You can't always get...

You can’t always get…

One of the most common reasons for a reader to lose interest in a story is a lack of belief in what the protagonist is doing.

Lots of things might be going on. But the actions feel pretty random without any clear sense of why they are happening, or why the character is choosing to head in this direction.

It is my strong conviction that deep down the writer always knows when a story has started to flounder. There’s a feeling, as you fill the page with actions, of treading water, a feeling you are having the character do this particular thing just to make him do something, because you know he’s supposed to in order to keep the story moving forward, but you’re not convinced what you’re making him do is of any real interest, in the long run…

This is the time to stop and ask yourself: What does this character want?

At this exact point in the story. Because what happened has happened, because he knows what he knows. 

What does he want now – because there should always be something he’s pursuing – and what is he doing to get it? 

If the action in which you currently have him engaged has nothing to do with this desire, then it probably shouldn’t be in the story. It’s probably the kind of useless diversion that may cause your readers to lose their patience and stop reading. (Because readers know a good story in their bones, even if they’ve never considered a single thing about Plot Structure.)

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Here’s another really useful thing to think about when your story is languishing and your main character has spent far too long grocery shopping or visiting his grandmother (who has nothing to do with the story, but sort of shows he’s a nice guy): What does this character really want?

In Robert McKee’s STORY, he talks about the Unconscious Object of Desire. To summarise, something has happened at the beginning of the story to upset the balance in a character’s life. Out of this unbalancing rises a conscious Object of Desire, the thing the character decides will restore that balance in his life and give him what he wants. In some stories, more action-based than character-driven, a conscious Object of Desire may be all you need: i.e. James Bond wants to neutralise the latest arch-villain threatening the safety of the world; Sherlock Holmes wants to identify the guilty party. 

But in more complex stories, characters will also be grappling with an Unconscious Object of Desire - a different desire to the conscious one, that has also risen out of the event that first upset the balance in the protagonist’s life. 

And it’s this tension between what the protagonist thinks he wants, as opposed to what he really wants, that provides the most useful tension in the story and forces the hardest choices.

Because the Unconscious Desire is always the more powerful force, and in the end it can’t be ignored.

For example: A woman gets a new job, say, in the government. A job that she’s always wanted and worked hard for, beating all odds to be hired, especially considering her gender. In the first few weeks she becomes close to a male colleague, who is very helpful to her and shows her the ropes. Their friendship develops into a romance. Right away, there are two possible objects of desire: professional satisfaction and advancement, and romantic happiness. The romantic happiness may for a little while become dominant, as she falls more deeply in love. But if the deeper, stronger unconscious desire is to become a real leader for change in the world, the next female Prime Minister - this could be to enact positive change or to take control and wreak havoc! - then at some point events in the story will probably force her to make decisions that support this desire at the expense of the romantic relationship.

Once you have identified what your protagonist actually wants as opposed to what they think they want, make sure these two wants are incompatible.

Your protagonist will not be able to get everything what he wants. But if he tries sometime…

And now you have a gripping story.