Goal and Motivation: What Does Your Story Character Want, and Why?

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Goals and motivations drive every story, but they're critical in a short story. Rayne Hall discusses character wants and needs and how they keep readers hooked.

Today, I want to share a professional trick for hooking readers from the start and keeping them hooked until your story's ending.

Give your main character a goal and an urgent reason to pursue it. Perhaps she wants to or win a prize in the village flower show, rescue her daughter from the kidnappers, get her suitor to propose marriage or raise money for her business.

Make this as important as possible: she doesn't just want it, she needs it. (I'll use the female pronoun in this article, but of course the main character in your story can also be male.) Give her a compelling reason (or better, several) for needing to achieve this.
 
Example: Mary needs to win a prize in the flower show to gain recognition from the villagers and to outdo her arch-rival Mrs. Jones for once. The win will prove her gardening skill and make her an eligible candidate for president of the village horticultural society, a position she covets.

For other kinds of stories, the goals may be more dramatic: She needs to rescue her daughter from the kidnappers, because these men are violent, the police aren't taking action. She needs to get her suitor to propose marriage, because he's the only eligible bachelor in town, and she'll soon be an old maid. She needs to raise money for her business, because otherwise she'll lose her life's work and hundreds of employees will lose their jobs.

Raise the stakes. Think of ways to make the goal even more important. What would be the dire consequences of failing?

The more the character needs something, the more the readers will root for her to succeed. This will keep them reading, needing to find out if and how she gets what she wants.

This goal needs to be very clear — to you, to the character herself, and to the reader. So, state it at the beginning of the story, preferably in the first few sentences. Spell it out. Don’t just imply it and hope that the reader will get the subtle hints.

Use different ways to state the goal several times during the story and keep it in the reader's mind. For example, by simply stating it (You might write near the beginning: She had to win the prize for best floribunda rose. A few paragraphs later, you could write: This year, she would beat Mrs. Jones to the trophy.)

Dialogue is good way. ("Dinner is ready, Honey." - "I can't come now. There are aphids on a rosebud! If they spread, how am I going to win the prize for Best Rose?")

You can also use the character's thoughts. (Mary held the bloom against the light, examining the pale pink petals for blemishes. Perfect. This is the one I'll enter in the contest, she decided. Mrs. Jones shan't have the trophy this year.)

Readers stay on the edge of their seats, needing to find out whether (and how) the character achieves her goal.

Make it difficult for her by putting obstacles in her way. Mary's roses get attacked by aphids, her ignorant husband cuts the best blooms to take a bouquet to his mother, and rival Mrs. Jones' flowers look sensational.

End the story by showing clearly whether the character has attained her goal. Did Mary win a prize in the village flower show?

If you don't answer this question, readers will feel unsatisfied with the story.

The answer can be 'yes': Yes, Mary won. Despite all obstacles, her floribunda rose earned the first prize. This gives your story a straightforward happy ending.

The answer can be 'no': No, Mary didn't win. Despite all Mary's efforts, her arch-rival Mrs. Jones got the trophy again. This is a straightforward unhappy ending.

To make your story meaningful and memorable, avoid straight 'yes' or 'no' endings. Instead, close your story with a 'yes, but...' or 'no, but...' conclusion:

Yes, Mary won the prize - but her arch-rival Mrs. Jones became horticultural society president.

Yes, Mary won the prize - but her obsession drove her husband away.

No, Mary didn't win the prize - but she was elected horticultural society president anyway.

No, Mary didn't win the prize - but she and her arch-rival Mrs. Jones became close friends.

Tell us about the story you're currently working on, or are planning to write. What's the main character's goal?

Rayne Hall is the author of over seventy books, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Her books have been published by several publishers in several countries, and translated into several languages. A trained publishing manager with more than thirty years’ experience in the industry, she also publishes her own books and champions indie-publishing for authors. She is the editor and publisher of the Ten Tales short story anthologies.

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