Character Motivation Entry: Trying Again When One Has Previously Failed
What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?
[image error]If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.
Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Trying Again When One Has Previously Failed
Forms This Might Take:
An athlete who was injured before reaching a specific level of achievement
Returning to school after dropping out
Summiting a mountain after having to turn back before
Achieving the title belt after losing previously
Sailing completely around the world
Completing a religious pilgrimage
Completing a specific journey or trek one attempted before
Raising the money needed to start a new business
Successfully bringing family into the country to live
Publishing a book or memoir
Inventing a specialized computer program or application
Discovering a cure for a disease
Making an important scientific discovery
Reconnecting with family after a fallout or breach
Successfully living life off the grid
Finding a lost relative or birth family
Mastering a particular skill or solving a difficult and vexing problem
Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): self-actualization
How the Character May Prepare for This Goal:
Alter one’s eating habits to improve nutritional health
Strength-training and physical conditioning
Researching an area of expertise
Reconditioning one’s skills
Purchasing equipment, gear, or other supplies
Collecting data around a particular subject
Studying others who have succeeded (videos, interviews, reading memoirs or papers)
Finding a mentor
Asking others for help
Fundraising
Undergoing rigorous training
Meditation
Working out unresolved issues with a therapist
Practicing by achieving smaller goals
Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:
Spending one’s savings to work toward achievement
Giving up employment to go on a sabbatical or travel
Placing more financial and emotional strain on other family members in one’s absence
Relationship difficulties due to time constraints or a lack of support for one’s path
Stirring up old memories and fears of failure
Pushing one’s body to unsafe limits
Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved:
Age taking its toll and one’s body becoming compromised (if the goal is physical)
Mental fatigue
Bad weather or unsafe conditions (if travel is an element)
Competition that is just as determined to reach the goal themselves
A crisis of faith
Running out of funds
Permissions needed being revoked
Political red tape
Ethical or moral roadblocks
An illness or injury that compromises one’s health or abilities
Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal:
Note: the below are generalized skills that may help, but depending on the nature of the individual goal, many different specific skills and talents may aid the character in achievement.
Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:
Feeling incomplete
Regret, feeling one has failed, again
Feeling unfulfilled
Lower self-esteem
Clichés to Avoid:
Going up against the same rival one was bested by before
Click here for a list of our current entries for this thesaurus, along with a master post containing information on the individual fields.
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