CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS
A couple of questions regarding character motivation can be really useful:
Where does the character start in the story in terms of his mood, actions and what he believes in?
What is your character’s goal?
What is your characters internal conflict in reaching that goal?
What does the character learn throughout the story?
How does he change his behaviour/approach as a result of this realisation?
How do the characters interact in the story and how does that interaction help them to see things differently or address flaws and solve problems and change?
How do these changes move the story forward and help it reach its resolution and conclusion?
It is worth considering these questions for all of your characters who have ‘airtime’ in your novel.
Each character should have a clear story arc: a beginning, middle and end to their story and journey throughout the novel. Each subplot should have these elements and each subplot should weave itself into the main plot along with any of the characters you introduce. In other words, even minor characters need a reason to be in the story and to justify their place in the novel unless of course we are talking about ‘walk on’ characters, who merely have a couple of lines.