Character Motivation Thesaurus: Restoring a Name or Reputation

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): Restoring a Name or Reputation

Forms This Might Take:

• The character being falsely accused and needing to prove their innocence
• Overcoming a stigma brought on by a relative or ancestor
• Proving to others that the character has changed (after overcoming an addiction, experiencing a spiritual renewal, recognizing they were wrong, etc.)…

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): Esteem and Recognition

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

• Reaching out to those who were negatively impacted by the character’s actions (or the actions of the people associated with the character)
• The character searching within and taking ownership of the part they played
• Writing a book or blogging about what happened
• Educate themselves on possible arguments so they’ll be knowledgeable and able to argue their innocence…

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

• The character sacrificing important relationships as the pursuit of the goal becomes their top priority
• Losing friends and family members who are still of the old mindset and don’t like that the character has changed
• Being thrown back into the public eye (if the issue is an old one that had been forgotten)…

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

• Family members and friends who want to maintain the status quo
• New people close to those who were negatively impacted who don’t want to see their loved ones hurt again or taken advantage of
• Inept or corrupt officials who make success difficult (police officers, lawyers, judges, reporters, record keepers, social workers, etc.)…

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal: Good Listening Skills, Gaining the Trust of Others, Exceptional Memory…

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

• Continued broken relationships
• Isolation
• Having to live under the radar to avoid scrutiny
• Living with the ramifications of being considered guilty (losing custody of kids, becoming a social pariah, never getting out of jail, etc.)…

Clichés to Avoid: The character ruining personal relationships and going into bankruptcy to clear their name…

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!