Quick Answer
Determining a character's motivation is key for actors to deliver authentic performances. Start by analyzing the script to identify any overt objectives stated by the character. Look for subtext clues about deeper motivations based on how other characters respond. Fill in backstory gaps with imagination and empathy about formative experiences that shape their wants. Ask what desire drives them in each scene, even if unspoken. Physicalize their objective to understand how it feels embodied. Use active verbs when articulating their motivation to ground it in action. Improvisation and roleplay can also reveal organic motivations. Maintaining clarity on what the character concretely wants moment to moment will anchor an actor’s choices. Defining the motivation brings honesty and intention into every movement, expression and line.
Introduction
Every compelling character needs a driving force - an urgent motivation that propels their journey. This catalytic engine is the character's objective. A clearly defined goal that your protagonist must achieve provides forward momentum and escalating stakes to your story. It turns a passive participant into an active hero racing against time, opposition, and inner demons.
Without a tangible objective, a character lacks direction. They have no mountain to climb or finish line to cross. But when you equip your protagonist with a challenging goal, you hand them a map and set them on a perilous quest. Readers thrill to the call of adventure. They buckle up for a wild ride, eager to see if your underdog can triumph against all odds.
A specific, concrete objective acts like a lighthouse beaming through fog, guiding your hero home through tumultuous seas of change. Their stated desire provides a framework for growth. In pursuing this goal, they will be transformed. Your protagonist's objective is the heart that pumps blood to the farthest reaches of your story. It breathes life into every scene.
But objectives, like characters, have layers of complexity. Simple goals may work for linear stories, but multi-dimensional narratives require objectives that deepen and evolve. As your protagonist changes, revelations reshape their purpose. New dimensions unfold, creating contradictions and tension. Your character's objective may waver, expand, shift focus, and eventually transcend where it began.
To harness the full power of your protagonist's objective, it must intertwine seamlessly with character, conflict, and structure. When aligned with these core elements, your character's goal becomes a catalytic force that propels transformation. It turns a passive participant into an active hero.
This article will unlock the secrets to crafting a compelling objective. You'll discover how to choose a goal that fits seamlessly with character motivation and story structure. You'll learn to build objectives that drive growth, immerse readers, and breathe life into every page. Let's begin the heroic quest to define your protagonist's purpose. Their interior and exterior journeys start here.
Defining Your Character's Objective
Your character's objective is what they want to achieve over the course of the story. It's their driving motivation that propels them through each scene. A strong objective needs to be:
Active and Concrete
Passive objectives like "be happy" or "find love" are too vague. The objective should be an active verb like "escape", "win", "find", "defeat", etc. It also needs to be specific and tangible, rather than abstract.
Challenging but Achievable
The objective needs high stakes and obstacles that test your character. But it must also be possible to accomplish, even if the chances are slim. Objectives that are too easily achieved or utterly impossible will deflate narrative tension.
Tied to Inner Growth
The journey towards the objective should force change and growth. Overcoming challenges to reach the goal should transform your character into someone new.
Propels the Story
Each scene should logically advance your character closer to their goal. If the objective isn't moving the story forward, it may be the wrong one.
Choosing Your Character's Objective
Every protagonist needs a strong objective to drive the narrative. Here are some tips on choosing the right one:
Brainstorm Possibilities
Make a list of potential objectives based on your character's background, personality, conflicts, and inner desires. Pick ones with high stakes that excite you creatively.
Make it Personal
The goal should be emotionally meaningful and fill a psychological need. Connect it to the character's relationships,inner wounds, or moral values.
Consider Context
Fit the objective organically into your story world and genre. It should align with the rules, history, and tone of the setting you've created.
Give it Urgency
Inject urgency by making the objective time-sensitive or critical to the protagonist's happiness. This pressurizes them to take risks and action.
Raise the Stakes
Attach consequences to failing the objective. It should jeopardize something or someone your character cares about deeply. High stakes justify desperate measures.
Matching Character Types with Objectives
Certain character types gravitate towards specific kinds of objectives. Though you can break stereotype, considering common matches can help generate ideas.
Heroes
Heroes pursue moral objectives that save lives or make the world better. Typical goals are overthrowing tyranny, seeking justice, or protecting the innocent.
Underdogs
Underdog objectives involve proving oneself by overcoming steep odds and obstacles. Usually this means triumphing in a competition, achieving status, or earning respect.
Seekers
Seekers have objectives of discovery and enlightenment. They pursue truth through philosophy, unlocking mysteries, finding lost artifacts, or acquiring knowledge.
Renegades
Renegades rebel against power structures and conformity. Goals involve exposing corruption, avoiding capture, dismantling systems, or proving authority wrong.
Leaders
Leaders seek to guide, protect, or empower a community. Objectives involve defeating threats to the group, providing stability, or creating prosperity.
Outsiders
Outsiders want to assimilate, find belonging, and form meaningful connections. Goals include gaining acceptance, fitting in with a group, finding a home, or connecting with loved ones.
