In a post on Writers in the Storm, Sarah Hamer examines the important question of why our characters want what they want and act as they do. “What’s your characters’ WHY? And why does it matter?” she asks.
Motivation is what drives our characters. Desire is what keeps them going, even when obstacles arise. It’s why your protagonist doesn’t make a left turn out of your story when the going gets tough. They want something that is more important than the pain they suffer in pursuing it. Scarlett O’Hara was willing to lie, steal, and starve to marry Ashley Wilkes and save Tara. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy runs away to save Toto from being put down and then is desperate to find her way home.
How can you develop similarly strong motivations? It doesn’t matter where you begin, but unless Goals, Motivation, and Conflict are equally strong, your story is likely to fall apart. When one shifts, the others, by necessity, must change. A new goal requires a new motivation and creates new conflict. A change in motivation usually creates a new goal, which in turn raises new obstacles.
