WriteForTheStage

Do your stories feel like they’re treading water? Are you finding it tricky to progress to the next plot point? Does it feel like your characters are driven by a plot that doesn’t suit them? Perhaps your character objectives need some clarity. 

In the realm of storytelling, character objectives are pivotal to a narrative’s success. They drive the plot, reveal character depth, and create a connective tissue between the reader and the world within the pages. 

This article delves into the intricacies of character objectives, focusing on the crucial dichotomy of wants versus needs.

Understanding Character Objectives

You can broadly define “character objectives” as what a character aims to achieve in the story. A character’s objectives can range from external goals, such as winning a competition, to internal desires, like seeking acceptance or self-discovery. 

And it’s these objectives that guide the character’s actions and decisions, shaping the storyline and propelling the narrative forward.

The Dual Forces of Wants and Needs

The key to crafting compelling character objectives is understanding the difference between a character’s ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. 

And while these concepts may seem similar, they are distinct forces that drive characters in different directions.

Wants: The Conscious Desire

A character’s ‘want’ is their conscious desire or goal. They believe they need to achieve this to resolve their problems, overcome the problem of the world, or attain happiness. 

Their want could be anything from love, peace, resolution, or simply wanting to be left alone, setting the stage for the beginning of the narrative. 

However:

A vague character objective can be counteractive. More about this later. 

Needs: The Subconscious Requirement

On the other hand, a character’s ‘need’ is often an (initially) unconscious requirement for their growth or fulfilment. 

This need is usually undiscovered and unfulfilled at the beginning of the story. It might be to find inner peace, forgiveness, or to repair a relationship. 

The character’s journey lies in discovering and fulfilling this need, often at the cost of their initial ‘want’.

Indeed, in the three-act structure, the protagonist tends to achieve their want at the story’s mid-point (halfway through Act 2). 

And this is the point of the story where they realise they haven’t solved the problem of the world — cue the crisis, leading to the eventual acknowledgement of an emotional change they need to address to resolve the conflict once and for all.  

The Importance of Character Objectives in Storytelling

Character objectives give direction to the narrative and provide a reason for the reader or audience (in the case of theatre) to invest in the character’s journey. 

Objectives are essential for various reasons:

Plot Advancement

Character objectives are the engine that drives the plot forward. 

The character’s journey towards fulfilling their wants and needs creates conflicts, resolves tensions, and illuminates the story’s themes.

But, essentially, having a clear objective helps a character navigate the conflict — they make decisions when under pressure, and these have consequences for the progression of the plot. 

Indeed, we lose faith in a story if the character starts making “out of character” decisions — this is the plot driving the character, while, in great stories, the character drives the plot.

Character Development

The right character objectives can reveal deep insights into a character’s personality, values, and motivations. 

So, clearly defined objectives give the character purpose and a desire to get things done.

Ultimately, a clear objective helps shape a character’s growth and transformation throughout the story by making them pass and fail as they strive to overcome the principal problem, creating a dynamic and relatable character arc. They might want different things at the end of the story than they wanted at the start, which shows us how the character has changed. 

And all great stories are about change. 

Audience Engagement

Well-defined character objectives help the audience emotionally invest in a character’s journey. They help build sympathy and empathy for the characters, driving the audience to cheer for them, feel their disappointments, and rejoice in their triumphs.

Crafting Effective Character Objectives

To create compelling character objectives, here are some key considerations:

Make it Relatable

The character’s wants and needs should resonate with the audience, who should be able to see themselves in the character’s struggles and aspirations. 

This can be achieved by focusing on universal human desires and needs.

Create Conflict

Knowing the character’s objective gives the playwright or author a way into driving the conflict — if you know what a character wants, we can make it hard for them to achieve it. 

That way, the audience will likely remain invested in the drama.

Additionally, the difference between a character’s want and need creates an internal conflict, which fuels the character’s journey and makes their arc more compelling.

Ensure Growth

The character’s journey from pursuing their want to realising their need can reflect their growth and transformation. Maybe they want different things at the end of the story — this shows us how they’ve outgrown the world that was holding them back at the start of the story. 

The journey forms the core of the character’s arc, making them dynamic and engaging.

Examples of Character Objectives in Action

To illustrate the concept of character objectives, let’s look at some examples from popular culture:

Example 1: Finding Nemo

In the animated movie ‘Finding Nemo’, Marlin, Nemo’s father, wants to keep Nemo safe. 

This is his conscious desire. 

However, what Marlin needs (but doesn’t realise at the start) is to let Nemo live his own life. 

Marlin’s journey from an overprotective father to one who understands his son’s need for independence forms the crux of his character arc.

Example 2: Onward

In the Pixar movie ‘Onward’, the protagonist, Ian, wants to form a relationship with his deceased father. 

