Character Development vs Character Derailment

[jeno]

So, character development. How do you pace it and how far do you go?

Dynamic characters are usually a very good thing, because you want engaging characters to keep your readers' attention. But what happens if the character you start the story with is completely unrecognizable as the character you see at the end? How do you make character change believable and how do you know where to stop?

[LizW65]

Dunno if this is going to make any sense to you or not, but here goes...
I was a theatre major back when, and I tend to think of character development in terms of method acting.  In other words, I try to get inside my characters' heads and figure out what makes them tick.  How does the backstory I've created for each of them inform their present actions?  And perhaps most important:  what does each individual WANT in every scene, and how do they go about achieving it?  (My genre of choice is noir-ish mystery, so I have a lot of characters attempting to deceive and manipulate one another into particular actions, often indirectly.)

And sometimes it's necessary to work backwards:  I need Z to happen at the end, so how do I get from A to Z in a logical manner?  What circumstances need to change my character (or what direction of interior growth does (s)he have to achieve) so (s)he can proceed to Z without Z coming off as an enormous ass-pull?  It may help to break down the progression of changes that your character goes through into small, easier-to-digest bits so they don't appear too abrupt or illogical.  Anyway, I hope this helps...

[prophet224]

Ok, a couple of thoughts.

First, it depends on the characters and the book(s). In a series, the major characters don't change much each book - they develop slowly over time. Secondary characters may change a little faster, and anyone introduced as a major character for a single book (Stackpole calls them 'case characters) may change a lot.

Second, it depends on the type of story. If your story is character-driven, you need to go where the character is going and as they face events let them respond and change in ways that you think that particular character would respond and change. Meanwhile, if the story is event-driven, you may need to do the 'work backwards' method. Even then, their changes have to be at the intersection of plot and character. Keep in mind, though, that if you need a particular change to have occurred by 'P' on the timeline, you can go back and have them hit with things at 'D' and 'K' that force that change or at least get it started.