One last note on the importance of internal motivation: What the character values and wants as a person, and why he or she wants this, is what differentiates a character who's there just because you've ordered him to be, going through motions, and one who's a full, complex person with depth and personality.
To use my go-to classic example (because it's one I know you'll be familiar with, even if you haven't read the book): What's Ahab want in Moby Dick? To kill the white whale, of course...a simple enough external motivation. But if I were to ask you what's his internal motivation, or even more to the point if I asked how you would describe Ahab as a person--would you be able to answer?
Of course you would: Ahab's obsessive. Manipulative. Bitter. Vengeful. Blinded by anger. Reckless. Unstable. Spiritually deformed. And so on.
It's fair to say that Ahab is single-minded in the book, driven by his need for revenge on the whale...but he's not one-dimensional. In fact, his single-minded obsession is what makes him unpredictable, volatile, dangerous. What's driving him personally--in addition to the external goal, and as revealed through his facing of the conflicts in the novel--it what makes him real.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
NaNoWriMo Tip #3: This Time, It's Personal
But wait!, some of you who read my Tip #2 on motivation might be saying, My protagonist doesn't really have an internal motivation in the book, nor does he need one.
The reason he's on the journey is because he's a __________ (detective/cop/superhero/ninja/monk) and it's his ________ (job/duty/moral obligation/hobby/religion).
I'd see your point--that a detective takes a case just because he's a detective, and taking cases is what detectives do, and that because of this, he doesn't need any more personal or internal motivation in the story--but you'd be wrong.
There has to be something personally at stake for the character for this particular case, different from the case just before or just after. Otherwise, why aren't we reading about the case just before or just after? The reason we're reading about this one as opposed to that one is that this one is meaningful to the detective in some way. He can't just decide to return the money and quit the case and go to a bar...in other words, he can't simply be able to quit the novel. There must be some compelling reason--some personal interest and motivation--that keeps him there.
The reason he's on the journey is because he's a __________ (detective/cop/superhero/ninja/monk) and it's his ________ (job/duty/moral obligation/hobby/religion).
I'd see your point--that a detective takes a case just because he's a detective, and taking cases is what detectives do, and that because of this, he doesn't need any more personal or internal motivation in the story--but you'd be wrong.
There has to be something personally at stake for the character for this particular case, different from the case just before or just after. Otherwise, why aren't we reading about the case just before or just after? The reason we're reading about this one as opposed to that one is that this one is meaningful to the detective in some way. He can't just decide to return the money and quit the case and go to a bar...in other words, he can't simply be able to quit the novel. There must be some compelling reason--some personal interest and motivation--that keeps him there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)