: Re: Does it really serve a main character to give them one driving want? I often feel that we fall into a trap of believing that we must provide a driving goal for a main character at the outset.

@Jessie137

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A single want is reductive, but yes there should be a reason these people are willing to walk away from their lives to go on the journey. Assuming they are not Arthur Dent on a hapless accidental adventure, they should have a reason why they are willing to leave everything behind.

Rose in Titanic wants to die. She is about to jump off the ship when Jack starts chatting with her. He doesn't talk her out of jumping, he just distracts her. She doesn't want to jump, she just wants to be free from her life. Jack buys time entertaining her, and she travels with Jack as her guide to the "underworld" of the lower class parts of the ship where she sees hundreds of alternatives. Rose tries to bring Jack into her world but that shows Rose it's actually her life that is bad. Now she has the strength to leave it, but that isn't tested until she has to choose. Rather than get in a lifeboat and locked in her old life, she jumps on the sinking Titanic to die. This is something she was already prepared to do, except now she has a reason to live. At the end she is presumed dead, and poetically, that's how she is able to escape her life. She got her one desire, but it wasn't how she expected.

That's how this is suppose to work. It helps if you remember what the character wants most at the very moment they divert from their normal life. (Well, hopefully it works like that.) Rose meets Jack at the moment she is most sure of what she wants (to be free) but it seems the farthest away.

Yes, it serves the character to have a well-stated desire because it explains the start of their journey and what they need to learn.

Harry Potter spends the whole story wanting his parents and then he finally meets them (they say they were there all along). It is not the big exciting battle, but it is his final resolve, the reason he is able to face his enemy when he expects to die. No one else is motivated to sacrifice themselves. Harry has to acheive his biggest desire before he can sacrifice himself. It is his "reward" but also his source of strength.

Luke Skywalker wants adventure. It's not a very deep desire, but Star Wars is not a deep story. Arguably he finds it, rather than stay and mourn his murdered foster parents and take over the farm like a normal person would. Luke doesn't spend a second looking back. We understand why because we have seen his greatest desire is to go have adventures and now he is free to do so. He doesn't even feel bad.

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