Your main character evolves as the story unfolds, presenting the character with a set of challenges. In turn, the story evolves as your character reacts to those challenges. Character development (arc) and story structure are interlocked, evolving together, each influencing the other. Subplots (secondary storylines) further deepen your character. Plot and character growth rarely exist separately – they support and impel each other.

Example: Blind Eye, the fifth Benjamin Justice mystery (due out in September, 2003):

As a character, Benjamin Justice:

Was sexually abused by a Catholic priest at age 12, with memories now surfacing.

Killed his violent, abusive father at 17 and is haunted by his own violent instincts.

Became a brilliant young investigative reporter, on a mission to reveal the truth.

Lost his lover to AIDS, leaving him lonely, guilt-ridden, and consumed with grief.

Self-destructed as a journalist, destroying his career in a Pulitzer scandal.

Is now HIV-positive, which affects him physically, emotionally and financially.

Is driven to redeem himself for the wrong he’s done and the people he’s let down.

Main Plot (the primary narrative thread or story "through line"):

Justice searches for information on Father Stuart Blackley, a priest who molested him as a boy, while he investigates the mysterious hit-and-run death of newspaper columnist Joe Soto, who was helping Justice investigate Father Blackley’s past before he was killed.

Subplots (secondary plotlines more personal in nature, often linked to the main plot):

Justice has a risky relationship with Nick Gash, a dangerous meth addict.

Justice falls in love with Fr. Ismael Aragon, a priest he also distrusts.

Justice and Alexandra Templeton cope with a rift in their friendship.

Justice wages a daily battle with HIV and its myriad problems and issues.

Justice attempts to write his autobiography and fulfill his book contract.

Justice copes with losing an eye in a vicious assault by Joe Soto’s killer.

Through these subplots, we learn more about Benjamin Justice, the human being – emotionally, physically, professionally, sexually, ethically, morally. Yet each subplot affects, and is affected by, the action of the main plot. They are intrinsically linked.

Plot twists and turns do not happen independently of character action.

Character action does not happen independently of character motive.

Character motive does not exist independently of character complexity.

Just as your story is structured naturally with a beginning, middle and end, so too is the arc of your character’s growth. The structures of both are subtly interdependent.

Story beat examples (with related character and subplot elements in italics):

Needing details as he prepares to write his autobiography, Justice goes in search of Fr. Stuart Blackley, the priest who introduced him to sex as a boy.

When Justice learns that Fr. Blackley has been dead for many years, the fact that he will never be able to confront the priest unleashes decades of pent-up anguish. This, in turn, triggers Justice’s search into Fr. Blackley’s past, which propels the story.

When Joe Soto is killed in a mysterious hit-and-run, Justice recoils from Alexandra Templeton’s grief, threatening to derail their investigation into Joe Soto’s death.

When the Catholic archdiocese offers Justice a million dollar settlement to buy him off, he’s tempted, because of his HIV status and desperate need to pay for his medical coverage. This threatens to end his investigation into Joe’s murder.

Justice’s loneliness propels him into a tryst with Nick Gash, and into danger.

Justice’s anger at the Church and all priests impels him to confront and humiliate gay Fr. Aragon, which puts Justice in further danger but also reveals a vital clue.

After witnessing a newspaper executive throttle Templeton’s inquiries into Joe’s death, Justice is roused to do the right thing for his loyal friend. He rejects the Church offer of hush money and rejoins Templeton in her quest to solve Joe’s murder.

Justice’s physical weakness from age and HIV renders him unable to fight off an assailant, who blinds him in one eye, leaving him mutilated and depressed.

Justice’s involvement in the murder investigation draws him away from work on his autobiography, which is his professional salvation, further complicating his life.

Justice’s dangerous sexual relationship with Nick Gash enables Justice to uncover important details and clues about the dead priest.

This information leads Justice into an even more complex and horrific set of murders in which Justice feels culpable, plunging him into even deeper despair.

A skilled ocularist fashions a prosthetic eye for Justice, making him feel whole again, providing Justice with a new sense of strength that enables him to go on.

At the climax, Justice confronts a powerful Cardinal who knows the truth, a showdown that turns deadly when Justice’s inherent rage finally erupts.

Overcome by decades of torment, and unable to sever his Catholic roots, Justice confesses to Fr. Aragon, who provides Justice with much-needed absolution.