Motivation

Definition

Motivation refers to the inner drive that compels a character to act or make decisions in a story. It's the underlying reason for their actions, shaping their behavior, and influencing how they interact with others. Understanding motivation is crucial in dialogue writing and subtext as it adds depth to characters, revealing their desires, fears, and intentions, which can be expressed subtly through their conversations.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Motivation can be driven by external factors such as relationships, goals, or obstacles, as well as internal factors like personal beliefs and emotions.
2. Different characters can have conflicting motivations that create tension in dialogue, making conversations more engaging and dynamic.
3. Subtext often reveals a character's true motivation, providing layers to their spoken words that can lead to misunderstandings or revelations.
4. Characters with clear motivations help to guide the audience’s understanding of their actions and the overall narrative direction.
5. Dialogue can serve as a tool to express or conceal motivation, leading to dramatic irony when the audience knows more about a character's intentions than other characters do.

Review Questions

• How does understanding a character's motivation enhance the depth of dialogue in storytelling?
  • Understanding a character's motivation enhances dialogue by allowing writers to craft conversations that reflect the true desires and intentions of characters. When characters speak with clear motivations in mind, their dialogue becomes richer and more meaningful. This understanding also enables writers to create subtext that adds complexity to interactions, as characters may say one thing but mean another based on their underlying motivations.
• Discuss how conflicting motivations among characters can create tension within dialogue scenes.
  • Conflicting motivations among characters often lead to heightened tension in dialogue scenes. When characters want different things or have opposing goals, their conversations can become battlegrounds of wills. This conflict can manifest through heated exchanges or passive-aggressive remarks, ultimately driving the narrative forward and revealing deeper insights into each character's personality and desires.
• Evaluate how effective use of motivation in dialogue writing can impact audience engagement and emotional investment in a story.
  • Effective use of motivation in dialogue writing significantly impacts audience engagement and emotional investment. When characters' motivations are clearly conveyed through their words and actions, it fosters a connection between the audience and the characters. Viewers become invested in the outcomes of these motivations, feeling empathy for characters striving towards their goals or facing obstacles. This emotional engagement is crucial for immersing the audience in the narrative and making the story resonate on a personal level.

Related terms

Conflict: The struggle between opposing forces in a narrative that drives the plot and reveals character motivations.

Character Arc: The transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story, often influenced by their motivations.

Subtext: The underlying meaning or message in dialogue that reflects a character's true thoughts or feelings, often shaped by their motivations.