Monday begins a workshop I'm very excited be a part of. Alicia Rasley, who has put so much positive writing karma into the atmosphere with her stellar articles on plot and character, is leading a two week intensive workshop on beginnings.
Beginnings had never been an issue for me until this work in progress. Maybe it's because The Night Caller doesn't have that explosive beginning I spend the rest of the novel trying to live up to. Maybe it's because this one is so much more character driven than plot driven, but I find myself having to know how much is enough to engage the reader. And the fact that she could be teaching how to write the yellow pages and I'd still learn from her expertise.
So here's a gem from her on an important distinction between INTERNAL and EXTERNAL character motivation:
EXTERNAL motivations tend to be universal. What will individualize your character is his/her INTERNAL motivations. Your goal as the writer is to gradually reveal the INTERNAL motivations through the events of the plot. The character is not always aware of all the motivations behind his/her actions. It is only through the story's journey the protagonist comes to a place of full enlightenment.
Here are the most common motivations in literature with the * indicating the most prevalent.
EXTERNAL
*self-preservation*
survival/safety
physical comfort/gluttony
pleasure/hedonism
dominance/tyranny
acquisitiveness/greed
curiosity
mastery/perfectionism
reproduction
INTERNAL
*self-protection*
autonomy/isolation
affiliation/conformity
love/lust/ownership
revenge/justice
guilt/denial of guilt
identity/self-centeredness
conflict avoidance
spirituality
growth
ambition/insecurity
vindication/rationalization
To find out more about Alicia Rasley and read her fantastic online articles, visit her links within the sff website.
No matter where you are in your current work, it's always great to remind yourself of your hero and heroine's motivations. List them here. We'd love to read them.
