Motivation = Character x Situation
May. 1st, 2005 06:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranTriggered by something that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ritaxis wrote about a discussion in rasfc....
Motivation is a product of Character and Situation.
This sounds reasonable and simple enough, but I think I've only recently grasped some of its implications.
First of all, it means that if you have any two of the three defined, you can reasonably expect to work out the third. For example, if you have a character and you want a motivation, you can come up with a situation that will give it.
But, more subtly, it also means that if you only have one of the three defined, you cannot derive another of the three from it without also defining the third. So, if all you have is a situation ("GIANT ROBOTS ATTACK") and you want to derive a motivation ("WHAT DO YOU DO?"), then in doing so you are also defining character ("WELL, WHAT AM I LIKE?"). Which explains those moments I get when I'm writing and bits of character just seem to flash out of nowhere. NOW, I understand what Masamee is really like - AND SHE'S BEEN LIKE THAT ALL ALONG! Or, alternatively, when motivations suddenly become clear and I can see what characters have really been thinking - and how they've been leaving subtle little clues in there ever since the start.
It also means that if you supply the readers with just one of the three, you cannot expect them to derive the other two exactly the same way you did. A situation alone is not enough to provide character and motivation. Deriving any of the three when you know the other two is an exercise in logic. Deriving any of the three when you only know one of the others is an exercise in speculation.
Thinking a bit more about this, it also has implications on the order in which people write things. If you start off with Character nailed down, then you'll approach things differently than if you start off with Situation or Motivation. Likewise, people may differ in how soon they nail things down. Some people may keep Motivation, Situation and Character all fluid for as long as possible, others might prefer to start off by getting one and two worked out and then looking for what fits. (Fanfic comes to mind here, where you may start with well-known characters and invent a situation for them, which then gives you a motivation - What would Frodo do in this situation? etc...)
ritaxis wrote about a discussion in rasfc....Motivation is a product of Character and Situation.
This sounds reasonable and simple enough, but I think I've only recently grasped some of its implications.
First of all, it means that if you have any two of the three defined, you can reasonably expect to work out the third. For example, if you have a character and you want a motivation, you can come up with a situation that will give it.
But, more subtly, it also means that if you only have one of the three defined, you cannot derive another of the three from it without also defining the third. So, if all you have is a situation ("GIANT ROBOTS ATTACK") and you want to derive a motivation ("WHAT DO YOU DO?"), then in doing so you are also defining character ("WELL, WHAT AM I LIKE?"). Which explains those moments I get when I'm writing and bits of character just seem to flash out of nowhere. NOW, I understand what Masamee is really like - AND SHE'S BEEN LIKE THAT ALL ALONG! Or, alternatively, when motivations suddenly become clear and I can see what characters have really been thinking - and how they've been leaving subtle little clues in there ever since the start.
It also means that if you supply the readers with just one of the three, you cannot expect them to derive the other two exactly the same way you did. A situation alone is not enough to provide character and motivation. Deriving any of the three when you know the other two is an exercise in logic. Deriving any of the three when you only know one of the others is an exercise in speculation.
Thinking a bit more about this, it also has implications on the order in which people write things. If you start off with Character nailed down, then you'll approach things differently than if you start off with Situation or Motivation. Likewise, people may differ in how soon they nail things down. Some people may keep Motivation, Situation and Character all fluid for as long as possible, others might prefer to start off by getting one and two worked out and then looking for what fits. (Fanfic comes to mind here, where you may start with well-known characters and invent a situation for them, which then gives you a motivation - What would Frodo do in this situation? etc...)
