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I’m working on motivating my villain and have found 39 possible motivations. I’m sure there are more, but these should jump start your imagination. They are presented here with a statement from the villain’s point of view.
- Romance: I want to marry the princess.
- Revenge – ruin a hero: I want to ruin the King.
- To distinguish oneself: I want the princess to respect me.
- To fit in/gain acceptance: I want to attend the princess’ coronation and eat at her table.
- Justice: The king killed my mother, so the king must die.
- Greed – get rich: I want to steal everything from the King’s treasury.
- Fear: I am afraid that our lands will be stripped bare by this evil king.
- Desperation: If something doesn’t change in the next week, I will be executed.
- Social cohesion: Us zombies need to stick together.
- Desire to better oneself: I was born a peasant, but I will die a king.
- Power to achieve a goal: I must be king, so I can change the laws about owning property.
- Escape destiny: At birth, a prophet said I would kill the king; however, I am stealing enough money to escape to another country and avoid that destiny.
- Achieve destiny: At birth, a prophet said I would kill the king; and that’s my plan.
- Persecution: Growing up in a wheelchair has been hell.
- Rivalry: Prince John wants to marry the Princess, but she’s mine.
- Discovery: I will find out the king’s darkest secret and use it against him.
- Ambition: I want. . . everything!
- Survival (deliverance): In the midst of this civil war, I will survive.
- Self-sacrifice: Someone must stop this evil king and I’ve decided to step up and do it.
- Love: The princess has stolen my heart; so, I’ll steal her.
- Hate: The princess is an evil woman; when she becomes my wife, I’ll make her suffer.
- Conspiracy: I’ve gathered twelve good men to help me overthrow this king.
- Honor: Men from my city never back down, even if it costs me everything.
- Dishonor: Men from my city are idiots; I’ll never do things the “right” way.
- Unnatural affection: I want to marry the princess and take the queen as a lover.
- Catastrophe: A volcano is going to erupt and when it does, I’ll plunder the city.
- Grief and loss: When my mother died, I lost all interest in doing good.
- Rebellion: I’m the leader of the guerrilla forces.
- Betrayal: I was engaged to the princess, and then she married Prince John.
- Spread hate and fear: I love hate. Hate, hate, hate.
- Corrupt everyone: Come join me as I rob the king.
- Control the kids: If those kids make noise one more time at midnight, I’ll get ‘em.
- Leave me in peace: I never wanted to leave my home town, but since you’ve made me, I’ll show you what’s what.
- Recover what is lost: The king took my mother’s locket as tribute, and if it’s the last thing I ever do, I’ll get it back.
- Save humanity: To save humanity, I’ll have to kill the whole army.
- serve a master (ex. The Fuhrer): I’ll follow King George anywhere, even if it means killing King Phillip.
- Destroy: Ha! Ha! Ha! I love to burn down houses.
- Rule part of the world: I want to be King of the Mermaids.
- Rule all of the world: I will rule the Earth.
I'm back, more or less, from my semi-extended blog hiatus! You missed me, yes?
I've had a major lack of motivation lately, with holidays, birthdays, and school getting in the way, but then I met my agent. For the first time, I was able to see her for dinner, along with three other clients, here in NYC and it was fantastic! She's a real, tangible person, not a figment of my writerly imagination. I can't even tell you how awesome it feels to know I have such an amazing person in my corner. Her confidence is truly contagious.
I suppose the point of me telling you this, is that you can do it. Whether you are still trying to craft the perfect story, or you already have an agent, a publishing contract, a physical book with your name on it, you are a writer. I forget who said it, but there is a quote floating around the web that says something like, "Writing isn't something you do. It's who you are." Nobody understands that like a writer.
I know how daunting rewriting and revising can be, but don't you feel better when you do it? No matter how many bags of twizzlers, cups of coffee, or bowls of ice cream that it takes to get it done, you've done it, and that's an amazing accomplishment. So pat yourself on the back, because you are a writer.
No, I'm not talking about character arcs, which is an entire post in itself. I'm talking about your own motivations as a writer, be they external (e.g. editor deadlines) or internal (e.g. desire to hit the NYT Bestseller list). I've always responded really well to deadlines, whether self-imposed or other-imposed. I knew I needed to finish revising (okay, re-writing) the second half of my book for a writing retreat I'm attending this week. I finished yesterday with two days to spare, but as excited as I am about the retreat (my external deadline), that wasn't the only motivation behind my late nights this week.
Last week, I mentioned my obsession with Shiny New Idea. I was so motivated to start it, but wouldn't let myself until I finished my "old" manuscript. Last night, I literally hit the "compile" button in Scrivener (coolest program EVER) for my old document, then opened up a new one and wrote the first chapter of SNI. The internal motivation to get my new idea on paper is what helped push me through the torture of a bazillionth revision (only a slight exaggeration) of my last ms. I get so geeked out over first drafts that I'm going to enjoy this time while it lasts...after all, I know that first revision is just around the corner.
What about you? Are you motivated more by external or internal factors?
Current word count: 18,834
New words written: 572
Words til goal: 21,166 / 450 words a day til the end of September
This word count is actually for two days, as I didn’t get a chance to write here yesterday, and it’s lower than my goal. So I have some catching up to do this weekend.
But the good thing is, I did some research and discovered some great new things about one of my characters.
I always think it’s amazing when a character comes to life by itself with no effort on my part. All writers have experienced these moments, but it still amazes me how a character — who is supposedly just in our imagination — can tell US what they’re like without us having to invent a thing, as though instead of imagining, we’re merely tapping into another world where these characters already reside.
I’d been feeling as though I didn’t completely know one of my main characters, but for a few days, I’d been getting this image in my head of him getting out of bed and reaching for a cane — an 11 year old. I couldn’t shake this image. And I hadn’t written anything to suggest there was anything wrong with this character and it wasn’t part of the main story whatsoever, but for some reason, when he got out bed, he reached for a cane. Weird.
After much research over the last couple days, I figured out why he has a cane and, just like that, the whole character came alive. I now understand the “why” behind every action and decision he makes.
Knowing the “why,” what makes our characters move and think and talk the way they do, is essential for writers. Sometimes the “why” will be in the story, and sometimes it won’t. But knowing that “why” makes the character come alive for us, and his/her actions and choices will be all the more authentic and believable to a reader.
Now that I know my character’s ”why,” I’m having so much more fun writing his adventure. If only I didn’t need pesky sleep! 
How do your characters share who they are with you?
Write On!
I needed this today. How exciting you met your agent! Yay!
That's so cool that you met Sara! I need to come to New York so I can meet my agent--and you, because it's bizarre to me that I haven't met you in person yet! Inspiring post. :)