Jan
Craft 101 Part Deux: Be a Motivational Writer
Motivation! Yayee! It’s the ‘why’ in your story. You say, “I want to go to the store.” When someone says, “Why?” You respond with, “Because I’m going to tear your head off if I don’t get some chips.” The word ‘because’ implies motivation. Try it with your own writing. If you can’t think of a reason why your character is acting a certain way, then maybe you should rethink that action. Motivation serves the following purposes:
• Explains why the character acts the way he/she does: Your character wants to kill her father. That’s going to be difficult for a lot of readers to accept if you can’t give her a good reason to want her pappy dead. But what if her mother had been ritually abused by the man by years? Make it more personal and have the heroine have been his victim. Is that enough motivation? Maybe not. But what if the court system failed the heroine and her father wasn’t charged with abuse? What if he’s out and free to do it again? There was an episode of Special Victims Unit where a girl killed her father — not for the sexual abuse he put her through, but because he was going after her daughter — who was also *his* daughter. I don’t think there are too many readers (or TV viewers!) who wouldn’t sympathize with such a character. Better than that — there are very few people who wouldn’t understand that motivation.
• The need to accomplish the goal is primary motivation: Remember your character *has* to achieve that goal. Motivation = desperation. Remember Gandalf’s words to Frodo: “Keep it hidden. Keep it safe.” That message wouldn’t be half so effective if not for the delivery. It’s very important to Gandalf that Frodo keep that ring safe — the fate of the word rests upon it, and that freaks Gandalf out, knowing what the ring is. And Frodo’s motivation for hiding the ring is because Gandalf told him to. And yes, if Gandalf told Frodo to jump off a bridge, I believe he would. Likewise Sam goes the distance with Frodo because he made a promise and Sam’s word — his honor — is his bond.
• Again, motivation must be realistic and relatable: The motivation must make sense for your character. Desperate people may do desperate things, but desperation is relative. Two children are trapped inside a burning house. One mother might run inside with the goal of saving her child. The other mother might grab the fire hose and try to put out the blaze — or tell the firemen where to stand and how to do their job. Add a third child and that mother might stand outside, frozen in fear and cry. Each woman was a motivation for acting that way.
• Every action, decision and choice must have a motivation: This ties in to the scenario above. Now you have to apply this to everything that your character does. You hero decides to seduce the heroine. Why? He changes his mind and wants to marry her. Why? He decides he’s not good enough for her. Why? Your heroine runs away. Why? The villian decides at the last moment that he cannot kill the hero. Why? Your heroine decides to wear a blue dress instead of the pink. There’s a reason why. You don’t necessarily need to share it with your readers, but there’s a motivation there. It’s not enough that your hero looks at the heroine and wants her. I don’t care if she’s the most beautiful woman in the room. Even if it’s the simple fact that he thinks she’s easy, that’s motivation. Of course, there’s got to be a reason why he thinks she’s easy, doesn’t there?
• Motivation must be consistent with the character: These points may seem to overlap to you, and well… I guess they do, but they’re still important on their own. You cannot have your character motivated in a way that doesn’t make sense for that character. Ever watch ‘Monk’? Monk is afraid of everything, but he will face his fears if he has to. That’s his character. Someone deathly afraid of flying is not going to merrily get on a plane to go see Aunt Betsy. But, that person might get on a plane to fly to China to adopt the child she’s been waiting for. A hero hellbent on avoiding marriage is not suddenly going to change his mind and decide to shackle himself to the next wench who bats her eyelashes at him. If you’re going to make that man change his mind, you’d better provide the right motivation — and you’re probably going to have to do it several times. He may need to see his married friends and how happy they are. He may think the heroine would make a good mother (getting to be a cliche, that one) or he may realize just how empty his life is. Maybe he’ll do all three! That’s motivation for a rake to settle down. And to go back to a discussion from a few days ago as to why heroes are always rescuing the heroine — because it’s become an easy way for the writer to have the hero realize how much he loves this woman and wants to be with her always. Notice I said ‘easy’ not ‘lazy’. It still works if done right.
Don’t forget that motivation applies to the internal goal as well. That heroine who wants to be respected for her brain? She wants that because everyone always told her she was prettier than she was smart. That hero who thinks he doesn’t deserve love? It’s because everyone he’s ever loved has died.
So there’s more about motivation then you probably ever cared to hear. Questions? Thoughts? Just to be safe, let’s apply it to a few examples:
Prudence Ryland wants to find the Holy Grail. Why? Because she’s dying.
Jabba the Hut wants Han Solo. Why? The mangy (but oh so hot) cur owes him money.
Dorothy wants to get home from Oz. Why? Aunty Em is sick.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to buy Night of the Huntress on Tuesday. There will be a test. 
Kate, I’d gladly take a quiz on Night of the Huntress! Have I mentioned how excited about this books release? I still think you took notes from me to make Pru’s character.
Anyhow, I love the because factor. I’m a curious sort and I love asking that question. Why do people do things, what drives them to do what they’ve done or planning on doing. It drives my husband insane when I ask him why he does something. I’ve gotta know what makes it(them, they, him, her) tick.
My motivation for my hero’s actions: He’s drawn to the heroine but thinks he’s a monster, so he fights the urge to find happiness.
The heroine hates being viewed as a beauty, even though she is, because she feels men will look at her as a prize, not a person.
The villain is a broke ogre who needs to marry fast. So he is motivated to do what is needed to secure a rich wife..no matter the means.
BTW I enjoy watching Monk..we share common bonds. I’m a little OC.
Again great topic!
January 29th, 2007 at 2:25 amGreat blog, Kate. I always get comments from my CPs on motivation, so I have to make a conscious effort to focus on it.
