Give Your Characters an Immediate Motivation

“When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away – even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.”

Kurt Vonnegut (source)

I’m still learning to write good stories, but a character’s motivation seems to be the most important element to keeping the reader’s attention. While many writers try to use the beginning of stories to build up th...