Character Motivation

One of the things we talk about constantly in writing is MOTIVATION. Writers are often told to ask themselves why someone does the things they do. What could make a completely rational man with young children rob a bank, hold a hospital hostage, or willingly give up his own life? They say that anyone will do anything if properly motivated. Basic motivations for characters include the need for things: love, shelter, sustenance, freedom, etc. More specific motivating factors can be things like money, acceptance, and life or death situations. 

The point is that everyone must be motivated in your story, but your hero/heroine has to have the most pressing motivation of all. This character's motivation is what is driving the story, after all! The character's world is CHANGING, which is why we have a story in the first place. The motivating factor is what is causing this change. No one wants to read (or write) a story about "another day in the life of XYZ person." Look at your life, look at mine. None of our daily lives are interesting enough to carry a story because none of us are changing when we're living the status quo.

I want to talk for a minute about how motivation shapes a story, and why it's important for your lead characters to have different motivations.

I'm reading a story now from NetGalley about lifeguards at an inner-city water park. Both the hero and the heroine have experienced a loss while on the job: the hero wasn't able to save his ex-girlfriend, and somehow she died in the water. The heroine wasn't able to save her ex-boyfriend, and he died while going down a water slide. Both of these lifeguards are reliving these same terrible moments of experiencing their loved one slip away while "under their watch," and both have severe guilt complexes about it as a result. 

I don't know anything about the author, so I don't want to say it's an amateur move to make, but I do want to say one thing: it's boring.

And I'm not trying to be rude by saying that, because it must have been as boring to write as it is to read. And honestly, the concept really isn't that far-fetched or totally original either. Fancy that, someone who works in a life-and-death industry lost someone they each loved as a result of not being "enough" (fast enough, aware enough, etc.) in that industry. I bet there are many people who can relate.

Which leads me to the purpose of this blog: DIFFERENTIATE. Opposites attract, not people who have similar damaging experiences. Think about who you're friends with, think about the person you're involved with/married to. I'm willing to bet that they come from a totally different background or social situation, and I bet that the people you are friends with see things from a totally different perspective than you. Newsflash: this is what makes people interesting; i.e., when they can bring something new to the table, something you haven't thought of or a way of seeing the world that you would never see yourself.

People are attracted to other... (unless, of course, they are severely egotistical and want someone exactly like themselves. But honestly, these people aren't who we want to read about anyway so why waste time? :) )

In this story (and keep in mind, I'm only 16% of the way in right now so I don't have a lot of concrete facts yet), but Rain is an independent "don't mess with me" female lifeguard who is coming to this new park that just recently integrated something she specializes in: water slides and lazy rivers. Knight, who is a senior supervisor at the park already and Rain's partner, is a huge hunk of a man who sees her like he saw his ex: as someone to protect. So, maybe instead of losing his loved one to water (like Rain lost her loved one) maybe his motivation and need to protect comes from a childhood trauma of not being able to help his mother while she was being abused by his father. As a result, he sees a woman in trouble and--throughout training, Rain gets herself into some trouble--and he needs to be able to save her like he couldn't save this other person.

I don't know, but you get my point right? Trying to spin the same situation two different ways to make it work just doesn't work. We've heard it once already; give me a counterpoint character who can bring something new to the table to coax the character out of whatever protective shell they've entered into after that trauma, and give me someone with problems of their own for the hero to step to the forefront to solve. 

Another thing with motivation is to make sure it drives the plot. You want your characters to want something, which causes them to act. Whatever action they take has a reaction that ignites a whole other chain of events directly linked to the character. This new event challenges them by presenting an obstacle to what they want and forces them to make another move in the direction to achieve their goal. Character-driven fiction, with motivation at the forefront, will always be more interesting than plot-driven fiction because our characters reflect us and the human condition, and in them--and their decisions--we see ourselves.

There is very little motivation in this book and I'm wondering how the author is going to get through the second act with so little actually happening. I wonder if they are going to steal a page from the "most commonly abused cliches." According to Nora Roberts, “As a rule of thumb, I'd say one cliché per [Romance]--and then be damn sure you can make it work. But if you're going to try to write the virginal amnesiac twin disguised as a boy mistaken for the mother (or father depending how well the disguise works) of a secret baby, honey, you better have some serious skills. Or seek therapy.” :)

I'll let you know what happens!