Character Motivation Entry: Obtaining Shelter From The Elements

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. This thesaurus explores common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

Goal (Outer Motivation): 
Obtaining Shelter from the Elements

Forms This Might Take:

• Breaking into a vacant home or building
• Breaking into a vehicle
• Building a lean-to, tent, or structure with materials at hand
• Going door-to-door in a neighborhood and asking to be let in
• Sneaking onto a boat that’s anchored and vacant…

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): Physical Needs

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

• Gathering materials needed to build a shelter
• Traveling whatever distance is necessary to find adequate shelter
• Striking out alone in reconnaissance to see what options are out there
• Picking a lock or breaking a window to gain access to a structure…

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

• The character draining their finances or other resources
• Becoming lost as they seek out shelter
• Having to give up resources to obtain shelter—e.g., leaving their belongings behind because they ned to travel on foot…

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

• Opposition in the form of police, owners, or security guards protecting the property
• Competition for the shelter
• Being mugged or assaulted
• Running into a scam artist or violent individual looking to take advantage of the situation…

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal: A Knack for Languages, A Way with Animals, Archery, Basic First Aid, Blending In, …

Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:

• An injury or illness
• Frostbite and limb loss (in winter)…

Clichés to Avoid: Being lost in the woods and coming upon an abandoned cabin in the nick of time

We hope you’ve found this sample useful. To access the complete entry and our full range of thesauruses, head over to One Stop for Writers.

What does your character want, and how far will they go to achieve it?

On the surface, the protagonist’s goal seems to be the most important, but the inner motivation driving your character toward this goal (despite pain, suffering, fear, setbacks, and sacrifice) is what really draws readers in. Understanding the four cornerstones of character arc and how they frame a story is paramount for today’s writers. To help with this, we have integrated this Character Motivation Thesaurus into our online library at One Stop For Writers.

Each entry has been enhanced to provide even more information about your character’s motivation and is cross-referenced with our other thesauruses for easy searchability. We’ve also included a must-see tutorial on Character Motivation.

Interested in seeing these expanded entries? Head on over and take advantage of our FREE TRIAL!Save