Characters · Understanding story
Can a Steadfast Main Character still grow? What do Start and Stop mean?
The short answer
Yes. Steadfast describes Resolve, not an absence of learning. A character can develop the strength to hold to a perspective while changing how they act.
Growth describes what develops along the way. For a Change character, Start concerns developing what is missing; Stop concerns backing away from what creates personal trouble. For a Steadfast character, Start can involve holding out for something missing to arrive, while Stop can involve weathering pressure until it ends. Neither means doing nothing. Look at the larger process testing Resolve, not an incidental action the character begins or ends.
An imagined example
Holding on takes work
A teacher keeps believing an excluded student deserves a chance. She learns to listen, finds new ways to teach, and risks her standing to defend that belief. Her methods develop while her Resolve holds. Those actions alone do not establish Start or Stop; examine the larger pressure she must withstand.
Try it in your story
What must your Main Character develop in order to hold to their perspective under pressure?
Where this answer comes from
An editorial synthesis of these discussions. The example above was written for this answer.
- Is a Steadfast MC waiting for the IC to Start or Stop something?
Chris Huntley, October–November 2014, especially post 9.
- New to Dramatica: Having Trouble Understanding Start/Stop
Chris Huntley, October 31–November 6, 2018, posts 2, 4, 6, and 8.
- Building Storyforms: a complete walkthrough
Jim Hull, September 18, 2026.
A note on older terminology
Older discussions may say Overall Story for Objective Story, Obstacle or Impact Character for Influence Character, and Subjective Story for Relationship Story. Source titles retain their original wording. Historical software instructions describe the tools of their time.