From the course: Writing: The Craft of Story
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Example: All protagonists have a goal
From the course: Writing: The Craft of Story
Example: All protagonists have a goal
- We know that the protagonist must have a very clear goal at the start of the story, something he or she desperately wants but can't yet reach. Here's an example of the kind of external goal a writer might create during the development stage of a story. - [Writer] Dan ditched a promising career as an environmental lawyer to take a lucrative job at an investment company that specializes in oil futures. He made this move even though he knows the guys at the top of the firm are shady, because he just turned and his goal is to make - Do we know what Dan's goal is? You bet. He wants to make $10 million. That is pretty darn clear. What's missing is the why. We have no idea why he wants the $10 million other than a rhetorical, "Hey, who wouldn't?" But we don't turn to stories to tell us what we already know. We turn to stories to tell us what we don't know and are dying to figure out. And what we don't know here is why Dan wants $10 million.…
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