The Character House, Pt. 4: First Floor Goals

What single component can transform a story from lifeless to gripping?

Goals.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been discussing the Character House, a model that can help you build cohesive characters from the ground up. Here are the posts so far:

Today, we’re going to discuss the second layer of the First Floor: Character Goals. (When I say “first floor,” I mean the floor itself, not the walls. The walls represent the character’s dialogue and actions, which we’ll discuss in future posts.)

Just as the basement supports the first floor, past experiences influence characters’ beliefs, which in turn impact their fears and goals. A solid floor results in a strong house, and solid goals create strong characters and plots. By contrast, if your characters don’t want anything specific, you won’t be able to place obstacles in the way of those goals, which means that your story will lack conflict, momentum, and character development.

First, let’s establish some important definitions:

A goal is something that the character wants. Like real people, characters can want multiple things at a given moment.
The story goal is the goal that the character is pursuing in the story. It drives the main conflict of the plot.
A personal goal is a goal separate from the story goal. For example, a fantasy character might pursue the story goal of overthrowing the tyrannical king, but the character may also have a personal goal of becoming a blacksmith or traveling the world.

Goals can be divided into internal goals and external goals.

Internal Goals vs. External Goals

Internal goals are intangible desires, such as love, security, acceptance, recognition, belonging, etc. Although characters might not always be aware of their internal goals, readers can relate to these universal human needs.

On the other hand, external goals are tangible and concrete. In other words, readers can see them. Possible external goals include completing a quest, defeating a villain, solving a mystery, reaching a destination, starting a restaurant, or climbing a mountain.

As you can see, external goals are visible, while internal goals are not. When I say “starting a restaurant,” you can imagine a character working beneath a Grand Opening sign, eagerly serving sandwiches and salads to hungry customers. But when I say “gaining recognition,” this conceptual phrase is more difficult to picture.

Both types of goals are important. Without an external goal, your character has nothing concrete to pursue: if Olivia wants to find security, what would that look like in her life? But without an internal goal, readers may not understand the importance of the external goal: why does it matter whether Jeff wants to start a restaurant?

The following tips will help you make sure that your internal goals and external goals fit together to form a sturdy First Floor.

1. Internal goals can help you brainstorm external goals—and vice versa.

Oftentimes, concrete external goals represent abstract internal goals. One person might want to climb a mountain (external goal) to gain recognition and fame (internal goal). Another person might want to defeat a tyrant (external goal) to obtain security for her family (internal goal).

You can use this principle to work from the known to the unknown. If you know that your character’s internal goal is to find belonging, you can brainstorm corresponding external goals, such as meeting friends or being accepted onto a basketball team. Conversely, if you know that your character’s external goal is to get a promotion at work, you can brainstorm corresponding internal goals, such as providing for loved ones or gaining the respect of coworkers.

2. Goals often stem from backstories, beliefs, and fears.

You can start with any element of the Character House and work backward to figure out the related goals.

A character who survived a severe hurricane (backstory wound) might seek security (internal goal) by finding a safe place to live (external goal).
A character who believes that he’s worthless unless he succeeds (false belief) might pursue recognition (internal goal) by making a groundbreaking scientific discovery (external goal).
A character who’s afraid of being lonely (fear) may seek friendship and belonging (internal goal) by joining a group of specialized trainees (external goal).

Putting it all together, backstory events create beliefs, which lead to fears, internal goals, and external goals. Suppose a character named Sophia once failed to protect someone close to her (backstory wound). Now she believes that she can’t trust anyone but herself to protect people (false belief), and she’s afraid of people being hurt on her watch (fear). Therefore, Sophia’s internal goal is security for her family, and her external goal is to solve a mystery to stop the criminal from harming her loved ones.

As this example shows, building from the Basement to the First Floor provides a basic framework from which you can develop an entire story.

3. Give your characters personal goals outside the story goal.

Characters shouldn’t exist solely for the purpose of the plot. Instead, they should have personal goals that don’t depend on the story goal. In The Eternity Gate by Katherine Briggs, Seyo’s story goal is to unlock the titular Eternity Gate, but she also has a personal goal of becoming a priestess and a royal historian. This personal goal implies that Seyo has a life outside the story, which helps her feel more realistic.

Personal goals can also provide material for your opening. In your first few chapters, your character might not have started pursuing the story goal yet, so you can show your character pursuing a personal goal. The first few chapters of The Eternity Gate depict Seyo and her best friend exploring ancient ruins, which introduces her love of history and creates an instant connection with the audience.

4 Types of Story Goals

A house with no first floor won’t stand for long. Likewise, the story goal is the primary driving force of your plot. It motivates all your characters’ actions and ensures that they always have a goal to pursue.

If you’re trying to brainstorm a story goal for your novel, you may become overwhelmed by an infinite array of options. Likewise, if you’re revising your manuscript, you might notice scenes that don’t seem to matter to the plot. In both situations, you’ll benefit from understanding the four basic types of story goals. (Writing teacher Steven James describes three types of story goals; I added a fourth type based on my own research.)

Type #1: Something bad has happened, and the characters must fix it.

In these stories, the characters must reverse a problem that has already occurred, either to them personally or to the world at large. A group of dystopian characters might need to defeat the totalitarian dictator. In many survival stories, the characters have been shipwrecked on a desert island or trapped in the wilderness, and they must survive long enough to return home. In Water’s Break by Sophia L. Hansen, a water-dweller named Nica is captured by strange land creatures and battles their cruelty as she tries to escape to the safety of the Deep.

Type #2: Something bad is going to happen, and the characters must stop it from happening.

