Tags:
  1. cosmic lights

    cosmic lights Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2018
    Messages:
    863
    Likes Received:
    857
    Location:
    Norwich, UK

    The thing your character wants?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by cosmic lights, Oct 11, 2018.

    So the thing your character wants is like their external goal. But I'm having trouble distinguishing which is her actual goal and which are the steps she tries in achieving that goal/things she think will grant her this goal.

    So she's a human that's grown up in an isolated world, never meeting any other species accept the ones she's been raised with. They are a supreme species capable of using magic, in fact their whole existence depends on magic - something as a human Emma can't use. So she feels worthless and unaccepted in her community and feels weak. She has no power in any way, no power over her life, to say her opinions. The most loved and respected member of the community are powerful in magic. All her life she's seen magic as the ultimate power and key to becoming a part of this community.

    So in the beginning of the book she wants to learn magic.
    But this is only because she thinks it's her way in. So would her overall goal be to learn magic? Or be accepted in her community? Her desire to use magic only changes after she uses it and it doesn't give her what she wants. And she still wants to be part of a community which she something that does eventually happen.

    I'm new to writing so anyone able to help me with this?
     
  2. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Messages:
    2,419
    Likes Received:
    3,884
    Location:
    SC, USA
    It sounds to me like her conscious goal might be "learn magic" while her subconscious goal is "find a way to become accepted". Does that sound right? Or is she aware that she only wants to learn magic because it seems like a way to fit in? If not, that could cause some fun internal struggles for her after she learns magic but discovers it hasn't made her happy, and she isn't sure why.
     
  3. The Dapper Hooligan

    The Dapper Hooligan (V) ( ;,,;) (v) Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Messages:
    5,864
    Likes Received:
    10,738
    Location:
    The great white north.
    It sounds to me like her goal is to be accepted and respected by her community and her learning magic is to reach that goal.
     
    SolZephyr and Simpson17866 like this.
  4. cosmic lights

    cosmic lights Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2018
    Messages:
    863
    Likes Received:
    857
    Location:
    Norwich, UK
    Yup that's it. Thanks guys. Being new to writing and never hearing these terms like conscious and unconscious goals makes it harder to figure out whats what.
    Cheers x
     
  5. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2010
    Messages:
    15,262
    Likes Received:
    13,084
    It sounds like her underlying goal is to find her place in the world. As a side note, I think that's the theme of every single book I've read by Rumer Godden. (My favorite author.)
     
    Simpson17866 likes this.
  6. ITBA01

    ITBA01 Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2018
    Messages:
    208
    Likes Received:
    108
    The whole plot of my first book is essentially the main character trying to figure out what she wants. She's pretty much lived a life out of her control; having her father die, her mother become a criminal, having to go live with her grandparents (who aren't fond of her), and being sent off to a boarding school. Ultimately, she's tired of having no control over what goes on in her life, and just wants a chance to shape her own fate.
     
  7. J.T. Woody

    J.T. Woody Book Witch Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2018
    Messages:
    4,129
    Likes Received:
    8,663
    I've got a couple things going at once (2 main projects, one project has multiple stories set in the same world with over lapping characters).

    Project 1 (sci-fi/space opera with multiple story lines):
    MC's main goal is acceptance, a lesser goal is knowledge (though it starts out as knowledge). She's living in a community where she is an outsider. She is open minded in a close minded community. Because she cannot have children, she is destined (by her society) to either join a convent (where the women live as pariahs), or live the rest of her life as a caretaker for her parents while her siblings and friends move on to have their own lives.
    She looks to the human community to learn more about their ways and their people, and finds out that what she wanted all along was to be in a place where she was accepted, however, she does not find acceptance either in the human community for obvious reasons (she isnt human).

    Her daughter (the next story line in this project): her goal is self discovery. She and her twin brother have an identity crisis. They are stuck between two communities (the community of their mothers and the human community). The sister originally identifies with the humans, even trying to be human while the brother identifies more with his mother's people and is not "disillusioned" into thinking that he is human. The daughter witnesses the horrors of her mother's community while the brother witnesses the horrors of the human community, commits murder, and goes on the run (his is a later story line with him coming back to his sister after years on the run, where his story line is about forgiveness and redemption).

    Project 2: a coming of age story and pretty straight forward.
    my MC is a child who grew up without a mother or a father (she was the product of rape and raised by her grandmother after her mom was sent to a mental hospital shortly after the child's birth when her mom had a mental breakdown). Her mom gets out of the mental hospital after 12 years. All my MC wants is a mother and to get to know her mother (which leads to questions about her parentage and eventually finding out about what happened to her mother 12 years ago)
     
  8. Infel

    Infel Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2016
    Messages:
    571
    Likes Received:
    703
    Sound's like you're on your way! Just as an aside, since it might help in the future, if you're ever confused over what your character's real goal might be, just transform into an obnoxious three year old and start asking "why" over and over. The more you answer "why", the more you peel back the layers of your character's actual desire. Answer it until you get to the bedrock, as it were.

    My character wants to learn magic!
    Why?
    She thinks that will get her to be accepted by her community.
    Yeah, but why?
    Well all the most respected members of her community have magic, and she knows that if she gets it she'll be respected and accepted.
    Yeah, but why does she want to be accepted?
    Well, she feels like an outcast, forlorn and alone. And all she really wants is the love and familial relationship that comes with being accepted

    etc etc.
     
    Veltman and cosmic lights like this.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice