Joey =wants (GOAL)= ice cream =because (MOTIVATION)= it's hot and he has a few cents burning a hole in his pocket, =but (CONFLICT)=the neighborhood bully demands his money or he'll beat him up.
I, as a reader, would have trouble believing that Joey would fight the bully for a few cents and ice cream that's going to drip all over his hands in the hot sun anyway. Neither goal nor motivation is compelling enough to warrant a thrashing. Joey tosses his money at the bully and runs. The End.
Now let's add some things.
Skinny 12-year-old Joey wants to buy ice cream for the girl next door with his hard-earned lawn-mowing money, because he has a crush on her and wants to impress her (and, what the heck, because it's hot), BUT the bully demands his money or he'll pound him.
=Now= what's at stake is more than melting ice cream and a few cents. We're talking money this kid worked his butt off to earn, and his budding male ego (not to mention the girl). His choices are a whole lot more complicated, now. He's afraid he'll look like a wimp and lose face in front of the girl if he backs down. He's afraid he'll literally lose his face if he fights back. He knows he's no match for the bully. However, =now= if Joey chooses to fight the bully, I might not believe he'll win, but I =would= believe he'd be stupid enough to try, and I =would= understand why he is doing so. It's the choice of a 12-year-old boy with his fragile manhood at stake, not just a kid on a hot day with nothing better to do than buy ice cream.
In your hero's quest, before he fulfills his heart's desire, there will arise many "sub- GMC's", all befuddlingly intertwined. It's your job to weave together all of the threads in logical fashion, tie them off neatly in the end, and to make doing so invisible.
How do you keep it all straight without going insane? Debra Dixon's elegantly simple chart, described in detail in "GMC: Goals, Motivation, and Conflict" (Gryphon Books), is a dandy GMC tracking device. An example follows, as applied to The Sad Saga of Joey and the Melting Ice Cream. I've given each goal a number. The numbers for motivation and conflict refer back to the numbered goals.
EXTERNAL
INTERNAL
GOAL
1.Buy ice
cream for girl and self
2. Impress Girl
3.Not lose money to bully
4.Wants to be a hero;
wants to be looked up to as a "man" (Self respect)
5. Earn Father's respect
MOTIVATION
1. & 2.He has a crush on the girl
1. It's hot
3. He worked hard for his money
3.; 4; 5. Bully beat up Joey's younger brother
while Joey ran away (last summer);
3; 4; 5. .Father wants him to stand up for himself and others.
CONFLICT
1.; 2.; 3.Bully threatens him
2.; 4. He's still just a kid
1.; 2.; 3. He's small and skinny
1.; 2.; 3.; 4; 5. Sees self as a coward and
ineffectual
2.; 3; 4; (5?). Fears he'll look stupid to girl if he fights, win or
lose (see, he already has an idea how women think)
1.; 2.; 3; 4; 5. He hates pain
Notice how internal and external intertwine; how the G, M, and C can be interchanged ("Impress girl" is both a G and a M) or confused. If in doubt, apply the "Wants, Because, But" statement to each goal and its related motivations and conflicts.
How important are "G, M, & C"?
Without a GOAL, there's nothing to move the story forward.
Without MOTIVATION, there's no reason for him to pursue his goal.
Without CONFLICT, there is simply no reason for the reader to turn the page.
Goal, Motivation, and Conflict give your characters depth, your scenes purpose, and you the means to analyze what works, what doesn't, and why.
And that's =your= goal.
*****************************************
Author's note: Thanks to Debra Dixon for permission to use "GMC" as a source for this article.
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Nan, this is very important and true. If a character is not believable, the reader stops reading. There has to logical reasons for characters to do what they do - whether it's seen in one paragraph, one chapter or the combination of several chapters..there has to be logical reasons for the actions.
I hate when a read a story and at the end there is a twist and I go "what? this doesn't fit."
I feel cheated.
Good techniques mentioned and the chart is helpful if you are starting out...and a good reminder for seasoned writers too.
More specifically, the chart does not "translate" for Netscape users and the article itself comes up blank. Sorry about that. Will be working on a solution, meanwhile if you have Internet Explorer, use that to view the article or email me.
6/18/01 The chart did not "translate" correctly. please have patience until I'm able to fix it to look like an actual chart.... thanks from Nan (the author)
Welcome !
