Weak/Non-believable Character's Motivation

Hi. I'm a novice writer who has a story that I want to tell to the world. Right now I'm stuck at writing the prologue of that story... My main character's goal and motivation are weak and non-believable.
What can I do to make them more strong and believable? Are there any tips for that?
Thanks in advanced for help!

 

Nobody can answer this without some more detail. Well, actually, we can. The answer is "Make the goal and motivation stronger and more believable." But I suspect you're looking for something a little more specific?

 

What are you characters goals and motivations?

 

What I've been learning recently is that in genre fiction it's very common for characters to not have a lot of depth or to undergo much if any of an arc. Especially if it's a series, for instance James Bond or Sherlock Holmes (to name the 2 most frequently-cited examples on this board). They usually have very simple goals and motivation—mostly just to solve the case and maybe get a little high class nookie along the way (Bond) or score some good Coke (Holmes).

In some genres it does become important to define character and create some more depth, such as in Romance, where it's all about interpersonal interaction.

 

What do you mean by "weak and unbelievable"? A story usually starts with somebody wanting something they don't have. Or wanting to keep something they have and they're afraid they'll lose. The basic human condition, in other words. Are you saying the thing your character wants isn't something anyone could possibly desire? Like, say, a wad of old dryer lint?

Think about it. If you can convince your reader why Joe Bloggs is fixated on that dryer lint, you've got yourself a fascinating tale.

 

Though in that case, Joe wants to murder his ex-wife and frame his former best friend for the crime. And he wants her dead because?????

(Actually, I'm told dryer lint stuffed in an empty loo roll tube makes excellent kindling.)

 

Genre plot structures often write in specific moments that demand the main character care more as the story goes on. For instance, in murder mystery it can start as just a passing interest but as the story progresses it becomes more personal. The start could involve a friend of a friend or stranger in the community, then suddenly a friend or close relative is in trouble (a suspect, missing, etc), until finally the slueth is the one in danger and often found at the potential mercy of the killer.

You could create situations in your story that forces them to be motivated.

 

Motivation is only a series of 'reasonable' steps the mc makes built on his past experiences, fears, failures, successes. Goals stem in part by plot and part in character. Take a movie like Pretty in Pink - Andie's goal is to keep her dignity in the eyes of the richies constant rejection. Her straightforwardness stems from watching her dad ignore his own rejection rather than face it. He can't move on with his life. Her headstrong attitude allows her to catch the eye of a richie and completely transform him from a weak prettyboy into a strong man who ends a manipulative relationship simply to declare his love without hope of it being returned.
Her own strength is tested when she attempts to attend the prom alone - a fact that is never revealed that she probably wouldn't. It was only her friendship with Ducky that allows her to experience her own fragility in needing someone. And this probably allowed her to forgive Blaine in the end scene.

Think of your genre for possible plot points which will also help form goals and as for your mc - give them a backstory that allows the reader to understand why they react the way they do.

 

Define your theme first. You say you've got a story to tell the world - I'm gonna assume there's a message there. It's more than a just for fun story. So what's the message?

Shape your story around that. If Bob fails his driving test, what does that show about his arc, and how does that contribute to communicating your message? Maybe failing a test doesn't communicating the message as well as you'd hope, so perhaps he should fail his marriage instead - now that heightens tension, but tension is in direct relation with the message. Every event must contribute to the theme.

Often, the themes and symbols are already in the story - they're just not conscious and not fleshed out. Identify them, strip back everything else, and find ways to highlight these themes. This is essentially what Stephen King advises when he used the archaeology analogy of finding a dinosaur fossil. Discover the story, now go back and highlight the structure you see.

So for example, I'm editing my novel now and I want my female lead's arc to be learning to throw away societal norms and expectations and finally be herself in a patriarchal world. So the symbolism with that is she's gonna go from wearing dresses into battle (it's high fantasy) to finally throwing that off and getting into more typically male attire. It's nothing special - but it communicates the point. The book will need to build this up so that when she wears male attire, the reader will get a "Finally!" moment. So I will throw frustrations her way related to her gender, to listening to her father, to people disrespecting her as a woman.

If my theme was someone who should hold on to his integrity, then I would throw temptations his way and make it hard for him to hold onto it. And depending on my message, if I'm saying you should be flexible and bend your morals for the sake of the greater good, or if I'm saying you should hold onto what you believe in, then I will punish or reward the character's choices, ultimately, depending on this.

I was once told, events are all the same. They're unimportant. What's important is how they serve the story - what do these events actually illustrate?

So first thing's first, and it ain't a back story, or character goals and motivations. It isn't even stakes. It is: What's the theme? What life's truths are you passionate about? Mould a story around that, and it will fly out of your fingertips.

 

Sorry for the late reply!
Brief information :
The genre of my story is romance, setting - modern age. My protagonist is a young male (18 years old) who lives a peaceful life in the countryside. He is a young, average-looking boy from a poor family. He has flaws, physical, psychological, and moral. He has a dream, to... (Well, I'm still working on that part. He does not have a dream at this point.) Most of the countryside is populated by single, rich females of age 35+, my protagonist is one of the few males who live there.
The story :
The story starts right after his graduation from school. At the very beginning, he learns that he cannot go to college due to his poor performance in school. Pay for college his family cannot afford. He realizes that he needs to somehow earn money in order to go to college and get a proper education or else, he is going to spend the rest of his life working for low income at a job that he does not like. But college denial is not the only obstacle that MC faces at the beginning of the story. He faces more and more problems as the prologue progresses. At the end of the prologue, MC becomes desperate and decides to make one decision that will help him get his life back on track, getting married to one of the rich women who lives in his village.
Here is how it's works : Marriage > Money > College > Education > Good life.

