Recognize relatable motivations.
- Principle
- Recognize relatable motivations.
- Type
- Core Principle
- Primary Agenda
- Meet interesting people.
If someone in the story acts in a way that seems more like a caricature than a real person with wants and needs, respond with curiosity. Accept the mystery that this person’s behavior presents. Why do they act this way? What has led them to this point? Explore the question further, until you can understand and even sympathize with them, even if their actions put them in direct conflict with your own character.
#Examples
- It seems like all of your problems began when your aunt began spreading vicious rumors about you and your siblings, for no apparent reason but a desire to see you hurt. Of course, that can’t possibly explain it, so what motivated your aunt to do such a thing?
- Your cousin told you that he killed that extra deer because he feared not having enough to eat. But you’ve always managed to get by, and no one’s ever gone without, so where does that fear really come from?
- Aside from the rare psychopath who might appear once every four generations, you won’t find many villains in the Fifth World. If a character starts to sound like a villain, ask yourself why. Very few people act out of pure malice, and in the Fifth World that has become even more rare. So what motivates this supposed villain?
- Your uncle loves honey. Who doesn’t? But it seems like every time you talk to him, he only cares about honey. Did you just happen to catch him at those moments when he had honey on his mind? What else does he care about?
- Your wizard always seems wise and mysterious, but hen can’t possibly act like that all the time. What will make hen lose hens temper, or act foolishly?