Being a Better Writer: Character Drive and Motivation · 7:58pm Jul 24th, 2023
Hello again writers! It’s Monday, and that means we’re back with more Being a Better Writer! Today’s topic is simple and straightforward enough, as you probably guessed by seeing the title, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a useful reminder for those of you who already have a grasp on it. And if it’s something you’ve put thought into before or you’re a new writer who has spent time wondering about it, then well today is your lucky day.
Now, before we dive into things, I do want to remind everyone that Being a Better Writer currently has a Topic Call open at this link. If there’s a writing topic you would like to see covered in a future installment of Being a Better Writer, then hit that link really quick and leave a comment! Topic List #23 will be populated soon enough, but it’s always preferable to have some direct requests from readers in the pipeline!
And with that, I’m going to forgo any other news related items (it’s all stuff like “progress continues on Axtara – Magic and Mayhem” and “Axtara and the UNSEC Trilogy continue to battle for first place in sales”) and just dive right into our topic of discussion today. Which, as you can see from the title above, is character drive and motivation.
Okay, now look: I know a number of you are looking at this and thinking “Do I really need a post on that?” And you’re probably not wrong. For some, character drive and motivation comes easy, and isn’t hard to pin down.
But not everyone has the same experience. There are writers out there, sometimes young, sometimes not, who struggle with giving their characters motivation. I’ve read stories from writers, in fact, who when asked about the motivation for their character, answered with what was, effectively, “Well, their motivation is to be there. The plot is happening, and they’re stuck in it.” Which isn’t really an answer, not really, inasmuch as is a cry for help on the part of their character. If the only motivation your character has is “exist, and the story will drag you along” well … That’s not really a motivation. That’s more a sensation of apathy being towed by a plot.
To be fair, however, if our aim is a plot-drive story where the characters are of secondary importance, this will absolutely be the kind of character drive your story ends up with. Because the characters aren’t really that important by contrast to the plot of said book, and will get towed along whatever direction the book wants to go.
Which is a topic we’ve discussed before here on BaBW, but so long ago I couldn’t even find the article with a search. Another day, then. But this concept of a story being driven by events of the plot rather than the characters isn’t new. Sands, I spent time on a few Sci-Fi subreddits (and a few fantasy) and one of the quiet debates that has sprung up on one of them recently began with the observation that many of the most recommended Sci-Fi works on the sub had little to no character at all, the characters serving as empty mouthpieces to move a plot forward regardless of the logic of their own involvement.
This begat a quiet debate, with many arguing that the best Sci-Fi stories didn’t and shouldn’t have developed characters or character-driven plots because “Sci-Fi is all about the ideas, not the characters.”
Personally, I disagree, and if you’ve read Colony or any of my other Sci-Fi works, you know that. I believe character and story can go hand in hand. But not everyone does. Which, I believe. may be why some young writers struggle with character motivation. Even if they want to include it, if a wide span of their reading by some unfortunate coincidence those stories that do not value or place emphasis on character motivation, it can be hard to see how to make it work, or even ways to slide it into the concept they have in mind. Or perhaps even if they want to see it in their story, they’re laboring under the belief that a story shouldn’t have characters with motivation and drive pushing things forward.
Yikes, this preamble is getting massive. Hit the jump before too much of our article is on the front page, and let’s talk more about the act of character motivation.
ever think of collecting all the Better Writer posts into a self help book?
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A few times, but it's difficult to make time for it with so many other books in the pipeline (and new episodes every Monday).