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):
Carrying on a Legacy
Forms This Might Take: Keeping alive a legacy begun by a respected person, organization, or culture. This could be personal (running the family business, fostering children because the character’s parents did so), moral (supporting a charity organization, rallying around a topic of social awareness to right a wrong), or …
Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): Self-Actualization
How the Character May Prepare for This Goal:
- The character reorganizing their priorities to make time for this new endeavor
- Making necessary changes so they can pursue the goal (relocating, changing careers, quitting their job, etc.)
- Gathering support from others (if this applies to the specific goal)…
Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:
- Risk of failure (if this is something the character hasn’t tried previously)
- Giving up passions or hobbies due to a lack of time or decreased interest
- A temporary or permanent decrease in income…
Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved:
- The people in their life who are averse to the changes that would come with pursuing the legacy
- A lack of necessary knowledge (having the passion but not the smarts to succeed)
- External forces that don’t want the legacy to continue
- Illness, emergencies, problems at home, and other difficulties that would distract the character from focusing wholeheartedly on building the legacy…
Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal:
- A Knack for Languages
- Skills specific to the legacy (Baking, Basic First Aid, Carpentry, Farming, Mechanically Inclined, Promotion)…
Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:
- The originator of the legacy fading away and being forgotten
- Self-blame for allowing something important to fail
- Social wrongs going unchanged…
Clichés to Avoid: The passionate believer who sacrifices everything only to fail, ending up ruined in every possible 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.
Interested in seeing these expanded 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.
Talia says
Yay! You used my idea! I’m happy to have been able to contribute something to this thesaurus. 🙂
BECCA PUGLISI says
It’s a common story goal and is a great addition. Thanks for mentioning it!