Overheard a librarian say 'your character should want something even if it's a glass of water' and it clicked for me

I was at the public library in Portland last Tuesday killing time and heard this older lady telling a younger guy that every scene needs a want. I sat there thinking about my own writing and realized my characters are just floating through scenes without any real aim. Has anyone else had one tiny writing tip totally shift how you look at a chapter you've been stuck on?

2 comments

2 Comments

drew_chen7d ago

my buddy dave had this problem with his first novel for like a year and a half. he was writing this guy who goes through a zombie apocalypse and he couldnt figure out why chapter 4 just felt dead. then someone told him the same thing about wanting a glass of water and he realized his main character was just running from zombies. he rewrote it so the guy was trying to get back to his kid's school. suddenly every action had weight. he told me he almost cried when he saw how much better it made the whole book. did you try giving your character a damn good reason for moving through that scene?

leo5676d ago

Did Dave try reading it out loud first? Usually kills the bad parts for me.