These narratives often feature a countdown to the impending catastrophe. For instance, characters in a suspense story may need to stop the villain from unleashing a worldwide disaster. In many mystery novels, the detective must determine the culprit before more people lose their lives. Other stories may feature a family evacuating from an earthquake or a general thwarting the invasion of an opposing army. In my own novel, The Time Travel Team: The Great Historic Mystery, Tyme and her friends must stop a malfunctioning generator from destroying the world with electricity.

Type #3: Something bad happens, and the characters must deal with it.

This type of story goal appears in many contemporary novels, historical dramas, and coming-of-age narratives. For example, a teenage girl might need to cope with the death of her mother, or a young man may struggle with the turmoil of wartime society. In Real, Not Perfect by Stephanie Coleman, Tessa deals with changing friendships, her parents’ divorce, and the resulting emotional upheaval.

This type of story goal is different from Type #1 (something bad has happened, and the characters must fix it). Although characters might be able to survive the wilderness or escape their captors, they usually can’t undo a life situation, such as the death of a loved one, a broken friendship, or a tumultuous society. Instead, stories of Type #3 often focus on characters learning to come to terms with and triumph over life’s difficulties.

Type #4: The character sees something good in the distance and pursues it.

In these stories, rather than the characters trying to prevent, fix, or deal with a disaster, they are pursuing their deepest desires. A contemporary character might want to win a baking contest, a fantasy character may want to advance in the king’s court, and a historical character might want to be the first person to climb Mount Everest. In Tessa Afshar’s Jewel of the Nile, Chariline travels through ancient Rome to meet her long-lost biological father, in hopes of securing the unconditional love she craves.

Using the 4 Types of Story Goals

Whether you’re brainstorming, drafting, or revising, you can use these four types of story goals to strengthen your manuscript in several ways.

1. Ask yourself some questions.

To fine-tune the story goal in your current project, consider the following questions:

As clearly and concisely as possible, what is the story goal?
Which type of story goal most clearly fits the story you want to tell? Are your characters trying to fix a preexisting problem (Type #1)? Do you want to include a suspenseful countdown to an upcoming disaster (Type #2)? Are you seeking to tell a coming-of-age story about coping with life’s problems (Type #3)? Are your characters pursuing a tangible prize (Type #4)?
Does this story goal fit with your characters’ backstories, beliefs, and fears?
Why is this goal so important to the characters? What will they lose if they fail to achieve this goal?
How can the story goal be achieved in a logical but unexpected way?

These questions serve as a “home inspection” to help you verify that your First Floor will remain strong and durable.

2. Evaluate each scene on the basis of the story goal.

To confirm that every scene matters to your plot, make sure each scene moves the characters closer to or further from their story goal. Although some scenes will highlight subplots, these scenes should ultimately contribute to the larger story goal. For instance, if a suspense novel includes a romantic subplot, it should contribute to the main plot in some way, such as by raising the emotional stakes for the characters.

Notably, story goals may change in the middle of a story. In A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (spoilers), Meg and her brother pursue the goal of rescuing their father from another galaxy. Before they find him, Meg’s brother gets captured by the villain, so she takes on the additional goal of rescuing him and getting everyone back home safely.

In the future, I’ll write a more detailed post about scene structure. For now, look at each of your scenes and ask yourself, “What is the story goal right now? Does this scene advance or hinder that goal?” If the scene doesn’t noticeably affect the story goal, consider revising or removing the scene.

3. Consider using multiple types of story goals in tandem.

You can strengthen your story goal by adding elements of a different type of story goal. A story about Elise trying to win a baking contest (Type #4) might be interesting, but what if she’s trying to win the prize money to stop her family’s bakery from closing (Type #2)? Or what if Elise hopes that her victory will get the attention of her self-absorbed mother (Type #1)? The story may also include a subplot in which Elise’s estranged sister is competing against her, which brings their ongoing feud to the surface (Type #3).

In The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody, Ali wants to get the money to stop the bank from foreclosing on her house (Type #2), so she drives her father’s antique car to the buyer (Type #4). Similarly, in Stephanie Morrill’s Within These Lines, Evalina and Taichi want to pursue a romantic relationship (Type #4), but they face the tension of World War II-era America (Type #3).

Once you have a basic story goal, consider enhancing it by adding a situational problem to solve (Type #1), a race against time (Type #2), an interpersonal or societal conflict (Type #3), a concrete prize (Type #4), or another complication. Urgent and complex story goals create compelling novels.

Try These Practical Exercises

List your main character’s story goal, internal goal, and personal goal. What backstory events, beliefs, or fears produced these goals?
Out of the four types of story goals, which one are you using in your current project? Brainstorm some ways to strengthen this goal by adding elements of a different type of goal (such as a race against time or an additional complication).
Choose a scene that feels sluggish. Do the characters move closer to or further from the story goal? If you can’t identify this movement, revise the scene so that it clearly shows progress toward or away from the story goal.

Going for the Goal

The first floor of a house provides support and stability to its inhabitants. Likewise, constructing strong internal and external goals can fortify your plot and ensure that your readers keep turning pages late into the night.

Backstory events, beliefs, and fears give rise to internal goals, such as love, belonging, security, and respect. In turn, these internal goals shape external goals, including story goals that drive the plot and personal goals outside the plot. Understanding the four types of story goals can help you make the best choice for your novel and confirm that each scene matters to the plot.

With these tools in mind, you can create Character Houses that can weather any fictional storm.

Next week, we’ll take a short break from our twelve-part Character House series to discuss ten ways to write descriptions that leap off the page. Discover how to use sensory details to engage the imagination, depict lifelike personalities, and create vivid emotions.

What’s the story goal of your current project? What are your protagonist’s internal and personal goals? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!