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. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.
Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Gaining Fulfillment By Giving Back
Forms This Might Take:
- Volunteerism at an animal shelter or wildlife rescue facility
- Giving one’s time to a group or organization that rescues and rehabilitates abused animals
- Sitting on a board or committee that oversees and manages projects for the betterment of a community
- Working to keep one’s parks clean or to maintain special areas that are neglected by city and park services…
Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): Self-actualization
How the Character May Prepare for This Goal:
- Setting time aside to think about how one can best give back (skills, time, abilities, one’s personality, etc.)
- Researching existing groups and organizations to see where one might find a good fit
- Talking with other volunteers to determine where there is a need for support that is being overlooked…
Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:
- Giving up free time for other interests and pastimes
- Not being at home as much and “available” to others…
Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved:
- A financial crisis
- Marital problems that force one to refocus one’s time and energy
- A family member becoming sick and requiring care that takes up a lot of time (tests, dialysis, hospital stays, operations, home care, etc.)…
Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal:
Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:
- Being disappointed in oneself and a general feeling of failure
- Becoming depressed from a self-esteem hit or feeling one is being prevented from righting a wrong (especially if one feels accountable for the wrong in some way)…
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.
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
This is a really good goal!