This is his conscious desire. 

However, what he needs is to appreciate the brother who has been there for him his whole life. 

Ian’s journey from longing for a father figure to recognising his brother’s role in his life forms the heart of his character arc.

Be Specific with a Character’s WANT

These two examples demonstrate very clear and specific objectives. They’re SMARTE.

Come again? 

Clarifying the objective

Perhaps your character wants love.

Great. 

But how do you know when they’ve achieved something as intangible as this most complex of human emotional states? After all, love means something different to each of us. 

So, if this is a character’s objective, consider how you can measure that achievement. And if it’s difficult to measure, perhaps it isn’t clear enough.

Think:

SMART(E)

SMARTE stand for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable 
• Realistic 
• Time-bound
• Essential

Specific

Specificity is essential because a character (and the story) meanders without it. 

Think about love and what it looks like for each of us. Some may measure it by having a ring on their finger; others by the fact that they live with their partner. Or someone’s idea of love might mean letting the other maintain their independence so that they can, too, feel free. 

So, think about what love looks like for your character. Having a ring on their finger is a good objective because it’s measurable — it either happens or it doesn’t. 

But, of course, having a ring on a finger doesn’t necessarily imply eternal bliss — it could as easily represent ownership and entrapment as happiness. 

But remember: if the objective doesn’t solve the problem of the world, it’s a good thing. Because the character is then driven to address the underlying emotional issue that they really don’t want to address. 

Measurable

Measurability of the objective is how we demonstrate achievement. In other words, if the aim is tangible, we know when they’ve achieved it. 

A measurable objective either happens or doesn’t. If the character wants to touch the antagonist’s elbow, it’s obvious if they manage it — because they either touch the elbow or they fail. 

Likewise, to get engaged is a measurable achievement — because they either achieve it or they don’t. It’s more measurable than “to find love”. 

Achievable

This kind of speaks for itself. Is the character’s objective something that’s in their power to achieve? 

If they want to go to the moon, are they an astronaut? Because it might be a bit of an unbelievable stretch for a supermarket checkout assistant to go to the moon (unless they win a prize or have signed up for a recruitment programme, for example).

This isn’t to say that we should make the character’s objective easy to achieve because that often makes a story too dull. If they want stuff and get it without fighting for it, there’s no drama or conflict.  

Realistic

This feels similar to achievable, but it’s actually about the possibilities of the world of the story. Does the reality of the objective exceed that of the world you’re creating? 

For example, is it realistic for your protagonist to find someone to get married to in one week? 

Time-bound

This is one element of objective that many writers forget about but one that gets a protagonist off their backside and pursuing their goals. 

Indeed, give your character a tight timescale to win their objective, and you fire their determination. 

If the character wants to find that significant other but knows they have the rest of their life to achieve it, they’ll probably sit at home, swiping left and right on Tinder. 

And that doesn’t make a particularly compelling story. 

BUT:

Give them a tight timescale, and they get out into the world. 

For example, in my play Plus One…?, Jay decides that he’s absolutely NOT going to his competitive cousin’s wedding without a significant other. 

Then I made the wedding one month away — and it fired Jay’s determination to get out into the world. 

Essential

Essential is in brackets in the acronym because this is the part of SMART that I’ve added myself. 

Making it essential that the character achieves their objective, again, fires up their determination to get it done. 

This is about the stakes: what happens if they don’t get it? 

If the outcome of failing is that they just return to normal life, maybe that objective isn’t enough. But if failing means death or the end of something valuable (or essential), then it means that the character can’t fail — they must keep going until they’ve achieved it. 

Fighting to WIN the objective

Clearly defined SMART(E) objectives are the framework for compelling conflict. Indeed, if your scene is meandering, perhaps you’ve forgotten about the character’s objective. 

Think about:

The Unity of Opposites

The unity of opposites permits the continual rise in the intensity of conflict. It’s where the protagonist and antagonist are locked in battle, where neither is prepared (or able) to compromise.

It’s often most clearly defined when both characters want the same thing. 

For example, they might both want the same promotion. So this pushes them into conflict because only one of them can win. This unity drives the competition and gives both characters the firm conviction to fight to win the battle of the objectives.

Or simply, one character might want to prize out the truth, and the other might be trying to hide it. If the opposing character wants to stop the other from winning their objective, we’re in the world of conflict.    

Defining your character’s objectives

If you’re stuck (or unsure where to start), consider taking our Finding Starting Points short course. We’ll help you define your theme, world problem, and character objectives so that the piece almost writes itself. 

Or we offer a Gift Card so you can buy someone you know or love the gift of creative writing this Christmas or birthday. 

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Thanks for reading.