Manipulators
Manipulators crave influence and control over themselves or others. Objectives involve acquiring power, status, material possessions, or authority figures.
Common Character Objectives
Here are some classic character objectives to inspire you:
Avenge a wrong
Save the world
Win the big game
Find a lost treasure
Escape captivity
Overthrow a dictator
Cure a deadly plague
Reform society
Defeat a monster
Solve an ancient riddle
Prevent a disaster
Protect loved ones
Restore honor
Learn hidden truths
Rediscover faith
Defend the weak
Heal trauma
Fulfill a destiny
Objective vs Motivation
The objective is what the character wants. Motivation is why they want it. Motivation comes from backstory, relationships, and wounds that drive the character psychologically. Together they fuel the protagonist's arc.
Backstory as Motivation
Past events that shaped the character explain their reasons for pursuing the objective. Trauma,failure, injustice and loss in backstory provide emotional motivation.
Relationships as Motivation
Desire to connect with or protect loved ones gives strong motivation. Avenging family, saving a spouse, or finding acceptance drive the character forward.
Wounds as Motivation
Inner pain, voids, and weaknesses create motivation. Overcoming shame, abandonment issues, addiction, or lack of self-worth push the character.
Moral Values as Motivation
Strong principles, causes, and beliefs can motivate. Pursuit of justice, truth, spiritual growth, or ideals push the character.
Evolving the Objective
Simple objectives stay fixed from beginning to end. But complex ones shift and get redefined as the character grows and confronts revelations.
Losing Faith
If revealing truths undermine the purpose, the character may question or abandon the objective. New information forces them to reassess.
Gaining Commitment
Alternatively, revelations and turning points strengthen commitment to achieving the goal. Deeper motivation gets unlocked.
Discovering a Larger Purpose
The objective's scope may expand as the journey reveals its true meaning and larger importance to the world.
Realizing It Was Wrong
The protagonist realizes their goal was misguided, unrealistic, or based on lies. They must define a more honest objective.
Accomplishing Smaller Goals
Breaking a large objective into smaller milestones provides incremental successes to build confidence.
Aligning with Structure
Well structured plots parallel the protagonist's objective at every beat. Match these story structure basics:
Act One - The Objective is Established
The opening clearly defines what the character wants and why the reader should care. We see stakes and urgency.
Midpoint - False Victory or Major Setback
At the midpoint, the objective seems closer than ever or suffers a devastating blow. Either way, it's a defining turning point.
Act Three - Final Push Towards the Climax
The beginning of Act Three initiates the final do-or-die effort. This stage is filled with passion and desperation to achieve the objective.
Climax - Objective is Achieved or Lost
The climax represents ultimate success or failure. The objective is conclusively won or lost based on the protagonist's choices and sacrifice.
Defining Side Character Objectives
Well rounded stories give objectives to multiple characters, creating complex dynamics as they intersect.
Allies
Allies share the protagonist's objective or have goals that support it. This creates cooperation towards the shared purpose.
Mentors
Mentors have objectives to guide and prepare the protagonist to achieve their goal. By imparting wisdom, they enable success.
Love Interests
Romantic interests have objectives involving intimacy. Falling in love may help or hinder achieving the protagonist's goal.
Rivals
Rivals pursue objectives that conflict directly with the protagonist's. Competition creates obstacles and tension.
Villains
Villain objectives oppose the protagonist's in fundamental ways. Their goals are often selfish, immoral, or destructive.
Anti-Heroes
Anti-heroes have ambiguous motives that contradict and confuse the protagonist. Their unpredictable objectives add uncertainty.
Checklist for Creating a Strong Objective
Follow this checklist to ensure your character's objective has the essential qualities:
Concrete using an active, specific verb
Challenging with high stakes
Achievable while pushing the character
Sparks inner change and growth
Propels the story sequence by sequence
Emotionally meaningful and personal
Reinforced by backstory, wounds, and beliefs
Established clearly at the story's outset
Shifts and expands as the character evolves
Mirrors the narrative structure and beats
Resonates thematically with the story's message
Troubleshooting a Weak or Ineffective Objective
Sometimes an objective that seemed strong in conception ends up falling flat. Here are tips to diagnose and fix a problematic objective that is failing to drive your story forward:
Signs of a Weak Objective
Scenes stall out without advancing the goal
Stakes feel low or consequences unclear
Protagonist lacks urgency and drive
Side plots overshadow the main arc
Reader is confused or bored by purpose
Tapping Back Into Emotional Core
Reconnect the objective to the protagonist's inner struggles, relationships, and backstory wounds. Dig for a primal motivation and heightened emotional stakes.
Raising the Threat Level
Raise the costs of failure. Make the consequences more extreme and intimate. Create life-and-death urgency by making the objective a survival need.
Clarifying Choices and Tensions
Ensure there are difficult moral dilemmas and no-win decisions required to achieve the objective. Tough choices raise tension.
Making it More Cinematic
Add cinematic qualities like spectacular settings, imposing opposition, and action-packed challenges. Visual intensity fuels engagement.
