Repentance is a highly character-based scenario, but that doesn’t automatically make it character-driven. If you’d like to check out the other plot scenarios, they can be found here.
- The guilty person seeks forgiveness for their crime or mistake.
When thinking of how roles are filled, also remember that sometimes you have someone who the guilty part is seeking forgiveness from specifically, which adds in a fourth role into this scenario. That fourth role can sometimes play an antagonistic role, providing obstacles your guilty person must overcome, or a sort of end-goal in which they have to prove their remorse one final time.
Interestingly, both the forgiveness they seek and the crime or mistake they initially made can also act as obstacles. When seeking forgiveness, don’t forget about self-forgiveness.
Although this may not seem like it, as a main plot it may be heavily plot driven, based more on the goals or steps the guilty person takes to gain that forgiveness. There will still need to be character arcs for certain, but the moments in which you build a character can be slightly smaller than the events used to try and gain forgiveness.
As a minor plot, repentance mixes well with plots such as revenge, faulty judgement and imprudence. This gives it more space to be character-driven and focused on the individual arcs of each character.
The Written Vixen 