…and Keep Asking! It’s one little word, and yet it is vital. WHY?
Source: The Best Question A Writer Can Ask…
When you’re writing a story one of the most important things to craft well is your character’s motivation. In other words, why do your characters do the things they do.
Let’s say you’re writing a story about in which the least popular girl in school manages to snag the most popular boy in school (or any combination of girl/boy, boy/girl, girl/girl, boy/boy). Not only is this a story played out time and time again in books and on screens, I also wrote A LOT of these stories (guess my social status in high school). It will only work if the motivation of both these characters is believable. Why does the girl want him? Why is he willing to commit social suicide and hook up with her? Why, Why, Why?
Click on the link above and nick over to Shannon Donnelly’s article. She makes some great points about the importance of ‘why’.
In the last story you wrote, what was your character’s motivation? Was it believable? What would you change?
Great advice. I use this ‘why?’ business in daily life, never thought to keep repeating it when being creative. But of course it makes absolute sense.