Another common screenwriting term that's used by many professional storytellers is the main character's want. The want is also called the character's goal, the object of their desire, their outer motivation, and I'm sure a few other things, but I'm going to call it the want because I like how it compares to the character's need (another term I'll define shortly).
The want is the thing the protagonist works to attain over the course of the story. Common wants include finding the Heart of the Ocean necklace in Titanic, the destruction of the One Ring in Lord of the Rings, or winning Daisy's love in The Great Gatsby.
Wants don't have to be objects (like with the example of Daisy), but they need to be visible. It helps if they're physical, concrete and external. This way, the audience will know if the character has succeeded in obtaining it by the end of the story. Because of this, the want shapes the story's plot. The story is typically over once the character has achieved their want (or failed to).
Another key aspect of the character's want is that is must be nearly unobtainable at the story's beginning. If it were, there'd be no story. If as soon as the character realized they wanted something, they could get it, the story'd be over. This unobtainability, or inachievableness, helps create the conflict of the story, which keeps the plot moving forward and makes everything interesting.
While the audience must believe it is incredibly difficult for the main character to get their want at the beginning, it also cannot seem impossible. It's impossible, the story becomes unbelievable, and the audience loses their suspension of disbelief. The writer must find that sweet spot that is seemingly impossible at the beginning but totally achievable a the end.
Remember, that the other side of the want is the need—the internal lesson that main character must learn to achieve their want.
Key characteristics of the want include:
is visible (external, tangible, concrete)
winning, stopping, escaping, delivering, or retrieving it signals the story's end
is nearly unobtainable, inachievable, or otherwise very hard to do at the story's start
must not be impossible to obtain, achieve, or otherwise secure by the story's end
is a result of the lie the character believes
the main character's pursuit of their want defines the story's plot
is foundational to the story's premise (meaning, it should be clear in the logline) and all other story elements relate to it
For more information on character's wants, check out these resources:
K. M. Weiland's explanation of The Thing Your Character Wants
John August's blog post called Rethinking Motivation
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