forum Character Motivation

Started April 16, 2018 by @Bluestar5

tune

I'm trying to come up with motivation for my leading male and female characters. The genre is basically a romance/ action theme. Any ideas are helpful

Hmm, without a lot of context it might be hard, but I'll do my best!

• First, think about the characters themselves, are they more selfish or selfless? A more selfish character might be motivated by money, power, or their own safety, whereas a selfless person would care more about the safety and well-being of others, like their friends and family.

• Second, think about their goals and dreams. Those are probably what motivate your character the most. For example a character who's goal is to travel the world is going to be motivated by the fact that they haven't yet!

• Third, think about their relationships with other characters, and this could be good or bad! Seeing as your book has a romantic genre, I'm guessing the two leads fall in love with each other. Does one of them already have a crush on the other? Then maybe that character's motivation is their feelings for them!

All in all, just try to keep the characters priorities straight. A good way to think of it is like this: imagine your character in a bubble while the world is ending. Nothing can get in the bubble, they're perfectly safe, and as long as they're in there nothing can happen to them. Would they stay in the bubble and live without worry? Or would they immediately hop out and help others even at the risk of their own life? What would they have to see for them to pop it and leave?
I don't know if this helped at all, but hopefully it did!