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.
We hope the sample list of ideas below helps you better understand how your character’s motivation drives the story. For a much more detailed entry, follow this link to the official Character Motivation Thesaurus.
Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Achieving Spiritual Enlightenment
Forms This Might Take:
- A new awareness of how society’s perceptions have become distorted (materialism, commercialism, racism, moral ambiguity, etc.)
- Becoming self-aware in a way that evokes curiosity and creates the desire for an even deeper understanding
- Awakening to new-found levels of love and connectedness with people, nature, animals, sacred spaces, the cosmos, God, etc.
- …
Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): self-actualization
How the Character May Prepare for This Goal:
- Fasting
- Going on a pilgrimage
- Attempting a near-death experience
- Partaking in hallucinogenics or activities that encourage hallucinations
- …
Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:
- Pushing the mind or body too far
- Unintentionally neglecting loved ones in one’s pursuit of internal awareness
- Letting go of experiences, items, or activities that are symbols of materialism even though it conflicts with what family members cherish
- …
Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved:
- Being scammed by people who are out to take advantage
- Discovering a mentor is not who they appeared to be and this leading to one questioning one’s path and beliefs
- Experiencing an event that causes disillusionment (seeing cruelty, observing godly people acting ungodly, etc.)
- …
Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal:
Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:
- Going back “to sleep” (and re-embracing distorted perceptions)
- Feeling disconnected with people and the world in general
- …
Click here to return to the list of sample entries for this thesaurus, along with a master post containing information on the individual fields.
What does your character want more than anything else and what is he willing to do 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 our popular 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 character motivation entries? Head on over and take advantage of our FREE TRIAL!
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.
A great writing resource! Thanks so much, Angela and Becca!
A good motivation.
Angela, I can’t tell you how PERfect this one is for me! It’s the focus of my intended novel series 😀 😀 😀
That’s so perfect! Glad you can use this one for your series!
I just finished the novel Demian by Hermann Hesse about a character searching for enlightenment. I recommend it. The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham is another novel about a character seeking a faith. I think it’s always good to read models.
Thanks for the recommendations!