3 Secrets to Writing A Great WANT
When it comes to your main character’s Want, there can be a lot of confusion — depending on who you talk to, you’ll get a radically different definition of this key storytelling term. Luckily, we’re here to not only answer “What is a Want?” but also share 3 tips to ensure your protag’s Want will help drive your whole story.
What Is A Want?
Simply put, a Want is “an intangible desire, like fame, fortune, or glory.” Unlike the Goal, this is not a clear, physical thing. Wants are rooted in the physical world, but they don’t have a clear finish line. Also, they are what drive the protag to achieve their Goal, or a byproduct of achieving the Goal.
For example, a character might have a Want of GLORY. But how can they achieve it? This Want will then inspire and fuel their Goal, which will be a strategy they use to fulfil their Want. In this example, the character might set their Goal as winning a prestigious award, which will get them GLORY, their Want.
So, here are 3 easy tricks to nailing your Want.
Secret #1: Intangible
Your Want should be intangible. That being said, it should be an idea that is rooted in the physical world, and that we talk about as if it’s a real thing. Some examples include:
- Love
- Fame
- Fortune
- Success
- Glory
- Justice
Fortune is a great example, because it’s closely related to money. However, it isn’t defined in a specific way. Fortune can be different things to different people, and importantly, you can always find more fortune. The same can be said for the other options in our list.
This intangibility also means your Want shouldn’t be a specific action like ‘defeating the villain’ or ‘winning the competition’, because tangible actions like those are actually the Goal.
Secret #2: Achievable in Many Ways
As with all of our above examples, there should be more than one way to achieve these desires. If a protag is driven by GLORY, they might find it through winning a sports competition, beating a world record, defeating a supepowered alien… the list goes on.
This is important, because it helps explain why the protag hasn’t achieved their Want. Since the path isn’t clear cut, it makes sense why they haven’t gone after it, or haven’t earned it. Eventually, they’ll be introduced to an Opportunity, which will have them chase a Goal that will fulfil their Want.
Secret #3: The Key to Happiness
Finally, the Want should be the thing your protag believes will make them happy. It should finish the statement: “My life would be so much better if I only had ___.” And to make this work, there should be a good reason why your protag believes this.
If your protag’s Want is GLORY, maybe it’s because they know someone who has already achieved GLORY and has an incredible life. This could be a successful guardian, a distant relative, or even just a celebrity from their hometown. This is one of infinite examples, but the key here is showing why your protag thinks this thing will bring them happiness, which will hlp us understand why they want it.
More On the Want
If you’re looking for more information on the Want, you can check out this video by Plotwell that dives deeper into writing a great Want:
