youre probably thinking of this really essential writing advice in a really unhelpful way
“HOW DO I PLOT?” is a really common question/struggle/panic of writers. I have all these ideas, but how do I plot. My plot is full of holes., help??
And writing advice will often tell you that the answer is to ask, what does my character want?
Which is really solid advice, but look what happens a lot of times when we try to apply it practically.
What does my character want? Well, what she really wants is acceptance. Or, she wants to avoid her painful past. Or, she wants to be loved. These are all very legitimate “wants” or motivations for your character to have. But, in the thick of a story, they are like 0% helpful.
Because these things are abstract. They can’t be DIRECTLY pursued by the character. The main character may not even be fully, consciously aware of what they want. Not all or even many of us in real life have that kind of self awareness. And that’s why I wrestled with this advice (and my plots) for so long. Because I always knew what my character wanted, but it was always too abstract to help.
Instead, you have to get really nitty gritty and specific and tangible about your character’s wants.
So no. Not acceptance. Your character wants to make this specific person like them. They want to get invited to this particular party. They want to be included in this particular conversation. They want to change the behaviors that label them as “weird.” They want to behave like or mimic this clique of people. Try to dig into and get more specific with even THOSE things because then what you’ll have is a rich hoard of things your character can do, things they can choose. So, maybe your character starts downplaying their geeky interests to seem less “weird.” Or is trying to convince their mom to let them shop where the “popular” kids shop. Write out the argument between parent and child. It fits into the story because it’s just a trickle-down of your character’s larger motivation.
So: Not to avoid their past. To move out of the house that reminds them of what happened. To avoid a specific thing that triggers them. To change their identity. To cut off contact with this person. Write about their relief as they rip posters off the walls and paint over the scarring left. Get VERY SMALL.
You’re only onto something helpful until you can state your character’s desires as a concrete verb, that is, something specific and tangible they can DO. Split these things down as far as you possibly can and extrapolate and explore them. Maybe your character wants to feel free from their grief (not “inner peace” or something”).WELL. Figuring out what your character wants and getting in the way of that isn’t just for big things. It’s for the tiny things too. I mean tiny things. Maybe your character is coping with their pain using comfort food, but the brand of ice cream they used to enjoy with their lost loved one is discontinued?? Sounds like a minor disappointment, but not while it is tied into much deeper things. You could have them have a breakdown over the ice cream and it will fit perfectly into the story.
Literally every action you take in life is toward *some* goal. You normally don’t think about how your desire for good grades is due to your underlying desire for self validation (just throwing something out there.) But think about the actions and feelings you take and have in connection to this. You might skip out on movie night with friends because you are stressed about a test. You might neglect self care in favor of studying. You might feel better and friendlier when your grades are good, but if you get a C in something, you might feel less passion for your hobbies and not want to talk to anyone because you feel depressed.
If you wrote “self validation” as a motivation for your character you wouldnt have the least idea what to do with it, but “to obtain good grades” is getting closer and “to come up with an excuse to skip on movie night” is even better because it’s very immediate and specific.
Plotting became a lot less intimidating when I figured this out.
