Character Motivation

OK, I'm on this list that is discussing character motivation and there's been some really good comments. The most helpful were:

Ÿ Make sure your character has some un-heroic goals. Ones that aren't too horrible, but ones that a reader can identify with.

Ÿ Make sure there's something that they're avoiding. A truth about themselves, or a confrontation, or something that they don't want to face or deal with.

Ÿ So how do you know when to quit asking questions about what your character wants? When can you tell if you've gone deep enough? Once the character has revealed something NON-heroic...something they wouldn't want known by the public, something they'd just as soon not even know about themselves...you've gone deep enough. You can quit. Because now you've got what the character will have to struggle with throughout the course of the book.

Anyway, I find this extremely helpful, because really I think this hits the core of coming up with a good character. Nobody wants a one-dimensional character. Whether you're talking about the hero or the bad guy, it's boring. Even the bad guy should have something they hide, something they wouldn't be caught dead admitting, or maybe something a little bit herioc about them just to make them interesting.

So I've been asking these questions of each of my characters and it's bringing out a depth that wasn't there before. Yay! I will add this to my list of "things to review" when writing a book.