April 19, 2021– We want to continue to help you push the envelope in your writing by introducing new character motivations. We all know about basic character motivations that include survival, fear, and peer pressure, but what else can motivate our characters? Let’s look at some additional motivators that will push the envelope in your writing.
Noble Motivation: Love, loyalty, vengeance. The most interesting motivation in this group is vengeance. Vengeance is defined as punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong. Think Batman, John Wick, Law Abiding Citizen, and Joker. By making your character’s main motivation vengeance, you’ll have an exciting thriller or mystery novel. Obsessed with Her is a great example of vengeance as the motivation, check it out here: Obsessed with Her: Amazon.ca: Colling, L. L.: Books For kid’s books, love and loyalty work well.
Evil Motivation: Greed, revenge, lust. Lust is a good one because it’s not used as much as greed and revenge in the way of motivation in novels; it’s defined as an intense desire for an object. Lust is a whole different ball game and can be written in so many ways! Characters don’t have to lust over people; they can lust for power, money, or drugs. Make it interesting and paint your character into a corner by making their lust unreachable. Your character shouldn’t always get what they want.
Fear Motivation: Death, humiliation, pain. Humiliation is the least used fear motivation in most books. I think it’s a fascinating way to push the envelope in your writing! Humiliation is the same as shame and this can be an excellent way to develop and write your characters. What are they most ashamed of? Poverty? Illiteracy? Skeletons in their closet? The possibilities are endless!
It’s important to explore many different motivations for your characters so that you can pick which one suits them best for the situation and don’t forget to combine them to push the envelope in your writing to the edge! Remember that the driving force for your character’s actions is their motivation.
