SWRT 271 | Character Motivation

December 15, 2022

person typing on MacBook Pro on brown wooden table during daytime photo

This episode previously aired as 061.

This week, we welcome Kathryn back to her seat at the Round Table, and thanks again to Matt Herron and Emma Darwin for keeping the seat warm!

We’re talking character motivation. It’s crucial to every element of your story and you’ll do yourself a favor by having a handle on it in the prewriting stages. We talk about the protagonist, the reader, and you, the writer. Also, how motivation relates to flaws and conflicts, and how a series differs from a standalone.

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

How do we address character motivation? Do we struggle with it? When do we work it into our stories? How can you get to know your character better in order to develop that motivation? What are the three layers of motivation? And how do you plan for your characters motivation over a series? What happens when your character has competing motivations?

What we talked about:

Do we have problems with character motivation? When do we address character motivation? (0:53)

Is your characters motivation organic? (5:20)

Get to know your character in order to find their motivation. (7:40)

How do you plan for motivation over a series? (10:25)

The three layers of character motivation. (11:40)

What about if you “healed” your character in book one? (15:40)

What about competing motivations? (19:47)

LINKS

Get Alida’s Writing Tips here.

Things we mentioned:

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Bosch

Want more about these topics? Check out:

SWRT 021 Distinct Characters
SWRT 023 3D Villains
SWRT 028 Emotional Wounds Thesaurus
SWRT 029 Emotional Wounds & Character Arcs
SWRT 040 Character Relationships
SWRT 047 Unlikeable Characters
SWRT 058 Narrative Drive

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.

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About Your Hosts

Alida Winternheimer is an award-winning author with an MFA in writing from Hamline University. She pursues her fervor for all things story as a writing coach, developmental editor, and teacher. Two of her short stories were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She is the author of The Story Works Guide to Writing Fiction Series. Alida lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her Golden Retriever, Seva the Wonder Dog. She camps, bikes, and kayaks in her free time. Unless it’s winter, in which case she drinks chai by the fire. You can find more at www.alidawinternheimer.com.

Kathryn Arnold writes fantasy and anything else that sparks her creativity from her home in Kingston, Washington. She currently earns her living as an insurance underwriting assistant, where she also creates marketing and web copy. When not writing, she plays (and teaches) piano and keyboard in a band (or two), and is working on starting a ministry team with her husband. You can find Kathryn at www.skyfirewords.com.

Robert Scanlon was born in Australia, but whisked off to England when only a baby. After many years complaining about the weather, he did the sensible thing and moved back to Australia. Despite a career in the music industry, followed by decades teaching public speaking, Robert is an introvert who adores reading. Robert grew up on a diet of sci-fi masters, eventually discovering he had read the library’s entire science fiction section. Now he has to write his own. Robert is the author of Constellation, book one of the Blood Empire space opera series. Find out more at www.RobertScanlon.com