Goals Motivation Conflict (GMC)

Today we're going to move on to the synopsis. However, before we begin to talk about the synopsis, we need to talk about one of the major components of a synopsis -- character goals, motivations, and conflicts, otherwise known as GMC. This is because a synopsis is NOT a chapter by chapter outline of what happens in your book. You can't think in terms of what you learned in grade school when you were required to write book reports. A synopsis is not a book report explaining the adventures of the main character. Along with detailing the plot arc and story resolution, the synopsis needs to convey character growth, both internal and external.

GMC stands for Goals (What does the character want?), Motivation (Why does he want it?), and Conflict (What's keeping him from getting it?). Another way to look at it is Goal is the WHAT of your story, Motivation is the WHY of your story, and Conflict is the BUT or BECAUSE of your story.
I'm not going to go into detail about GMC because that would be an entirely different roundtable discussion. If you're not sure about the subject, take a workshop or get a copy of Debra Dixon's book. It's the best on the subject.

All characters in a novel must have both internal and external goals, motivation, and conflict, and you must show these in your synopsis. Without GMC you have melodrama, not drama, and melodramatic books are books that don't sell.

So take the time to map out the internal and external GMC of all your protagonists and antagonists. A story may have one or more protagonists (the character or characters the story is about.) In a romance, the protagonists would be the hero and heroine. In a mystery there may only be one protagonist, the person who solves the crime, but there will certainly be an antagonist, the person who commits the crime. So the first thing you have to determine is who the main characters are in your story. You need to establish GMC for each of these characters. Every one of your main characters needs to have both internal and external goals, motivations, and conflicts, and these need to be spelled out in your synopsis. Characters who are missing goals, motivations, or conflict are a reason for a swift rejection by an agent or editor.

-From Lois Winston