Lies, needs, and wants - the centre of your story

Do you want your characters to leap off the page? To get stuck in your readers’ minds? To have them hated and loved in equal measure?

I’d hazard a guess that the answer is yes, to all three. Building rounded characters that capture readers and elicit strong emotional responses is something most authors aim for. It’s a subject that fills entire writing craft books, and one that authors work hard to perfect.

At its base, though, I think creating rounded and engaging characters boils down to nailing three things: their lie(s), need(s) and want(s).

What, not their personality type?

It’s great to get a grasp on the type of personality your characters have – are they outgoing or shy; empathetic or self-centred; charismatic or awkward? Likewise, distinctive characteristics or appearances play their part in forming unique and rounded characters.

But whereas these things form the exterior of your character – things people notice about them – lies, needs and wants form your character’s interior. These three things are the basis of your character, with their personality, quirks and appearance built on this solid foundation.

Seeing your characters lies, needs and wants means that your reader will better understand your characters heart and mind – something that we discussed as being a secret weapon in my last blog post. This a crucial part of not just creating interesting characters, but engaging ones.

These three things, don’t just play into your character either – they can help guide you through your plot.

What are they?

Lies, needs and wants are referred to throughout writing craft literature, sometimes using different terminology like goals, motivations and fatal flaws.

Want – this is what your character is aiming for at the start of the novel. It’s the thing they desire the most, and the thing they’ll do anything to get. It forms the basis of what motivates them, and makes them a proactive character.

Need – is the thing that will make your character happy, but they don’t realise yet. Throughout the course of your novel, they’ll learn that getting this thing, instead of the thing they want, is better for them.

Lie – is something your character believes about themselves or the world that stops them achieving what they need. It is often the driving force behind what they want.

Let’s walk through an example:

George believes that love always ends in heartbreak and unhappiness [LIE]. His past experiences have only served to create and back up this belief, so that the only thing he wants is to earn as much money as he can to spend on his lavish lifestyle. He thinks a high-powered job, lots of cash and living the high life will make him happy [WANT]. However, what he doesn’t know – or is wilfully ignorant of – is that this lifestyle will only make him superficially happy. No one will get close enough to truly know him, and he will be alone. What will actually make him happy, is sharing his life with someone who knows, understands and loves him deeply. It’ll give his work, and money, more meaning [NEED].

Forming your character

You can use lies, needs and wants to form your character’s personality. This is a brilliant way to create characters that feel realistic, because their traits aren’t arbitrary – they have a deep emotional core.

Lies and wants can play a big part in your character’s personality at the start of the story – traits that they’ve developed to protect themselves or to fit. Traits related to their need might be buried deep down, but come out slowly as the story progresses.

Going back to George, he might come across as a jovial type, but no one can really ever close to him, even those he counts as friends. This is because he doesn’t trust love, and wants to prove to the world that he’s happy whilst pursing his want. However, he’s actually a far quieter person, and deeply thoughtful – this trait will only come to the surface as his love interest opens him up.

Get plotting!

As you may have already worked out, lies, needs and wants can feed directly into your plot.

In a typical novel structure, the first half of the novel will show your character pursuing their want, despite increasing evidence that this isn’t really what they need, whilst the second half the novel shows them slowly recognising their true need. The emotional climax of a novel in the final third tend to be the moment where your character realises that their lie is just that, and they finally embrace their need.

For George, this would be him meeting someone who gets under his skin, despite his best efforts. He’ll keep pursing money, spending it in his lavish ways in an attempt to prove that’s all he needs. The midpoint will be an event that shows him that this really isn’t working out for him. In the second half the novel he might tentatively accept his need, but it’s not until the final third that he can truly embrace this, after he realises that he was wrong that love always ends in heartbreak and sadness.

You’ll need a plot that supports your character’s arc – a series of events that pushes and pulls them from point A to point B. You want to force them into making decisions, shed light on the inner workings of their mind and heart, and make them take a good hard look in the mirror.

In short

Lies, need and wants can form the foundations of your entire novel, not just your character. They provide an easy to manage, yet solid, emotional platform for your character’s arc, their personality and your story’s basic plot.