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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7914965" data-attributes="member: 42582">Have you ever read Christopher Kubasik's extended essay <a href="https://playsorcerer.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/the-interactive-toolkit-an-introduction/" target="_blank">&quot;Interactive Toolkit&quot;</a>?It's currently hosted on his &quot;Play Sorcerer&quot; blog but predates Sorcerer by several years - I think it's from the mid-90s.<a href="https://playsorcerer.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/the-interactive-toolkit-part-three-character-character-character/" target="_blank">Here</a> is what he says about character-driven arcs and their relationship to characterisation:
Characters drive the narrative of all stories. However, many people mistake character for characterization.

Characterization is the look of a character, the description of his voice, the quirks of habit. Characterization creates the concrete detail of a character through the use of sensory detail and exposition. By “seeing” how a character looks, how he picks up his wine glass, by knowing he has a love of fine tobacco, the character becomes concrete to our imagination, even while remaining nothing more than black ink upon a white page.

But a person thus described is not a character. A character must do.

Character is action. That’s a rule of thumb for plays and movies, and is valid as well for roleplaying games and story entertainments. This means that the best way to reveal your character is not through on an esoteric monologue about pipe and tobacco delivered by your character, but through your character’s actions.You might find some stuff in there quite useful, or at least interesting.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7914965, member: 42582"] Have you ever read Christopher Kubasik's extended essay [url=https://playsorcerer.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/the-interactive-toolkit-an-introduction/]"Interactive Toolkit"[/url]? It's currently hosted on his "Play Sorcerer" blog but predates Sorcerer by several years - I think it's from the mid-90s. [url=https://playsorcerer.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/the-interactive-toolkit-part-three-character-character-character/]Here[/url] is what he says about character-driven arcs and their relationship to characterisation: [indent] Characters drive the narrative of all stories. However, many people mistake [I]character[/I] for [I]characterization[/I]. Characterization is the look of a character, the description of his voice, the quirks of habit. Characterization creates the concrete detail of a character through the use of sensory detail and exposition. By “seeing” how a character looks, how he picks up his wine glass, by knowing he has a love of fine tobacco, the character becomes concrete to our imagination, even while remaining nothing more than black ink upon a white page. But a person thus described is not a character. A character must do. Character is action. That’s a rule of thumb for plays and movies, and is valid as well for roleplaying games and story entertainments. This means that the best way to reveal your character is not through on an esoteric monologue about pipe and tobacco delivered by your character, but through your character’s actions.[/indent] You might find some stuff in there quite useful, or at least interesting. [/QUOTE]

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