Captain Ahab is determined to exact revenge on a whale that bit off his leg. Fantastic Mr. Fox steals food from three ruthless farmers to save his family and friends. Yossarian walks backward to make certain that no one will sneak up on him from behind to kill him. These are all examples of character motivation. Motivation is the reason behind a character’s behavior in a given situation. The reader must recognize the motivation behind the characters’ actions to justify why they behave the way they do.

If writers suffer from writer’s block, actors suffer from motivation block. You’ve heard actors blurting out that cliché about their need for motivation in order to step effectively into the role they inhabit. The same applies to your characters. A well-defined motivation creates a well-defined character.

If the motivation is not clear, a character’s behavior will appear irrational or unjustifiable. His behavior without any underlying purpose appears not to fit his normal patterns. Think of motivation as the epicenter of your character’s personality. There are two types of motivation: 1) Motivation that is rooted deep and has become instrumental in shaping his plans and actions even before the story begins; 2) An external event that serves as a catalyst and moves him to take a particular course of action which the reader expects him to achieve at the end of the story.

Example: Stan is gifted with culinary skills. He runs a small Michelin-starred restaurant where customers need to make a reservation one month in advance. He keeps his successful restaurant small. He could have opened more branches, but he prefers quality over quantity. On top of that, he has to keep a low radar, since his father has been nagging him to take over their drug smuggling business with ties to the Colombian cartel. He didn’t want to take the path that his father has taken and he has seen his old man ordered killings of rival drug lords. He doesn’t give interviews to food critics, refuses to have his pictures taken, and he uses an alias to conceal his identity.

The motivation to keep his restaurant exclusive to a small clientele is intrinsic within Stan at the beginning of the story. The motivation has been with him even before he became a chef and restaurateur. His dedication to running a small business that could have been greater continues to unfold before the reader. Change in his motivation can happen if a well-placed external circumstance triggers him to have a new purpose.

Example: Just as he was about to close for the day, Mad Bull Milo, with two of his lackeys, walks in. He is a rival drug lord of Stan’s father. Milo declares that he will become a regular of the restaurant from then on. Milo throws his weight around in the restaurant by not paying for his meals and those of his friends. He doesn’t make reservations and just walks in at any time. He harasses other customers as well as the restaurant’s staff. Stan decides to take matters in his own hands. He will poison Milo and his friends.

Stan’s motivation for murder is caused by an external factor which is Milo’s harassment. It is a visible aspect that shatters Stan’s peaceful world, and he will do anything in his power not to let anyone destroy his life of peace.