Character Desire Creates Well-Plotted Scenes
Focus Plots & Scenes by Knowing What Protagonist & Antagonist Want
May 9, 2009
Writers should be able to tell in a one sentence summary what their character wants. In fact, not only the protagonist, but the antagonist and the minor characters - what each character wants.
Character Needs Drive Individual Scenes and Entire Plot
This desire, what a particular character wants or needs, is what drives the story. Most competent writers can craft a character and an entire story line with that desire in mind. But to be powerful, each scene should also be driven by a character need.
This need may be a portion of the overall desire throughout the book, or may be something particular to that scene and the interaction with another character or setting. For example:
- A detective wants to solve a murder, but in a particular scene, his need is narrowed to finding a clue.
- Any character’s overall desire can be put on hold while the immediate need is to get out of a dangerous situation.
- Either an entire story or a single scene can focus on the need to make a decision, or to act on a decision already made. The same goes for a character coping with consequences of a previous decision.
Scenes Show Action
Each scene should show an action – something happening, even if the writer also shares a characters memories and musings. The character’s desire is the reason for the scene, and that desire must be acted upon. That’s not to say it has to be achieved - the author gets to decide whether or not the character is satisfied or stymied. (And if satisfied, the satisfaction had better lead to more conflict!)
Examples of Scenes
In Homecoming, Cynthia Voight’s classic YA novel, Dicey and her siblings have been abandoned. Dicey’s overarching desire is to keep them together and get from Connecticut to their unknown grandmother in Maryland.
In one scene, the desire to walk to the grandmother’s is put on hold while Dicey deals with the need for food, organizing the siblings to carry groceries to cars in exchange for tips.
There is a later scene where the immediate desire is the same as for the whole novel. Dicey is trying to convince her grandmother to let them stay. Dicey’s need for a home and family are in direct conflict with her grandmother’s desire for solitude and independence, escalating the tension and driving the action of the scene: an argument.
Scene Writing Exercises
- Review the plot outline or a rough draft, to clarify the storyline.
- Write a summary sentence for each scene, describing the action.
- Next to it, write what each character in the scene wants – what’s driving them to the action?
- Keep those answers in mind and write a few scenes. Is there a difference when writing with a purpose?
In a straight-forward, linear story, it will create a tightly written, fast-paced novel. In a story with internal thoughts and flashbacks, it will keep the passage focused and powerful instead of rambling.
For more information on scenes, read Every Scene Must Have a Purpose.
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