Why did the chicken cross the road? Does it really matter? If you’re writing fiction and your main character happens to be the chicken, then you can bet it matters. Readers are not content with characters that just have a goal.
In fact, some of your readers may never be able to relate to your character’s goal. But true motivation humanizes your character for the reader so that while they cannot relate to the goal, they can grasp why this character wants this.
I’ll give you an example of motivation. I recently saw the previews for the movie Taken, in which Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson, is a former government agent trying to rescue his kidnapped daughter. He goes after the kidnappers in violent, gruesome ways.
Most of us will never experience that heartbreak of having a loved one kidnapped and even then, few will go after the kidnappers in such a violent way. But…we can all understand Bryan’s motivation.
And while your readers will never face some of the agonizing decisions that Bryan Mills in Taken faces, we can understand his motivation. Indeed, it is the sufficient motivation that makes us look at him as not a ruthless killer but a hero worthy of admiration. It his motivation that redeems his character.
Without sufficient motivation, you wouldn’t have a blockbuster movie instead you’d have a violent movie about a ruthless killer. While that might appeal to a select few oddballs, you wouldn’t get millions watching it. Most people would simply opt to watch another movie.
The motivation you give your character should be so convincing that we understand one hundred percent why the character is doing what he does. That doesn’t mean we support or like the character’s actions but that we understand them. We understand their need for justice. We understand their desire to seek revenge.
In Don’t Judge A Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter, one character explains motivation well: “What is almost always tied to why. There are six reasons anyone does anything: Love. Faith. Greed. Boredom. Fear. Revenge.”
In the same way this information applies to spies in training, it applies to writers in training as well. We need not only to know what was done but why it was done.
Today’s Assignment: Determine what drives your character. Why is this character going after this goal? Why do they feel the need to do this?
Details matter. Like painting a grey sky, the right details can tell your reader that ominous weather is headed your character's way. Great details make us think and feel and remember.