When contrasting plot-driven and character-driven stories, I talk a lot about characters’ goals and motivations, and for good reason.
Goals are the focus of a plot-driven story. The reader wants to know how the characters get from point A to their ultimate goal, point Z. While the plot may wind through some twists and turns, the characters’ motivations tend to stay constant throughout.
Character-driven stories place a much greater emphasis on motivations. The what of a character’s actions is less important than the why, because in this kind of story plans often change as new information is revealed. As characters grow as individuals and adapt, their motivations often change as well.
There is a common misconception that goals and motivations are one and the same. After all, in daily life, we tend to use these words interchangeably.
They are not interchangeable in fiction writing.
As you plot your next work, it is important to know your characters’ motivations, goals, and the difference between them. That’s what will bring your characters, and ultimately your story, to life.
What Are Motivations and Goals?
First, some definitions in the context of fiction:
A character’s goal is the concrete thing toward which they are working. It typically has clear parameters and/or a specific endpoint. There may or may not be a time crunch involved—this will greatly affect the pace of the story.
A character’s motivation is what ultimately drives the character’s actions. It’s tied to who they are—it’s a part of their identity. Think values, morals, deep-seated beliefs as a result of childhood trauma, etc.
Some Examples
Media and daily life alike are rife with examples of motivations and goals because everyone has them. Even if your goal is, “Take a breath,” and your motivation is, “to replenish the oxygen in your blood,” that counts!
One book that marks a clear difference between motivation and goal is Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. In dialogues between minor characters, the reader gets a front-row seat to some of the analysis of Ender Wiggins’s behavior during his time in Battle School. His goal—the concrete thing toward which he’s working—is to complete his Battle School training and move on to Command School. However the other characters agree he isn’t doing it for the sake of the war with the buggers or saving humanity. Ender’s motivation is much simpler—his sister Valentine.
The thing that keeps Ender in Battle School, no matter what challenges he faces, is not general altruism or the knowledge that he is helping save mankind. Ender is motivated almost solely by a desire to protect his sister from harm. He recognizes that the buggers pose the biggest threat to her safety. As a result, he stays in Battle School and trains hard for her sake and no one else’s, not even his own.
How to Write Motivations and Goals
Sorry, pantsers—the key to writing motivations and goals is part of the work you put in beforehand.
This pre-work is vital. If you’ve written a character without motivation, you’ve written nothing but a name with a sad backstory.
As with character-driven stories, spend some time getting to know your characters before you actually sit down to write. Create a character sheet—a list of facts about your character—and include their motivations and goals and backstory (even if some or all of this never makes it into the finished product). Get a feel for their personalities, their values, the choices they would make. More importantly, understand why they would make them (that’s motivation).
Be mindful of how these elements change throughout the story as well. In my character sheets, I have a section titled “Epiphany”. Here, I detail how my characters’ motivations change over the course of the book as they grow as people.
For example, in my WIP, my protagonist originally responds to her call to action because she is motivated by a sense of self-preservation and a desire to be accepted by her community. (She’s blackmailed into taking action—her goal is to avoid the consequences of said blackmail.)
By the end of the book, her actions are completely contrary to self-preservation—in fact, another major character actually pleads with her to keep herself out of harm’s way. My protagonist is instead motivated by a desire to keep her family and homeland safe from invasion. Her ultimate motivation is a desire to see justice carried out, even if it is to her own detriment.
The bottom line is that your characters should continue to grow and change throughout the story. Each one should be dynamic and have their own arc. If they don’t, consider why they’re in the book, and if they’re really integral to the story you’re trying to tell.
How do you outline your projects? Do you spend time with each character beforehand, or do you prefer to dive in and see what happens? Tell me all about your process in the comments—I’d love to hear from you. And, as always, happy writing!
