A Creative Journal

Character Motivation

by Heather Goldsmith on January 16th, 2007

Tonight I went to see the new film Casino Royale. After watching and discussing with my husband it was clear this movie gives more background on the character of James Bond. His motives and reasons for behaving as he does are very much part of the story presented in this latest 007 installment.

Your writer’s journal is a great place to explore character. Take as much time as you need to learn all you can about your characters, for novels, short stories and even film scripts. The more you know the more realistic your characters become. So, the more you write about them the more confidently you can write about them and present their story.

Whenever I’ve taken part in the NaNoWriMo challenge I’ve spent a good week writing out each of the characters motives, backgrounds, and deepest fears and secrets. Once I needed to sit down and write the novel I found the hardest work had already been done. The writing went easier because I had a clear picture of my characters.

Use your writer’s journal to dig into the full depth of each and every character. It’s here you will find the reasons for everything that happens. Even if all you have is characters, your plot can develop out of simply writing as much as you can about the characters.

I recommend The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman. Work through the exercises and suggestion in his book and you can’t be far from developing interesting and believable characters that will inhabit your story and make a memorable impression on your readers.

Heather
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POSTED IN: The Writer's Journal