How to Figure Out What the Hell Your Character Wants: Goals vs. Desires
Why does “What does my character want?” feel like such a loaded question sometimes?
Well, because it is.
If you’ve ever struggled to untangle what your character wants versus what they need—or to sort out all the talk about “external goals” and “internal objects of desire,” well then you’re not alone.
And it’s not your fault.
There’s a ton of writerly lingo out there to describe the concept of characters’ needs and wants. And this can lead to confusion when you’re trying to figure out what’s motivating your characters to take action or what action they should take given the situation.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to get all up in my head trying to figure out the answer.
Here’s what has helped me:
I’ve ditched the word want entirely.
I know. I know. Sounds like blasphemy, right?
But not really. I’ve just come to believe that it’s simpler to use more practical or concrete terminology like goals and desires.
Goals drive the plot and desire drives the character’s transformation.
Goals: The Practical, External Thing
A character’s goal is practical and concrete. They know they want it, they know what steps might get them there, and the reader can track their progress.
A goal might be as small as getting up early to squeeze in a workout or as massive as slaying a dragon.
Either way, it’s external, conscious, and measurable—and it helps create the engine of your plot (your scenes).
In my own novel, for example, my character’s goal is to discover what happened to her missing sister. The concrete steps to achieve the goal might be interviewing people who saw her last, revisiting her sister’s last known location, and pushing the authorities for answers.
As you can see this results in moments (scenes) I can show the reader. And as a reader, you can see whether she’s getting closer or farther from that goal.
Other familiar examples of character goals:
Shrek must rescue Princess Fiona to get his swamp back.
Katniss Everdeen must survive The Hunger Games to protect her family.
Violet Sorrengail in Fourth Wing must survive her first year at Basgiath War College after being forced into the dragon riders quadrant.
Character goals and the steps they take (or trials they endure) to achieve them will result in concrete events/or moments of action within the story. These events are the building blocks for your scenes. Pretty cool, yeah?
Desire: The Emotional, Internal Longing or Need
Desire lives underneath all that. It’s not practical, it’s emotional. It’s often unconscious, messy, and a little scary. There is no certainty to it, no clear path of execution for achievement, and often the character can’t control whether they get it.
Think of desire more like a wish, an ache, a longing. Maybe something your character hopes will make them whole, even if they don’t believe they can have it.
Sometimes they’re aware of it and deny it; other times they are completely oblivious.
Desire doesn’t usually spur direct action the way a goal does, but the character’s belief about whether they deserve or even know what they desire, quietly shapes why they choose the goals and actions they do.
In my story, my character deeply desires to be forgiven; to finally feel stable and safe—but she’s a minor and can’t control other people, which makes it feel impossible. She has to learn to forgive herself before she can accept it from anyone else.
Other examples of desire:
Shrek unconsciously desires acceptance and love, despite his initial actions that keep people at arms length.
Katniss desires fairness and peace, despite her actions to defend herself and who she cares about with violence.
Violet desires to trust her gut and choose autonomy instead of doing what her mother wants, despite spending the first half of the story doing what is expected of her while desperately trying not to die.
Why This Matters
It all comes back to what story is really about: Transformation.
“A story is how what happens (PLOT) affects someone (PROTAGONIST) who is trying to achieve what turns out to be a difficult goal (WANT), and how that character changes as a result (CHARACTER GROWTH).”
You can tell I’m a fan of this quote :)
When you understand your character’s goals, you can build a compelling plot full of action and consequences; where the reader can root for your protagonist’s progress or cry because they’re falling apart.
When you understand your character’s desire, you can craft an emotional arc that shows how the action they take in the plot changes them, for better or worse.
Understanding your character’s goals and desires will let you braid plot and character arc together.
And when those two forces pull against each other—when what they think they want (GOAL) won’t actually give them what they truly need (DESIRE)—you get tension, depth, and transformation.
The Takeaway
At the heart of every unforgettable story is a character chasing something they want—but what keeps readers turning pages is why they want it and how striving for it will challenge and change them on the inside.
Goals give your character’s journey shape. Desire gives it soul.
When you know both, you stop writing extraneous scenes and cardboard cutouts and start writing emotionally complex individuals who are challenged in multiple ways that matter.
So the next time you’re stuck in the weeds of your plot, zoom out and ask:
What is my character’s external goal in this scene or section?
What do they believe achieving it will give them?
What concrete action will they take to pursue it?
What do they internally desire—and are they even aware of it?
Does pursuing the goal take them closer to or farther from that desire, and how do they feel about that?
After the dust settles, how did pursuing the goal (win or lose) affect them internally? Did they glimpse the possibility of getting what they desire or does it feel like even more of a pipe dream?
That tension—the space between the shiny external goal and the aching internal desire—is where the magic lives. That’s where transformation happens. And that’s what your story is really about.
