What is her ghost/motivation? Without any spoilers, we will learn more about Lucy's and Diana's upbringings which will shed light on why they both behave the way they do. Lucy's motivation is self-sufficiency and self-preservation. She doesn't need any body and will do anything to protect herself.

Ok, so what about her character dimensions? We see from Aether Guardian that she isn't uncaring, but simply she doesn't see the full picture when it comes to relationships. She is cold, yet she is helpful when needed. We see her soften slightly in this story, but it takes her the whole book to finally feel something. She wants to be isolated, yet she still craves relationship.

Remember that the next book will definitely flesh more of these out and I hope to do a better job of portraying these truths. Next week, we'll take a look at our final character, Diana.