Fuh... That's it. I briefly explained the story without any details. I know the text I wrote sounds bad and events seem to be illogical... Sorry for that.
I have been working on that story for more than 3 months and... I still can't write a good prologue. A good prologue, not a lazy opening scene with tons of boring explanations and unnecessary events.
My goal is to write a good story, in which events will be logical and the character's motives and goals will be understandable! That's why I came here, for help!

 

Thanks for elaborating. Ok, I see, so his goal is to get a good job so he can get out of poverty, and his projected way to do that (in the beginning) is to get into college but he doesn't have good enough grades (or probably the money to get in). So his alternate plan is to marry into money.

You said he has character flaws. I think you need to figure out specifically what those are. You said physical—I was going to suggest there are other good-paying jobs that don't require college, but many of them involve hard physical labor, so I assume he isn't strong enough for jobs like that.

You also need to figure out how the story will end. Does he succeed at getting out of poverty? How? Or if not, what happens? Does he learn that poverty isn't as bad as he feared, or that being honest about who you are is better than fooling someone in order to get rich by marrying them?

Don't think you need to write a prologue, or that you need to start from the beginning and write your way through the story page by page. It's way too soon to know if you need a prologue or not, and what you're talking about doesn't sound like prologue stuff but actual beginning of the story stuff. Just work on the story. It will come together little by little, and somewhere around the end of the first or second draft you should be starting to get a good handle on the overall story, what it's really about, and what kinds of weaknesses and strengths each character needs.

 

In my opinion, prologues should either involve characters unrelated to the main plot (or perhaps ancillary characters) that help set the scene/tone or should be some type of vague flash forward involving the main character that also provides some information or a sort of tease.

As for your story, maybe one way to make it more believable is that he needs to be able to get a good job to help pay for his disabled sister's care, or put another sibling through college that has more promising work ethic and genius. Maybe by the end, he somehow finds a way to fulfill these things without marrying his older fiance, and she fears he will abandon her. But he realizes what an amazing woman she is and the two become inseparable, blah blah blah HEA.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, but I feel like this goal is weak. I'm myself don't believe it! I need to somehow make that goal more believable and logical.

Physical: Hand tremor (When MC was a kid he broke his both hands in an accident since then he suffers from this disease.)
Psychological: Timid, Shyness (Only in front of females!) + (I want to connect psychological flaw to physical, make his shyness reasonable. There is has to be an event in his childhood that triggers his psychological flaw.)
Moral: Overconfidence
You see, my main character is a little strange. In general, he is a self-confident person who is not afraid to take risks, until... A girl appears in front of him.

 

That is a little strange, and complex. It seems to be the opposite of the Jeff Golblum character in The Fly, who is extremely socially inept and reclusive, but for some reason is very sexually confident.

I was just reading this morning from the book Attack of the Copula Spiders by Douglas Glover, and ran across this powerful statement (which I've seen stated in many different ways elsewhere): Good stories are about obsessive-compulsive characters, failed stories are about passive-aggressive characters.

Meaning of course that your lead character should be strong-willed and capable of leading the story, not passive and reclusive. Especially in relation to the main conflict or the major ones in the story, and it seems his relations with women are going to play a major role. If he's timid and shy around them, it's going to be very hard to make a powerful story where readers will see him as an effective character.

 

That's why he needs to have a "good goal", a strong motivation that will be moving him forward no matter what.

 

Hmmm... well, maybe. If his motivation keeps him going forward and confronting women with some gusto despite his natural shyness, that might make him more obsessive/compulsive rather than passive-aggressive. Just meaning more active than passive.

 

Sort of makes me think of a manga about a boy who is afraid of women and his aunt then takes it upon herself to make him overcome it when he goes to live with her. It's called: Minamoto-kun Monogatari (it's definitely got taboo themes, you've been forewarned). See his motivation is minimal but the aunt is eccentric and forces him to do this and he would also like to please her. You could do something like that where someone (his older lady love interest) is helping him but in the end they fall in love instead.

 

The chances are the prologue will get scrapped anyway, they rarely add anything to the story.

Goal is important and so is motivation but the most important thing is the want behind the desire. How much does your character want it and why?
Think about internal goal and external goal. A goal is often best when simple and concrete. But the external goal is often shown after the internal goal has been established. The external goal is normally in aid of the internal goal, and what the character believes will serve that.
He wants to get out of poverty and there are several ways he could do that. So maybe he goes with the work idea to show that people born in poverty can be smart and successful and get things the right way i.e work for them as oppose to marrying someone wealthy or selling drugs. But the main thing to think about is his want. Why does he want to get out of poverty and those around him seem happy to stay there? What events lead him to this goal? Even a simple goal can be surprisingly powerful if you make the reader believe the character wants it more than they want their next breath.

His desires could create conflict. Example: he desperately what some job but a girl is in for the same job who be is quite fond of. Maybe he'll play dirty to get that job and self-sabotage his relationship with this girl.

The story will be boring without conflict so look for all opportunities to add it.

 

If I understand correctly, you are on the prologue. Of the first draft?

Then don't worry about it! You'll figure the motive as you get to know your character's personality and what kind of world he or she lives in.

I usually don't figure a solid motive out until my third draft. Because the first draft, I'm still getting the events and the world figured out.

 

And one of the coolest things about writing is when that solid motive emerges organically out of who you're already writing the character to be.

 

Correct.

We will see
This story is very important for me, I don't want to screw it up and that's why I came here for help.

 

I'll be updating this thread as soon as new ideas will come up to my mind.

 

Well, if you screw it up, that's what rewrites are for.