Storytelling Challenge: Character Motivation
“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water,” Kurt Vonnegut said in his Eight Basics of Creative Writing.
A lot goes into developing relatable characters. You have to figure out how they look and behave. You have to have a sense of their back story. But perhaps the most important thing that ties all the character development together is why. Why do they do what they do? What motivates them?
Just like real people, your characters will be motivated by different things. For the story you’re telling, choose one thing to focus on.
You likely won’t mention it outright, but the motivation you pick will be driving your character’s actions and decisions throughout the story.
Developing Characters Through Motivation
When your characters aren’t fully developed yet, giving them something to strive for is a fantastic way to begin developing them.
How would they go about achieving that goal? What risks would they take? And why do they want what they want in the first place?
You can easily start a story by taking a character, giving them a goal and watching them trying to reach it. Of course, the problem is that there will be obstacles along the way.
Take the example from the beginning of the post: a character that wants a glass of water. That should be simple enough, shouldn’t it?
They go to the kitchen and take a glass from the cupboard over the sink. The tap sputters when turned on, and no water comes out. Weird.
The character goes to check the stopcock, the water is on. Did they forget to pay the bill? Perhaps there was an incident down the road, and emergency works are going on.
From here, the story can go anywhere from Jason Bourne-style spy thriller to a silly dispute with a neighbour-style comedy. All we started with was a character wanting a glass of water.
Join us this week and spend an hour or more writing a story where the protagonist wants something. Pick a goal or some kind of motivation and use it to develop the character as you work on the story.
If other characters will be working against the protagonist, what motivates them? Why do they stand in the way of the protagonist’s achieving their goal?
Here are a few examples of character motivation:
security — the character’s security is being threatened
success/recognition — the character working hard to achieve something
acceptance — the character wants to fit in
love/friendship — the character is looking for new friends or a partner