In a post for Writers Helping Writers, September Fawkes offers advice for creating the strongest possible goal for your protagonist. “At any given moment, your protagonist should almost always have a want that manifests in a concrete goal,” Fawkes says. “Even if the want is something abstract, such as, ‘I want to be loved by others,’ it needs to be tied to something visually attainable.”
A concrete goal prompts your protagonist to action, suggests obstacles, and lets your readers know what success looks like. Without a strong goal, your readers won’t know when your hero made progress or suffered a setback. If your main character doesn’t want anything, then the story events matter less.
Many writers are resistant to thinking about their stories in goal-oriented terms, because it feels restrictive or too formulaic, but Fawkes suggests we view goals more broadly. They don’t have to be life-or-death or result in a grand movie moment.
Fawkes defines the three categories of goals:
- Obtaining. Obtaining goals are when your character wants to gain something specific. These goals are aspirational and generally require your character to hope for something.
- Avoiding. Sometimes your hero wants to stop something from happening. “The goal may be to prevent the consequences from happening or to stop problems currently happening or to minimize potential damage,” Fawkes explains. “These goals are more associated with the character having a fear.”
- Maintaining. Sometimes your protagonist wants to preserve the status quo, but an antagonistic force disrupts things and the hero must act to restore the equilibrium. In these cases, your hero could have either a hope or a fear.
With your character’s strong goal, you also need major consequences for success and failure. What will change in your main character’s world if they succeed or fail? “Luckily, even the simplest goals can become significant with the right stakes,” Fawkes says. “The goal to obtain a drink of water can be just as effective (if not more effective) as the goal to become a famous musician, if the character is at risk of dying from dehydration.”
