Writer's Workshop: Getting to the Goal

Hey, everypony! I've got another idea for one of these. Let's talk about Goals some more!

Goals may seem really obvious at first: it's the thing your characters are all trying to get to. Rescue the captive, defeat the bad guy, save the world. All of the characters in the story worry about this in one way or another: they want to cause it, they want to prevent it, they're watching the effects it can have elsewhere. But not all Goals are necessarily quests or events. Think about the recent premiere. Is the Goal of the story to do some great act? Kill Starlight, acquire the cutie marks? No, those wouldn't fix anything. The central Goal of the story is a psychological one: convince the cultists that friendship overcomes differences. The terminology I use for the difference between these two is external and internal. As you write your story, consider which is which. Your characters are all working that angle, one way or another.

So what happens if the characters fail? Well, you might just say, "They don't get the Goal! Isn't that bad enough?" When you're writing a story, not exactly. Stories have stakes, where something serious is on the line. If Twilight can't convince the ponies of Our Town, they'll stay stuck in their town, doing the same thing they've always done. If Applejack can't buck all the apples in time, she'll have to accept the fact that the other ponies don't see her as a perfect savior. Do you see the difference? When the Goal is internal, the consequence of failure is external; when the Goal is external, the Consequence is internal.

Okay, so that's how the story might end. But this Workshop is called "Getting to the Goal." What happens in the middle of the story? First off, the story hints at the Goal and the Consequence every so often. Notice how frequently in "Sonic Rainboom" Rainbow Dash mentions winning the Best Young Fliers Competition (the Goal) and the shame she'll feel if she can't do it (the Consequence). This helps keep the audience cognizant of the future of the story. The other things that will pop up in the story are what I'm gonna call the Cost and the Return.

The Cost is what the characters have to pay, to suffer, before they can reach the Goal. This is important because it makes the story feel difficult. "Stare Master" is about attempting to maintain peace among the CMC (an external Goal), but the Cost to get there is struggling against their unruly behavior (an internal Cost). Before you get too excited, look at "The Best Night Ever." Like Flutters above, the Goal is to take control of the environment, but the Cost of getting it isn't struggling with a way of thinking like before, but instead doing things externally: cranking up the music, chasing the animals... you get the idea. The relationship between the Cost and the Goal is a little more complicated than black and white.

Luckily, however, that's what the Return is for. If the Cost is about suffering anything to get to the Goal, the Returns are the positive things they get as they move closer to the Goal. Without these, the story would feel really hard. Think about what Fluttershy experiences as she successfully wrangles the CMC: they do as she asks. That's external, clear as day. And the Gala-goers? As they move closer towards having the night they expected, they start to feel happier. Internal! That's the difference between the two: when Fluttershy changes her mindset, the CMC improve their actions. As the Gala-goers change their actions, their mindset improves. If the Cost is internal, the Return is external; if the Cost is external, the Return is internal.

I hope that wasn't too confusing. As you write your story, you want these things to pop up regularly. The story is always moving forward towards the Goal, but the Consequence is always close at hoof. The characters must pay their Cost, like a tollbooth, but don't forget to let them win a little, let their actions see Returns. If you keep that in balance, your readers will always feel like they know the stakes.