January 29th, 2007 at 7:38 amKathryn, wow! I read both today and yesterday’s post and you are absolutely right.
Me being a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type or writer, I don’t really plan anything when I sit to write, but I do have good old GMC. Goal, motivation, character. These three elements are so vital to the story, thanks for reminding me how much!
I love your second book. Who would’ve thought I would get into vampire love stories? I shunned them for so many years. But thanks to you and some other authors I could name, I’ve gotten into this genre of books. They’re excellent.
One question i have is I sometimes struggle with the balance in a scene where say……the H/H are talking. I never know how much to describe their action, and surroundings during their exchange compared to a lot of dialogue. I hope I made sense on that, so perhaps if you could touch on that, I’d be grateful.
Michelle
January 29th, 2007 at 9:13 amGood morning, everyone!
Kate ~ Am I right? Every character in every scene has to have GMC - not the overall GMC: example, hero wants to be loved, because his parents never cared for him, but his afraid of opening his heart to love - but a GMC for that particular scene…do I make sense?
January 29th, 2007 at 10:06 amShana, It’s a big thing for me too. I always say, “why does my hero want that?” and the answer is always “because he does!” lol.
Michelle, I wouldn’t sweat it. Get the dialogue down and come back to the action and only put it in where it seems to fit. Surroundings aren’t so important during the talking unless they’re in the open. And then you can have someone’s gaze simply dart around to check for eavesdroppers. The good news is this is stuff that is easily fixed/edited, so don’t worry too much about it. Just write it and when you go over it later, you’ll get a feeling whether it needs more work or not.
Ladies, my revisions for Saint’s book arrived today so I won’t be popping by as frequently as I like, but rest assured I’ll be by this afternoon and evening. I’ll try to stop by at least three times a day.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:07 amIsabel, it’s good to have GMC for a scene because then you’re sure that scene should be in the book. For example your hero’s goal is to sneak into the heroine’s bedroom. Why? Because he wants to seduce her. What’s the conflict? Her windows are bolted. I’m not sure that every character in a scene needs GMC because they might be bit players, but certainly the character acting and the character reacting need it. In the same example above, the heroine might have locked the windows with the goal of keeping the heroine out. Why? Because she knows she’ll be ruined if they’re found out. The conflict? She really wants to let the hero in! lol.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:12 am*sharpens pencil to take test on Huntress* I’m ready. *g*
Man, Kate, this is some good stuff! I need to remember to always ask “why” while writing my scenes. Am I correct to assume that it’s okay for the answer to not be obvious right away if you’ll eventually answer it later? For example, if a character has a big secret (that has to do with their motivation) that will reveal itself at a later time. Does that make sense?
Great blog, Kate! Thanks so much and I’m looking forward to tomorrow…your blog and the release of Huntress!! Yay!!
Oh, and good luck with those revisions…Saint…*sigh*
January 29th, 2007 at 10:36 amGreat blog, Kate! I’ve always thought motivation was the most crucial element of the GMC equation simply b/c if you have solid motivation, then a reader will follow you anywhere. To me, motivation is the reader’s secret decoder ring. I loved your examples!
Haven, I love the new design.
January 29th, 2007 at 11:37 amYeah Haven, this looks absolutely fabulous!
I was going to ask how far one should go with motivation.. but you answered that really well with the dress example~! This is so wonderful, Kathryn. I just thought of another questions for goals… and it ties in with motivation…
How many is too many goals, or how little is too little? Is just one external goal enough for the hero/heroine… or can it be broken up into one biggoal, and then maybe a few smaller ones?
January 29th, 2007 at 11:47 ambig goal*
January 29th, 2007 at 11:48 amLaura, I think you’ll find that even if you give the characters one big goal, there are smaller ones that need to be met in order to reach the big one. Does that make sense? Like in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wants to get home, but there are things she must do in order to make that happen — those are smaller goals needed to reach the larger one. That said, your characters can have only one goal yes. And that goal can change during the book as well!
And Andrea, yes it makes sense. If your heroine has a secret and that’s her motivation then you can reveal it later, yes. YOU know her motivation for doing what she’s doing and as long as you imply to the reader that she has reason for doing what she’s doing, then you’re golden.
And thanks for the good luck wish. When I get revisions I’m daunted at first and then I get excited about the changes! lol. Right now I’m all hopped up because I’ve decided to give Saint and Ivy more of a history and it’s going to take care of so many little niggling plot problems! Not that there’s a lot of problems, of course, because my books are always perfectly written the first time around…lol
January 29th, 2007 at 12:15 pmNot that there’s a lot of problems, of course, because my books are always perfectly written the first time around…lol
Oh, Kate! You’re a dear. We do so love to hear our authors enjoy their work. And excellent GMC blog. You’re right; it has come up a lot lately!
January 29th, 2007 at 1:48 pmGreat answer Kathryn… I asked this question in your post from yesterday.. I posted pretty late… but it was basically.. “What comes first… The characters or the plot?” Does one create the characters and then think of a plot… or does it all just come at the same time… I’ve tried to make a plot and then create characters… but that was hard and it didn’t turn out very well in my first book.
what does everyone think? Can it be done all different ways or is it best to get the characters down… and then outline a plot? I hope that made sense.
With this new project I’m working on… it all seems to be formulating at once…
January 29th, 2007 at 3:38 pmLaura, I think that’s a chicken and the egg question. lol. Sometimes I get a bit of character with a big dose of plot and sometimes it’s just a little plot with a huge influx of character. I think it all depends on your style, how you like to work, and the story. Personally, I think if it’s all coming together at once that means it’s working.
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