Character Motivation Thesaurus: Discovering One’s True Self

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): 
Discovering One’s True Self

Forms This Might Take:

• Accepting their cultural identity
• Embracing their sexual identity
• Embracing their true gender identity
• Taking on a big challenge which requires self-reliance and sacrifice…

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): Self-Actualization

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

• Leaving an unhealthy marriage
• Cutting off communication with a toxic family
• Studying up on how to live frugally or so they can travel to explore their roots
• Finding a school, organization, or place of sanctuary where they can learn new things and discover who they really are in the process…

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

• Relationship friction with people who don’t understand the character’s goal
• Having to give up a cherished house, apartment, a vehicle, etc. because of financial strain…

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

• Financial struggles
• A family member’s critical illness that requires the character to return to their life before they’ve found what they’re seeking
• Toxic family members who sabotage the character’s journey in some way
• Being asked to sacrifice something they’re not ready to give up…

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal: A Knack for Languages, Good Listening Skills, Gaining the Trust of Others, Empathy…

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

• Ongoing dissatisfaction
• Regret for compromising settling for less than what they really want
• The character having to hide who they are from people who don’t understand…

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