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Character Motivations

© Suzanne James

In the last article I wrote about Heroines. It seemed natural that the next article would be about heros. I asked the students in my courses at universalclass what character traits made a hero. The answers were amazing. Most people still think a hero is kind, responsible, and brave. Why? This limits the types men who can fill the role, because not every male archetype can make the perfect hero. Actually, only three archetypes meet the demands of the current romance market.

If the romance genre focusses on just three male character types, or personalities, then readers would lose interest quickly.

It did not take me long to realize that a hero's motivations are more important than their personality type. This is why I decided to rewrite this article on character motivation.

Why do people fall in love? Why would a paraplegic climb a mountain? Why would a man run into a burning building for a child? Why would a woman risk prison to expose a government conspiracy? Why would a woman fall in love quickly when she has not healed from the pain of a betrayal? Why would a hero fight the odds, and risk everything for a woman's love? The answers are found in a basic understanding of our human motivations.

Many writers do not understand what true motivation is. It has little to do with a character's history. Simply put, motivation is the urge to act in a specific way, at a particular time, to fulfill a basic need.

When a person is well motivated they show three characteristics:

1. They are energized. These characters do not think about doing something, or plan, they do. They move, act, react, and work hard to reach their goal.

2. They direct their energies toward reaching their goal.

3. They have differing intensities of feelings. The stronger a person's desire to be loved grows, the more they are willing to sacrifice to reach that goal. There comes a time when their passion climaxes because they finally have what they needed.

When the hero and heroine decide to take their relationship to the next level, they should express these three characteristics.

However, creating strongly motivated characters requires more than just making the characters act well motivated. A writer can build strongly motivated characters by including the four basic motivations: instinct, drive-need, incentive, cognitive. When all four motives are woven together, the character will be well motivated, no matter how the odds are stacked against them.

The copyright of the article Character Motivations in Write a Romance Novel is owned by Suzanne James. Permission to republish Character Motivations in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.