In the previous lessons we learned about creating a multi-dimensional character, and variety of arcs. It's time to learn about making your characters relatable by giving them "believable" goals and motivations.

When we talk about character goals, this usually refers to a story’s main character (a.k.a. the protagonist), though other characters can and do have their own agendas and goals, too. A character’s goals can be externally and internally driven — preferably, both.

Ideally, we need both external and internal goals because they carry more weight. Story is about what the protagonist has to learn, to overcome, to deal with internally in order to solve the problem that the external plot poses. This is true of the stories that stay with us; they resonate, not because of the compelling plot, or even how unique the concept is, but because we identify with the main character and the meaning they make from what happens to them. But just why are character goals important? To answer this, let’s look at what happens when we take them away. 

Picture this, in any category or genre: you’re reading a book with a main character that you like enough, with a plot that’s interesting enough, and the writing’s fine. But for some reason, you’re just not loving this book. It’s not gripping you. Why? You decide to give it one last chapter. Finally, at the end of that chapter, it hits you: the main character is coasting. The book’s plot is action-packed, but this character is just being propelled from scene to scene and doesn’t really seem to mind, or care. In fact, you don’t actually know what the main character cares about at all. 

Cool… except that you’re experiencing the story through this main character’s eyes. If they don’t care, you don’t care. You’re not invested. And now, you're about to toss that book right out the window. 

Now imagine that it’s your story, and someone else is reading it. See the problem? 

This is why character goals are so important, because they connect the stuff that happens in your story to why we should care ie. because your main character cares. Personal goals give characters agency, a reason to slog forward against all odds. Sometimes the story might start by giving your character a good shove first, but eventually, they’ll need to take the wheel. When they do, it’s generally because a key obstacle has arisen in the story’s central conflict. When your character’s goal and obstacle are equally strong and opposed, this is where the magic happens, as it ratchets up tension, suspense, and in turn, the conflict. No one will be tossing your story out the window, now! 

[Section: Jericho writers]

INTERNAL GOALS

Internal goals come from inside main characters, and are motivated by their wants and needs — which can be different. For example, in a dystopian story, your character’s ‘need’ may be survival, but their ‘want’ may revolve around never having found love before the apocalypse. Dr. William Glasser’s ‘Choice Theory‘ lists 5 basic needs:

• Survival
• Love and belonging
• Power
• Freedom
• Fun

Not only does each main character have a goal, but they also have an “impossible goal: to achieve [their] desire and remain true to the fear that’s keeping [them] from it”. Deep down, there’s an internal obstacle that’s self-sabotaging your protagonist, and it’s your job as a writer to develop their character arc so that they can grow by the story’s end.

EXTERNAL GOALS

External goals originate from outside main characters, often in the form of some other character (eg. the antagonist) or organisation’s visible goals. These external character goals are where the surface events of the plot come in, with the goal being a one-sentence summary of what the main character is trying so hard to do, like save the world from the big bad villain. 

External goals can also include less personified objectives like finding an item, winning a war, or reaching a destination.

Character Goal Examples

Wuthering Heights By Emily Bronte:
Apart from being a brooding gothic romance on par with Romeo and Juliet, Brontë’s seminal classic is also a fantastic example of internal goals fuelling external goals, and those goals changing over time. 

Enter Heathcliff, a homeless child adopted by the Earnshaws, whose external goal is to survive usurping the family’s son as the new favourite. Heathcliff’s internal goal is love and belonging, which he finds with the Earnshaws’ daughter Catherine. But when Mr. Earnshaw dies and that son relegates Heathcliff to lowly servitude — and Catherine agrees to marry someone else as marrying Heathcliff would degrade her status — Heathcliff’s external goals take a turn. He vanishes, returning years later with unexplained wealth, but Catherine is already married and dies after his return. Heathcliff’s love then morphs into vindictive obsession, as he takes revenge on anyone who got in their way… Or in his way, more generally. 

Hamlet By William Shakespeare:
Hamlet, like Heathcliff, is another example of a main character with complex, richly woven internal and external goals. 

Shakespeare’s play starts simply. Hamlet sees a family member’s ghost, his father’s, who tells him to avenge his murder as committed by Hamlet’s uncle (who’s become king and married Hamlet’s mother). Hamlet’s external goal is clear. His internal goal, however, is not wanting to kill his uncle, and he gives a multitude of reasons why throughout the story that essentially boil down to Hamlet being a thinker, not a killer. 

Yet this comes undone in the final scene, where Hamlet’s uncle moves to kill him — and, furious after all is revealed, Hamlet finally fulfils his deadly vow. 

Some examples of the internal goals:

• Realise potential (and overcome issues)
• Find family
• Find a place to belong 
• Find love
• Live happily ever after
• Have fun
• Be remembered
• Find fulfilment

External Character Goals:

• Defeat evil
• Solve a crime
• Free someone (eg a family member)
• Get revenge
• Stop a war
• Protect the nation’s interests
• Challenge the status quo
• Start a revolution
• Find / steal an object
• Travel somewhere new / old
• Get a job
• Start a business
• Get rich / famous / powerful
• Win a competition
• Finish a project
• Get married / divorced
• Have a baby
• Recover from illness
• Settle a debt
• Make amends
• Survive
• Self-sacrifice
• Live forever
• Break a curse
• Change / save the past
• Fulfil a prophecy
• Change / save lives
• Save the world

Comment and tell us something about your character's internal and external goals.