Everybody is always talking about realistic stories, and how great they are, but not saying enough about character motivation.
The secret to that though is character. Specifically, character motivation. In our stories, our characters kill people, run away from their ordinary lives, and the likes. The question is why would anybody do that? Why would you do these things?
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If your reason is not good enough, then it is unbelievable. That reason is motive. And you character needs a good motive. So how do you write character motivation?
In order to write character motive, first you need to construct the motive, then when you are done, you need to portray that motive to the readers through the actions the character takes. The construction of the character’s motive can be done in only 2 ways; either you construct it going back, or going forward.
Going back is when you look at the end of the story, and what the character needs to do to defeat the villain. Seeing how the character defeats the villain, ask yourself why the character would do go so far as to do that.
Going forward is when you have a firm grasp of who the character is, their family, and design. This way is easier, since you can just then go back and give your character reasons as to why they do what they do.
Both attempts must have protecting something valuable to them as a core driver. In order to portray the character’s motives, you will use their design firstly, their physical appearance, and speech patterns, then finally, you have them just tell the viewers their motives.
It all sounds convoluted, but it is the simplest thing to do, especially considering the fact that most people already have an inkling as to why their character’s do what they do. They just don’t realize that is motivation.
What is an example of Character Motivation?
Character motivation is the main reason behind why the character is going through the whole story, which could be either to protect something, or in the pursuit of gaining something.
Before we see examples of character motivation, we need to know what character motivation is first.
In our stories, our characters go through a lot. They risk their lives, and their safety in order to attain what they want to attain. The problem is that, a character with a weak reason for doing this comes across as unrealistic, and one with a strong enough motivation will do anything.
All motivations stem from a desire to protect something, or a desire to gain something.
It is the why in “this guy jumped that love to…”. Whether it is to save his little brother, or to get the money on the other side so he can get a better life for his family, it is the same. So we already received our first sign of what a character motivation could be.
In Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is trying to get to live with his children again, so he accepts harsh missions (gain).
In Wolverine, Logan is fighting to get the girl to a safe place (protect). These are some two examples of character motivations, and you will find most are like this. The reason behind why the character does something also tells us about who they are as a person, their values, and probably their past.
So, how can you write this?
How do you write character motivation?
1. From the front
The first way to write character motivation is to write starting from the climax back.
This technique can only be met under a few conditions.
First, you need to already have a character designed, or a concept of a character. Now, you just want to write a motivation for them, Maybe you learned how motivation is what makes readers attached to your character, or you learned that motivation makes your story more believable. Whatever it may be, make sure that it works.
Secondly, you need to know how the story ends.
Not the resolution, but the final blow to the villain that the hero gives them. Maybe it can be a literal blow, or maybe it could be a matter of outwitting the villain. Whatever it is, you should know the exact action that the hero must take in slaying the villain.
The final blow that the hero deals the villain is always strenuous.
If it is physical, that is obvious to see. In Terminator 1, Reese lodges a bomb in the terminator’s stomach. It explodes and kills him, almost taking the Terminator down with him. This fact leads to our next point
2. Write The Climax Out For Character Motivation
When you have the end scene in mind, that climactic moment write it down.
Dotting down the scene is helpful for you.
Usually, a climactic scene will be vague in your mind. By writing it down, you get to observe the character’s in motion. This allows you to learn a lot about them, and the things you learn could help you in crafting your motive. You can do this with 2 questions.
Who would do this (what type of person)? And why would they do this (what would it take to make them of this)?
In the Terminator example, the first thing we notice is that the Reese jams a bomb into the Terminator’s stomach.
That will inform us that this is a person who is familiar with military tech. Maybe they are a soldier, or somebody close to them is. Or maybe they live in an army base. Secondly, we ask why would he do this. You see, the explosion kills him.
Now we know that he is not doing any of this for gain, since he won’t live to see it. He is only doing it for protection of someone else. Or maybe vengeance.
Those are the two bits of information you derive from the scene, and using that, you can begin crafting a motive.
3 Write What Was Needed To Create This
Next, you need to write down the necessary components that were needed for the climax to take place.
After you’ve asked your who is this, and why are they doing this questions, you will then have some information. With this information, you can then ask another question.
How did this guy become what he is?
This question is for both the first “who” and “why”. You basically ask how did he end up being who he is, and how did he end up feeling the way he feels. In this way, you are filling up the story and writing the pieces that were needed for the climax, the who, and the why to be met.
In the Terminator example, we could ask who is this guy who is familiar with weaponry.
