Here’s your next installment of Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #7. So far you (should) have been writing about what’s been happening to your characters using the various idea-generating techniques. Now, we want to start to fill out our stories with ‘why’ the characters are doing what they’re doing:
7. What’s My Motive?
Start with a character who wants something badly. It might be a new job, a new partner, a holiday, something else. Place obstacles in the path of your character and show how he/she overcomes these (or fails to).
Part of what makes a story good or even great is knowing why a character does what he or she does, or at least thinking you do, so you can either identify with that person, or if it’s not someone you came sympathize with, then maybe you can possibly live vicariously through his or her adventures, read about things you would never do, but have always been curious to experience, even if only in a book.
If the people in your work just walk around like robots (and they AREN’T robots) then your readers won’t connect in a meaningful way and probably won’t want to continue to read your story. You need to provide the why’s along with the how’s, what’s and where’s to keep it compelling, making the people in your work fully realized and at least somewhat recognizable to the general reading public.
But be careful. As a rule, you don’t want to just come out and say “So and so wants X, so they did Y.” (Or maybe you do…) However, that probably won’t engage your reader for very long. Generally it’s best to let the action or situations help the reader understand the “why” along with “how” and the rest, drawing the reader in as the story progresses. (As they say, “Show, don’t tell” for a more visceral, engaging experience.)
Depending on the strength of your characters’ desires, dreams and ‘motives’, they will help drive the actions your characters will take to achieve their goals or help accentuate any disappointments they will suffer when they don’t reach them (or both if you put in a few interesting twists.) The better you establish the motives behind the action, the better your overall story will be, especially as you create longer and more involved works.
(These ideas are based on the work of Nick Daws, who is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England. His book, “Write Any Book in Just 28 Days OR LESS” is available at writequickly.com )
