Dreams as Motivation
I’m watching My Lottery Dream Home when I should be writing. That’s the problem with being self-employed. You ALWAYS feel like you should be working. But that’s a whole other blog post.
While watching this show, I started dreaming. What if I won the lottery? What kind of home would I want? I kinda love my house so it would be more about location for me instead of the home itself. Maybe a vacation home on the beach?
“Why are you waxing on about winning the lottery and buying homes?” you ask.
I have a point. I promise.
“Shouldn’t you be writing?”
This IS part of writing. I’m in the midst of brainstorming book three in the Recharging Series, TARBIN’S OLD KINGDOM, and this exact topic is a current problem.
Motivation. My main protagonist has met her goal, her dream, that has driven her for two novels. Now what? I have some things that she should be doing this book, but what is her motivation now? She’s free in some ways and more chained than ever in others. What is she dreaming about?
I’ve oddly found it much easier to find the motivation of her guardians. They’ve never really had control of their lives at all. They have actual dreams. Things they never thought were possible, they can now pursue.
But for Talia? What’s next for her? And Tanin, after everything he’s seen and learned, where does he want to go from here?
How do you find your character’s motivation? Do you discover it as the story unfolds or is it clear in your head before you put down the first words?
I’m going to have to sit down with Talia and have a talk. I’ve never done this with one of my characters before, but I’ve also never progressed this far in their story. It’s a new frontier for me as a fledgling writer. I’m starting to understand why series go in spirts and stops for so many authors. If you want to be authentic to your characters and you’re writing the kind of characters who change over time (all of them don’t), then, sometimes, you have to stop and work out their new motivation.
Welp, let’s sit and have some tea, Talia. We’ve got some stuff to work out.
Though she might not want to talk to me after everything I’ve put her through in the last two books…