It’s up to you to decide. You can say he is a soldier, or he has a soldier friend. You could even say he was never a soldier, but he ran to a military base for his own protection, but whatever your answer, it will lead to the why. Why would a person who is no soldier run to the military base for protection? Why would a person who has a soldier friend know so much about military equipment?
You could answer the ‘how did he end up feeling the why he feels’ by saying that he felt like protecting the woman because he was in love with her. Or maybe because she could help those he does love. Whatever you pick would work, if it as an appropriate explanation.
4. Crafting The Beginning With This Information To Create Character Motivation
The fourth step to character motivation building is to then use this information to fill out the beginning, and character’s motives.
Now you have 3 critical pieces of information for character motivation.
Who, or what type of person you are dealing with here? Why they are doing this, or what it took to make them do this? And finally, how does the person get to the point.
You may not believe it, but this is perfect wax on wax off kung-fu training, and let me tell you why.
‘Who, or what type of person you are dealing with’ informs us about the temperament of the person. As a great writer once put it, ‘A wise man fears three things: a sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man’. The point here being that the temperament of character shows us the severity of the situation. A calmer character getting angry shows us the scope of the offense. A braver character being scared tells us the scope of the threat. But first, you must show us this character, and who they are.
‘Why are they doing this, or what it took to make them do this’ informs us about the specific situation that makes them act. Which tells us more about the character. If it was a kidnapping of a loved one that moved them to action, then we know that this character needs a motivation that has to deal with protection of sorts.
‘How does this person get to this point’ informs us of the scope of the offence. A person could try to negotiate first, but when all else fails, they may finally act. But all needs to fail first. So you need to show us the specific long winding road that they tried before finally attempting this step.
Using these three answers, you can craft a motivation for the character that starts the character’s movement.
5. From the back
The second technique you can use to craft motivation is to write the story starting from a moral question, then design the character, and world around this question.
This second technique assumes you have no character already, and instead you are trying to create your character, and world from scratch. Now it should be noted that even if you already have a character and world, it is not impossible for you to fit what you learn here.
Alright, so you could start of your story by asking a core question. Crafting the central conflict of the story, or central message.
I know that most story tellers tell their story because they thought of something call they wanted to tell. And yes, you can do that. but it is important to understand that what makes a story interesting is the central conflict of the story. it is cool to see batman and Joker fight, but it is even better to see those two boats getting ready to blow each other up.
So ask the central conflict.
When you have the central conflict, you can then turn to your character, and try to build them up in a way that best exemplifies the central conflict.
6. Write The Heroes Physical Description To Create Character Motivation
The next step to developing character motivation is by writing the character’s physical description.
The simplest way to do this is by crafting your character’s physical appearance.
Sometimes, this is all it takes to show us a motivation. For example, Tyrion Lannister. Just looking at him, and it is clear what he wants in life. So, that is an easy way of creating a character motivation, but there are more complicated ways of creating character motivation through physical appearance.
You could make your character perfect for example. This already tells us a lot about their motivation. Maybe they want to remain so. Or maybe they want to prove that they are more than just looks. Whatever works for you.
The point is that this is cheat code many tend to ignore, so you can have at it.
7. Write Their Family Background To Create Character Motivation
The next step to try for crafting character motivation is to create the character’s family background.
A simple family tree would do.
The most obvious forms of character motivation tend to be protecting loved ones. protecting daughters, wives, etc. People just really love fighting to protect their loved ones.
However, you can make yours really unique.
You could create a family tree, and have your character’s motivation be something like preserving his family lineage. Or maybe he could be trying to destroy the family’s image. Or maybe, he could be trying to run away from the family, but they are hunting him down.
The point is that the opportunities are literal limitless, so go at it tiger.
8. Write The Villains Strength Over The Hero To Craft Character Motivation
Finally, you could create your character motivation through creating the villain’s strengths.
Sometimes, it is easier to observe your villains, and see what sort of powers they have. Intelligence? Brute force? Connections? Whatever it may be, just find ways of that the villain has stronger power than the hero.
What does this power hurt? Make that your hero’s motivation.
If it is brute force, then make your hero want to protect something, or someone. Maybe even themselves. Maybe their motivation is to make it out of the maze alive.
It it is intelligence, make your heroes motivation something that can be stolen intelligently. Build your heroes motivation from the villain’s power, and you are guaranteed as amazing story. Once you have mastered how to write character motivation, you will be that much closer to mastering mastery.