Advice from a master
It keeps me up at night…trying to figure out what a character wants. They are born and living only in my brain until I relinquish them to the world at large. I think this snippet of advice from Mr. Vonnegut is true. And as simple as it sounds, actual human beings are pretty complex and often times have no idea what they really want. Our friends may be better at knowing what we want than we do ourselves. I say I want a different job, but what do I *really* want? More money? More security? To be my own boss? To not have anyone to tell me what to do? Freedom?
Consider what your character(s) want/s. If it isn’t clear to you, workshop that character until they have it: desire. For something…anything. If they do already “want” something and it is something simple (like a glass of water), why is this simple thing so important? Does your character get what they want or not? Do they even understand this about themselves, or are they, like most of us, oblivious to this driving force? If they DO get it, is it everything they hoped it would be?
After pondering these questions…write for 15 minutes and see where you, and your character, end up. Good luck!
Write Under Your Nose 