Many factors go into writing a powerful, successful story. Strong and interesting characters. A compelling plot. Conflict, obstacles and a strong, believable resolution.
What is the most important factor? There are as many answers to that question as there are authors and writers. I can sum up the most important thing to my stories in one word. Desire.
In other words, what is your story about?
Do you think you can figure that out as you write? I used to think that, too. It is possible, but it’s also possible to write an entire story without a clear idea of what the lead character is trying to accomplish. I have three or four finished manuscripts to prove it!
Another way to think about the main desire of your story is to look for the ‘quest’ confronting your characters.
To illustrate how important it is for your story to have a strong desire or quest, let’s look at a few examples. First, we’ll look at a couple of movies.
The Fellowship of the Rings
From the beginning of the first story, Fellowship of the Ring, readers and viewers are told what the quest is. The One Ring must be returned to Mordor, where it can be destroyed in the fire from which it was forged. Failure will allow evil to rule Middle Earth.
Clearly defining the quest identifies the main desire for the lead characters – get to Mordor and destroy the One Ring. It also immediately sets up conflicts with the characters who want to capture and use the ring.
Down Periscope
Again, the quest is identified immediately. The main character is ordered to act the part of a terrorist trying to sneak an outdated, diesel powered sub into a naval harbor and blow up a target. His opponent will be the best and brightest the US Navy has to offer and the stakes on both sides are high: A sub command for the main character and a third star for his primary opponent, who just happens to be a Two Star General with quite a chip on his shoulder.
Defining the main desire clearly is important for all types of stories, not just action or suspense. Let’s look at some stories from other genres.
At Home in Mitford, by Jan Karon
Father Tim’s main desire in the first book of the Mitford series is to overcome his fears of his neighbor and an equally large fear of change to ask her to marry him.
The Black Stallion Challenged, by Walter Farley
The main desire in this horse story is getting enough money to rebuild a barn destroyed by fire after it was learned the insurance policy lapsed. It is established in the early chapters of the book and immediately sets up the obstacles of the Black Stallion’s age, his need to return to the race track after retiring and the level of younger competition he has to race.
The first book is women’s fiction, the second is an children’s book from decades ago. You can see the value and importance of a clearly defined main desire that motivates the characters and keeps the story moving forward in both genres. It is, in fact, important for all genres.
Still don’t believe it?
The next time you’re at the movies, see if you can identify the main objective of the plot. What premise did all of the other parts of the plot hang on?
Could you easily identify that premise or was it only a vague suggestion?
How engaged in the movie were you? Did it keep you on the edge of your seat or were you more interested in your bucket of popcorn?
How do you identify your story’s main desire?
That can be as simple or complex a process as you like.
If you don’t currently have a story in the works….
The first place to look is your own life. What things motivate you? Politics? A new job? Reaching the top in your company? A successful marriage? If it motivates you, chances are you can write a compelling story about a character with the same motivation.
Depending on the type of story you’re writing, you can also look at current events and develop ideas from the stories you see every day.
There’s always the epic ideas. Saving the planet from invading aliens, uncovering political corruption, revealing a massive, global hoax before it’s too late to thwart its perpetrators. You name it.
The best place to begin is to simply sit down and write a list of things that get your blood pumping. This is a brainstorming thing, so no editing is allowed. Once something is written down, don’t cross it off or make changes. Just write the next thing. Write as many as you can. If it helps to give yourself a time limit, set a time limit. I sometimes try fifteen or thirty minutes for an exercise like this and actually set a timer.
Afterward, give the list time to cool off and your mind time to digest what you’ve written. Then look at that list and see what looks good. This is the time to edit. I advise you not to cross anything off that list. You never know when something might work for another story. But look at the most interesting ideas and begin to play with them. See what you might be able to do with them, where they might lead.
If you currently have a story in the works….
What is compelling your characters through the story? What does your character want or need to do?
If you don’t already know that or can’t put it into a concise, easy to remember sentence, this might be a good time to sit down with the story so far and see what’s already there. Ask yourself the following questions.
What made me want to write this story?
What makes the main character care about this story?
What makes the other characters care?
Why should anyone care about this story?
Ask yourself any other questions that come to mind, too. Until you can answer this question convincingly, your story will suffer.
It will also be a lot more difficult to stay on track if you don’t know what your character’s main Desire is, why he or she has to have it, what is waiting to keep them from getting it and how they eventually succeed or fail.
It really is that important.
Proverbs 19.21 says:
Writing can be very frustrating work (and, yes, I did chose the word “work” deliberately!).
My current story went through quite a few contortions this week.