Limiting Scope
Narrow a sprawling objective down to a specific milestone to achieve short-term urgency. Win this battle before winning the war.
Personalizing the Threat
Make opposing forces and threats directly targeted at people the protagonist cares about. The bullseye on loved ones' backs raises the stakes.
Adding Tick Tock Pressure
Impending deadlines, finite resources, and closing windows of opportunity inject urgency into the objective pursuit.
Sabotaging Progress
Undermine or reverse progress to prolong anticipation of the outcome. Twists and setbacks sustain tension.
Case Studies of Famous Character Objectives
Examining well-known story objectives can provide models to inspire your own:
The Lord of the Rings
Frodo's Objective: Destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom to defeat evil.
This goal is active, urgent, specific, and tied directly to saving Middle Earth. It requires incredible inner willpower and tenacity from Frodo while propelling epic fantasy action.
Star Wars
Luke Skywalker's Objective: Destroy the Death Star and defeat the evil Galactic Empire.
Luke's objective is concrete, high-stakes, and requires him to believe in himself as a Jedi and hero. It exemplifies the classic hero's journey.
Finding Nemo
Marlin's Objective: Rescue his lost son Nemo across the ocean.
This emotional objective leverages a father-son relationship to motivate Marlin's impossible odyssey. It showcases love, courage, and growth.
The Hunger Games
Katniss's Objective: Survive and win the Hunger Games.
With her life on the line, Katniss must tap into her warrior spirit and cunning. Her goal provides an intimate stakes while critiquing political tyranny.
Casablanca
Rick's Objective: Help Ilsa and her husband escape the Nazis to freedom.
Rick's selfless love for Ilsa compels him to risk everything for their safety. The objective reveals his wounded but noble spirit.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones's Objective: Find the lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.
This classic treasure hunt objective propels Indy through exotic locations and death-defying adventures filled with cliffhangers.
Alice in Wonderland
Alice's Objective: Return from Wonderland to her own world.
Alice's disorientation and desperation to escape this bizarre fantasy land provides a constant motivational tension.
Studying memorable story objectives like these helps define the qualities that captivate audiences. Let them inspire you to craft a goal for your protagonist that stays with readers long after "The End".
Tailoring the Objective to Your Protagonist's Arc
Your character's change and growth across the story should be reflected in how their objective shifts:
The Disillusioned Hero
In tragedies, the objective remains static, leading to the protagonist's downfall. Their unchanging goal proves their limit.
The Underdog
Underdogs build confidence act by act as small wins accumulate, leading to ultimately achieving the objective.
The Chosen One
At first the Chosen One rejects the objective but comes to accept their destiny by the climax.
The Renegade
The rebel or outcast broadens their objective from selfish to selfless as they find a cause greater than themselves.
The Redeemed Villain
Once corrupted villains reform their ways by abandoning their old objective and defining one that creates justice.
The Lost Soul
Lost characters stuck in stagnation find renewal when they finally commit to a new objective that brings meaning.
| Article Section | Key Points |
|---|---|
| Defining Your Character's Objective |
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| Choosing Your Character's Objective |
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| Matching Character Types with Objectives |
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| Common Character Objectives |
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| Objective vs Motivation |
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| Evolving the Objective |
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| Aligning with Structure |
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| Defining Side Character Objectives |
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| Checklist for a Strong Objective |
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| Troubleshooting a Weak Objective |
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| Case Studies of Famous Objectives |
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| Tailoring Objective to Character Arc |
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| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Concrete Details |
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| Scope |
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| Conflict |
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| Change |
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| Stakes |
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| Motivation |
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In Summary
Defining a strong central objective provides a backbone of purpose that lifts your protagonist and story. It sets events in motion and drives change through conflict and revelation. By the final pages, your hero will view the objective far differently than when the journey began.
If crafted well, their goal will shape-shift across the arc: growing, morphing, gaining new dimensions. The original objective may even be abandoned for one more meaningful. Or it may be recommitted to with more courage and wisdom.
Either way, a new worldview emerges from the journey. Your protagonist will realize they've become someone new in pursuit of their desire.Someone capable of more than they dared dream. Your hero finds that the real treasure was within - that chasing their goal led to self-realization. Their story closes with fulfillment, not because they necessarily achieved the objective, but because conquering inner demons brings its own triumph.
This satisfying conclusion remains elusive without the framework provided by a specific objective. Defining your protagonist's goal sets events in motion and drives change through conflict and revelation. It provides a consistent connecting thread across every twist and turn.
With a clearly defined objective, your protagonist gains purpose, motivating readers to invest in their high-stakes quest. Scene by scene, the odds seem to rise against them, keeping the pages turning. The objective propels the character through an escalating gauntlet that tests their resolve.
In the end, a compelling objective brings your protagonist to life. It showcases their agency, determination, and growth. Their story becomes a spotlight for the human spirit's ability to dream and endure against all odds. By courageously chasing their objective, your flawed hero reminds us that within each of us waits the potential for greatness. Their journey can become ours, their transformation reflected in every reader whose dreams still wait to be unlocked.