These are just my thoughts and this list in no way exhaustive, but it’s important to consider what a character wants, and how that compares to what they need. If we know these details, it becomes easier to decide how a character will act in any given moment. It’s a big part of who they are.
Character motivation can also make or break immersion in a story. To do it justice, it can help to keep the following in mind.
Motivation is based on need.
This can be tricky because a character often confuses what they think they need and what they actually need. The white-collar woman wants to climb the corporate ladder, but what she really needs is to feel security--a certainty that she won't end up destitute like her mother was after her father abandoned them. The aging man works though he could retire. He thinks he needs to stay busy, or perhaps the shop would fall apart without him, but secretly he's internalized the belief that he must be of use to be of value to his family or to society.
There are internal needs and external needs.
Internal needs live in us. They originate inside us and push us to act. These include fear, revenge, and love. External needs are outside forces like food, laws, and money. Katniss from the Hunger Games was motivated by her need to survive. John Wick was motivated by the need to avenge the death of his pup. We've all been there.
The lie that they believe.
Like the elderly man in the first paragraph, a character might be motivated by a lie that they believe. You don't have to work to be of value, yet that thought drives him. Often, when a character has one of these false beliefs, their personal arc involves unlearning or relearning what they know. A hero who believes they must be the single strongest protector will, over the course of the book, learn to trust others and to work as a team (Mr. Incredible from the Incredibles). The "I avoid love because loving means pain and nothing lasts forever" character realizes that grief is a worthy price for love.
Lies that characters (and people) believe often come from trauma/society/the way we were raised. For example, believing we are unworthy of love or recognition, believing we are a burden, believing sex is shameful, or that feeling confident in the way we look is vain.
The things they care about but have no control over.
Often, people try to control what they simply cannot. They don't want their kids to get hurt, so they protect them to the point of being over-bearing. Some are unhappy about their life, and so make it their mission to do others the favor of dragging them down with what they perceive to be the "harsh reality". Perhaps a character believes everyone will leave them, so they push others away, or instead become obsessively clingy and "mirror" each potential new friend in an effort to keep them.
Photo by Piotr Makowski on Unsplash
Conflicting Motivations.
Honor or Fame? Love or Duty? Security or Excitement? Conflict is at the heart of a well-rounded story, so don't feel you have to stick to just one.
Do Motivations have to be rational?
No. Not every motivation needs to be completely relatable. The mad king wants mandatory attendance (on threat of death) at the Temple of Chastity for all unmarried women after his eldest daughter dies while giving birth to a child conceived out of wedlock. It's not how I'd handle the situation, but, as a reader, we can reason it out. "The pain of losing his first daughter drove him mad with grief, and fear for his other fifteen daughters drives him to attempt to control what he cannot."
Unreliable Narrators
Any character may be an unreliable narrator, for various reasons. They may paint a very obvious picture of their motivation, only for the writer to change POV and show that the character's perception of the world isn't quite based on reality. A character caring for and speaking with a friend they believe is real. A character believing strongly in their version of right and good. I’ve always believed the scariest bad guys are those who think they’re the heroes. Maybe your character is that guy.
In the end, the reader doesn't have to believe the motivation is reasonable, they don't have to approve of it, they only have to believe it's there.
(This article was originally published on the Between the Pages Podcast website)
The Wingbreaker releases in two weeks! If you like fantasy or characters forced to let go of who they are to become who they’re meant to be, you can preorder the paperback and the ebook now. Click here to check it out.
Remember, there are no absolutes in writing. In the end, the story itself is what matters most. Mossgrovewrites hopes to scrutinize traditional craft wisdom and ponder its pros and cons, alongside offering one writer’s opinions and the experiences that shaped them.
Happy writing!
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