Writer's Workshop: Want It, Need It · 1:45pm Jul 7th, 2017
Hey, I'm back! Let's go back to basics with a concept I should have covered a long time ago: the want/need dichotomy. ...Okay, I've actually danced around it here and there in my other posts, but I think we should put it here in black and white. More importantly, it means I can ask my clients, "What is your Main Character's want/need," and they'll know what I mean. 
When your story first opens, your main character is in an equity state. This could either be a content, balanced existence without any problems, or a quiet discontent that they suffer through quietly. In either case, eventually we hit the inequity, and the character can no longer stay where they were. Thanks to the conflict in the story, the main character now has to choose a side. So which side does the character choose? Well, it's all based on their want. Think of the want as the outermost shell, their persona, the character's primary motivation pursued uncritically. If we're looking at a Change story, this is usually something selfish, petty, and counterproductive. (It doesn't have to be, but we'll get back to that.) For example, if we look at "The Crystal Empire," what does Twilight want? To obey Celestia and pass her test. Is it selfish? Yes, it's putting an entire Empire at risk for personal glory. Is it petty? Yes, Twilight has proven herself a thousand times over--this one thing is just one more pointless act of showboating. Is it counterproductive? Quite. Twice over she finds herself thrown into one of Sombra's inescapable traps, and it's only because Spike ignored Twilight's want that she managed to survive.
Conflict puts this want into sudden relief. If the character is going to get what they want, they're going to have to earn it. (After all, there's no story in easily getting what you want.) They'll be pushed into risky scenarios, their resolve will be tested, and the propriety of their desire will be called into question. Basically, this is the meat of the story, where we see the character being molded and re-formed. Some characters will crack under the pressure; others will realize their shortsightedness; others still will find their desires confirmed and amplified. And in this tempest of character uncertainty and pain, there's nothing quite like bringing all of the conflict together and giving the character exactly what they want.
...Wait, what? I thought the whole point of the story was that getting what they wanted was difficult. Ah, but that's the magic of the story. By the time they get what they want, they're no longer the person they were at the start of the story. Their want has evolved or been shattered entirely, and now they realize that there are greater things at stake here. We've gotten through the outer shell, and now we're at the real center of the story: the need. What a character needs is usually related to what they wanted, but it's the truer, purer version of it. Instead of selfish, petty, and counterproductive, the need is usually selfless, high-minded, and critical to the resolution of the story. Twilight's need in The Crystal Empire is to save the empire, regardless of personal cost. Can you see how "pass Celestia's test" and "save the empire" are similar, save for a difference in focus? In the former, Twilight is focused on how the test affects her; in the latter, she is focused on how her actions affect everyone.
So why is this so important? Because, as I've stated previously, the most interesting characters are driven by intense desire. By establishing a want/need dichotomy, we can establish such a desire, then subvert it and reinvent it--boom, instant character arc! It's an effective way of showing that the character has changed, that they've recognized what matters. It makes your characters blind, and it gives them forward direction to keep the story chugging. In short, it's the fundamental of storytelling.
Let's look at a couple quirks of this formula. First, suppose our Main Character is Steadfast; they're not going to fundamentally change their point of view. Despite this, I think we can still use this want/need concept. Choose a want that's noble, but naive, or something brave to choose, but difficult to put into practice. Instead of the need being a wide divergence from the want, it's a purification of the original want, still recognizable as what it was but made more effective. The struggle throughout the story pushes their want, but they refuse to let go, for better or worse.
Second, the want/need concept doesn't usually include the Influence Character, who's critical for getting the character from want to need. But we can also create a want/need setup for the IC. What compels them to want the MC to change? What is the source of their philosophy that causes them to come to loggerheads with the MC? Consider "Parental Glideance." Scootaloo's want is to get a better sense of what Rainbow Dash is like, using her parents as the focal lens. Rainbow Dash is the IC, and at the big twist moment, Scootaloo gets exactly what she wants: she sees the resentful, ashamed version of Rainbow Dash, a side she is repulsed by. Scoots' need is no longer to see the best in RD, but to create a better Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, is driven by something entirely different. Her want is to drive a wedge between herself and her parents, a challenge to Scootaloo's belief that RD's parents' love is entirely beneficial. But when Rainbow snaps at her parents and Scootaloo rebukes her for it, we begin to see what Rainbow's real need is: to feel proud of herself, which she felt was impossible under her parents' constant praise. Luckily, Scootaloo reminds her how lucky she truly is, and Rainbow ultimately changes her perspective to be more supportive of her embarrassing parents.
Let's wrap up with some advice for your own stories. Establish the want as early as possible, clearly. You can have the character state it outright*, or you can demonstrate it in their actions. The second is more difficult, but I think it avoids a hurdle of my next point of advice: show why their desire is unfulfilled, and can only be fulfilled through the events of the story. Next, use the conflict of the story to frustrate and complicate the MC's want. One way, as I said before, is to show that the want moves them away from the greater goal rather than towards it, but you can also do things like have other characters react in disgust to the character's want, or continually pile the cost of the character's want on top of them. For example, Starlight's want in the Celestia/Luna episode is to get them to stop fighting, but her attempts to achieve that lead to cutie mark swappage, Luna's social faux pas, Celestia's neuroticism, and her own spiraling nightmare. (Even if those things do lead towards the goal rather than away from it, they're still quite stressful to Starlight.) Finally, when it's time to reveal the need, show in those moments how the two are related. Basically, again, have them state or demonstrate, "I only wanted [want] because deep down, I needed [need]."
I hope this has given you some insight into the undercurrent of storytelling. Want and need are critical components in the structure of any good story. What do the characters want? How are they going to get it, and what trouble does that cause? And in the end, what was the real need at the heart of that desire? In doing this, we tell stories that are honest, piercing, and emotional. You may want to tell stories, but I hope bringing touching, emotional experiences to your readers, at your core, is what you really need.
Because, as I've stated previously, the most interesting characters are driven by intense desire.
Amen. And when that desire conflicts with another character's desire, sparks fly. Interesting sparks. Example:
Gabby Griffon: I want a cutie mark.
Twilight: Griffons can't get cutie marks.
CMC: Oh yeah? Here, hold my lemonade.
Probably one of the reasons the CMC are adorable instead of insufferable. Storywise I've done this more than a few times:
-TSLAE: Twilight- I've laid an egg! And it's going to die unless I do something to help it!
-Traveling Tutor: Green Grass- I just want to tutor the young unicorns in Ponyville and help them learn magic. Twilight Sparkle - I'm already tutoring the young unicorns in Ponyville and don't need any help.
-The One Who Got Away: Gaberdine starts with an intense desire to become one of the nobility for the perks, gets it given to him, and finds out something far more important goes along with it.
-Drifting Down the Lazy River: Turpentine wants to be a great painter, and Baltimare is where he knows he will achieve his goal. Ripple is lonely, and wants somepony her own age to be with.
* In musicals, stating the character's want is so common, it's given a special name: the "I Want song." (I didn't say it was a creative special name.) Think back on the classic Disney movies, and you might recall them: "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere," "I want to be where the people are," "I want to be the mane event like no king was before," etc. Examples from the show would be... hmm. The most obvious is "At the Gala," where the mane 6 each state what they want from the Gala. There's also "Winter Wrap-up:" "I want to belong, so I must do my best today!"
Hmm... Are there any "I need" songs? I'm sure there are, but since it doesn't have a TVTropes page, I'm gonna have to think on it more. :P "I've Got to Find a Way" from "Magical Mystery Cure?" "Can I Do it on my Own" from "Flutter Brutter?" I dunno.