The next method for finding a motivation for your character comes from an article in the July 2006 issue of The Writer magazine. “How to Create Convincing Characters” by Corey Blake gives some great ideas for motivating your character.

Step One – Define Desire Essences
The first step is to determine the desire essences of your main character. These are the deep aspirations that drive our choices, actions and thoughts. These needs differentiate us from others. Some examples are: the desire to be intellectually brilliant, the desire to be famous, the desire to hide from the world, the desire to belong to a group, the desire to be loved, the desire to party, the desire to die.

Blake recommends that you write down 20 desire essences for your character. You don’t have to use them all, but you want a good profile to choose from when creating your character. When determine your desire essences, look to the character’s ethnicity, religious beliefs, and major life events. Address sex, drugs, music, parents, siblings, education, appearance and intelligence.

Step Two – Define Fear Essences
Step two is to write down the fear essences of your character. These are the exact opposite of the desire essences. For example, if you have a desire to be famous, you will also have a fear of being ordinary. Here are the fear essences that match the desire essences mentioned above:

desire to be intellectually brilliant = fear of being stupid
desire to be famous = fear of being ordinary
desire to hide from the world = fear of being socially exposed
desire to belong to a group = fear of being rejected by a group
desire to be loved = fear of being loathed
desire to party = fear of being boring
desire to die = fear of having to face life

Write down the fear essences that match the desire essences you already have. Then rework and refine the list down to ten desires and fears that really excite you. These are the ones to use for your character.

Step Three – Write Backstory Scenes
You can then take this exercise a step further and create backstory for your character that clearly illustrates each of these desires and fears. Come up with five moments in your character’s life when each of the ten essence pairs was tested and either the fear or the desire won out. A failure support the fear; a success supports the desire.

Your character will likely be unaware of these defining moments in his life and how each one influences his future thoughts, attitudes and actions. But as the writer, you can use these backstory scenes to make your character richer and more detailed.

Step Four – Describe Current Behaviors
Using the ten essence pairs and the backstory scenes, determine current behaviors the character might exhibit. For example, our character that desires to be famous and fears being ordinary may take every opportunity to perform and promote himself, may act depressed or sulky if he is overlooked in any way, and may dress or act in a flamboyant or eccentric manner.

By following these four steps, you will find your character easier to write by having well-thought-out desires, fears and behaviors that are consistent with your character’s past and motivations.

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