In this month of February where winter's character is highly suspect, illogical and frankly, out of character (i.e., little snow, lots of rain, no subzero temperatures or even a separation from what we think of as spring's character), I'm drowning in tears and tissues. In essence, my character has gone dull, my motivation, well, null.
Hence, a hard look into this issue. When building a character, the layering begins with motives. Desires. But motivation goes beyond what a person wants in life. It is the push behind every reason why a person thinks, feels or does something.
Hence, a hard look into this issue. When building a character, the layering begins with motives. Desires. But motivation goes beyond what a person wants in life. It is the push behind every reason why a person thinks, feels or does something.
Tier 1: Basic, simple character motives
Motive Issue
Fear To fight or flee
Love To gain or avoid
Belief To seek or ignore
Justice To seek or ignore,
fight for or against (antagonist)
fight for or against (antagonist)
Pleasure To pursue, redefine or ignore
Hate To overcome or give in to
Safety To seek, fight for or ignore
Tier 2: More complex, personal motives
Motive Issue
Reputation To protect, lose, destroy
or manipulate
or manipulate
Friendship To pursue, avoid, renew
or destroy
or destroy
Knowledge To seek, avoid,
use for good or evil
use for good or evil
Duty To accept, ignore, avoid
or decline
or decline
Fame To seek, accept, avoid, use
Tier 3: Obscure, more behind-the-scene motives
Motive Issue
Influence To gain, prevent, use, block
or give in to
or give in to
Obsession To allow, accept, pursue
or fight or flee
or fight or flee
Control To avoid, gain, prevent, lose
Wealth To steal, seek, accept,
destroy, use for good or evil
destroy, use for good or evil
Destruction To plan, execute, prevent
or decline to use
or decline to use
Motivation precipitates Action. Action becomes the plot line, and the story a character plays out. This list is tiny but a place to start building character by putting them in places where they have to choose(action), avoid (action), flee (action)... yeah, you get my drift.
Another tip I found while researching motive: While plotting your story, put a "because" in all your character statements. For example: "I don't submit my manuscripts to publishers because I fear rejection, starting over or finding out I'm not good enough because then I must accept that I'm not willing to work harder, have no real belief system and aren't as smart as I think I am because I'm afraid of running out of ideas, writing a sequel or having to write a story I'm not thrilled about. In all honesty, I'd rather be the delusional character!"
