Character Motivation Thesaurus: Caring for an Aging Parent

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): 
Caring for an Aging Parent

Forms This Might Take: Taking on the caregiving role for a parent who is no longer able to care for themselves. This may mean the parent is declining due to dementia or Alzheimer’s, is suffering from a terminal or chronic illness, or is simply unable to get around safely on their own…

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): Safety and Security

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

• Renovating their home to accommodate the parent’s needs
• Moving into a home that is easier for the parent to access
• Coordinating duties and care between siblings
• Outsourcing certain duties (lawn care, house cleaning, grocery deliveries, etc.)…

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

• The character quitting their job to care for the parent or losing it because of too much missed time
• Giving up hobbies or dreams due to a lack of time
• Strife with siblings and other relatives (when they won’t help out, over differences of caregiving philosophy, when finances become strained, etc.)…

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

• The parent refusing to comply
• Legal issues that make it impossible for the character to make necessary decisions on the parent’s behalf
• Siblings and other relatives who disagree about the proper care for the parent
• The character second-guessing themselves; doubting their ability to carry on

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal: Basic First Aid, Good Listening Skills, ESP (Clairvoyance) …

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

• The parent sustaining an injury or dying while living on their own
• The parent’s quality of life falling to an unhealthy level…

Clichés to Avoid: Taking in a parent with whom the character has a strained relationship, and the relationship being healed because of the decision.

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!