Hey there, writing friends! I hope that you had a great Monday and that you accomplished your writing goals for today!
I put in my 60 minutes, and continued to work on the heroine’s character sheet. I am almost done, but I am hung up on her goals and needs.
In my character sheet I like to break this down into two parts:
- What is their primary goal/need at the beginning of the story? and
- What is their longterm goal/need?
The primary goal and/or need is what the character thinks they want and is striving for on page one of the book. The second goal/need is what they REALLY want and need. Sometimes these two goals/needs are the same–but often they are not. That conflict between the two is what can often fuel both the story conflict, and cause the character to change throughout the course of the story.
Think of Dorothy in the movie version of The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy thinks that she wants to escape from her aunt’s and uncle’s boring old farm and save Toto, but at the end of the movie she realizes there’s “no place like home.” (Although, what happens to poor little Toto? Will mean old Mrs. Gulch still try to take Toto away?)
My hero’s goals and needs were easy to figure out. But I am finding it harder to pin the heroine down. And pinning this down is important, because her goals and needs will be crucial in the conflicts that arise between the H&H.
I have her primary goal mostly figured out, and it will be the cause of a wedge between the couple. But her long term goals… hmm.
Anyway, I figured out sooooo much out about my two main characters over the last few days, I think I’m ready to dive back in to the scene work again tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
See you tomorrow with the next challenge update!
–Karyn