What Do You Want?

My writing partner Elizabeth and I like to talk about characters.  In some of my stories the characters are only vaguely defined.  To me, that is one of the aspects of short stories.  Did Poe know or care where Roderick Usher went to college?  What kind of tree the raven's nest was in?  Somehow I doubt it.

Still, getting a clear idea of character helps a story immensely.  One of the most basic aspects of character is desire.  We all want something.  If a character doesn't want anything no pitfalls will come on the way to her or his goals. The character's world will be dull and meandering.

If there is one thing you must know about your characters, it is what do they want?

I've read books where the author clearly doesn't know what the character desires.  The story can unfold and interesting, titillating events can transpire.  You can even feel for the losses or injuries the protagonist bears.  But you can't identify fully with them.  You don't know what they want.

As a writer I often don't know what I want.  It often seems that life has a way of depositing you somewhere after being in the belly of a whale and you just have to adjust.  If that happens every day even old Jonah would figure out what to expect.  When it throws you, however, far onto shore the only thing you may want is to crawl back into the mouth of the beast.

How do I know what a character wants if I don't know what I want?

That's where fiction comes to the rescue.  Characters can want anything.  I, for example, don't worry a lot about fashion.  I wear clothes until they wear out and haven't really changed my hairstyle since the Carter administration.  But that doesn't mean some characters aren't fascinated by wearing the latest and being in style.  In fact, it is a challenge for me to write such an outlook.

Or perhaps a character wants to be rich.  I suspect that's nearly a universal desire.  Who couldn't identify with the frustrated schemer?

Then again, maybe the poor sap just wants to get published.  How many of Stephen King's novels feature a novelist as protagonist?  And even if you're success rate is more like William Gold, we know that of all people writers are among the most needy.  We all want something.