*Praise Thor it’s Thursday. (Mostly because it makes for an awesome acronym).
AKA: Someone motivate us, please?
Previous titled: Stuff it
Why do our characters do stuff? Work they job they do, talk to the other characters, decide running away from the cops at nintey mph through the streets of Cheyanne is a good idea at two pm because we all know there aren’t any people there :-P. Any stuff.
Because they have what I am currently lacking…at least until the coffee kicks in. Motivation. You know how when you were little and your parents would tell you to do something and you’d be like “but why?” And they’d be like “because I said so?”
It might work in real life. It doesn’t fly so much in fiction. I mean, we don’t have to explain every bit of stuff our characters do, or even specifically tell ourselves we know why they did it. They drove to work because they had to work. They ate breakfast because it was morning and they were hungry.
But the big stuff. The unusual stuff. Or the stuff that moves the plot forward and exists for really no other reason? You have to give it a reason.
Morrock is from a long tribe of demon worshipers who lives in the woods and sacrifices as is appropriate to the evil beings they worship. He wears a long, dark cloak, as is expected of his station as a preist, and an amulet, and has tatoos on the side of his head.
Why does he wear all that stuff?
And if the answer is “because that’s what all weak allegories for evil devil worhispers do”
that’s not motivation.
If the answer is “because the thorns in the forest are cruel and the claws of the demons are sharp and it makes a good way to protect themselves that doesn’t require intense seamsmenship, and the amulet doubles as a weapon” then it’s a little contrived, but at least it’s a reason for stuff.
I’ve found my motivation. It was in the bottom of the cup. It just told me if I don’t get my butt in gear and finish some things, I’ll regret it in the next eight hours.
Not the best motivation, but at least it’s realistic ^_^
Are you guilty of making your characters do stuff without understanding why they do them? Or do you always know? What kind of stuff are they up to?
One of my characters is currently very emotionally unstable, so she keeps on surprising me with her actions. The other is less volatile, which is a good thing, although he gets angry when he can’t control things. And controlling this unstable girl isn’t possible… So, there’s conflict.
I love it when a character does something totally unexpected, something you hadn’t planned and then THEY take YOU on a journey until you finally figure out why they did it.
My characters are much smarter than I am, so I just let them get on with it. They only need me to do the typing!
Very good question. I would like to think my characters have motivations for their actions but I’m sure sometimes it’s a bit questionable. This MarNo novel is interesting because I’m getting into the side characters motivations right now. Wyck’s mother, the mean governess, and the other villagers all have their own motivations as well even though they aren’t main characters. Developing the motivations is going to really add to the overall plot. Whether readers find the motivations realistic is a whole different question.
I had a problem with motivation in the first nanowrimo I won, in the first chapter. I tried to make it seem like the main character didn’t want to mess with his best friend’s boyfriend but in the end it just made his actions not make sense. In rewrite I’m going to have him not actually go through with it and the guy just lies about it to the friend. Will be more realistic in the motivation department.
@Kate – sounds a little insane, but honestly, like a bit of fun ^_^
@Angeline – I definitely benefit from a bit of that, and I love it when it happens.
@Dawn – that actually sounds really tough – but like you found a great way to fix it. I love it when that happens.