Motivation

When I first started writing, character motivation was not something I thought very much about. In general, motivation was something that kickstarted the book for me. In Spanish Disco, my very first novel, editor Cassie Hayes heads to a small island off the coast of Florida to coax a sequel out of a reclusive novelist because her boss and best friend has laid out a huge advance for the book--and it will bankrupt their small publishing house if the book isn't turned in on time. Once she's working with the novelist, things unfold, and frankly her motivation doesn't evolve beyond the stakes on page 12 or so.

But as I wrote other books, it seemed like motivation kept pushing to the forefront a bit--though I have to say on my part, it was on a subconcious basis. However, LurkerMonkey, a while back, read through my editor's rewrite letter for a book and we discussed motivation. Namely, Lurker posited that most people will quit on something when the personal price for doing good becomes too much.

In general, I think he's totally right. On a very small scale, I worked as a mentor to unwed teen mothers in a fairly dangerous area. I remember being pregnant myself, having two of my kids in my car, and driving to one of the more notorious gang- and prostitute-infested public housing projects in Florida. As I climbed out of my car, I felt in danger. A pimp was idling a red Lincoln, shiny and brand-new; working girls were walking the sidewalk; drugs were being dealt in plain sight; most of the apartments had no window panes, and I was pretty positive if I called 911, it would be quite a while before the cops showed up. I had to tell my kids not to stand near open windows once we got in the apartment we were scheduled to visit.

The dinner we had with the teen I worked with was lovely. My kids had a great time. We ate spaghetti and had a salad and cake. My teen's apartment was neat as a pin. I left her a couple of hundred dollars on her kitchen counter in a gesture of helplessness. I wanted her out of that neighborhood so desperately, but that money wasn't going to buy her way out. I would have needed a lot more. And the mentoring program wasn't about giving money or material items . . . it was about offering friendship, guidance, and support. When we exited the apartment, she walked us to our van. I was relieved the tires were still on it and no on was sitting on the hood, and when I left, I can honestly say I gunned it once I made it to the exit from the projects.

I didn't quit mnetoring. In fact, I reminded myself I got to LEAVE at the end of that night. She did not. I was a mentor for a good three years.

But . . . what if at some point, I had been a victim of a crime? Would I have decided the price was too high? I honestly don't know. I would like to wax poetic about doing good, but in fact, I was a woman with a blind faith, perhaps, that doing something to better the world was a talisman for warding off evil. When I know DAMN well it isn't. My motivation? Love. I mean, when I first signed on, it was about helping babies. But after a time, I loved the kids I worked with. LOVED them like my own kids. So love was my motivation. But where would I have drawn the line in the sand? For my own flesh and blood . . . there probably is no line I wouldn't cross. But the reality is even as much as I loved these other kids, I just don't know.

On a bigger scale . . . Lurker's theory works because ultimately horrific events like the Holocaust or Stalin's regime happen because not enough people will put their lives on the line to defy it. Or their families' lives. Oh, there are tons of other reasons, too. But that's one of them.

But in fiction?

In fiction, I think the very definition of the hero is the one whose motivation BECOMES so pure (may not start out that way) that he or she doggedly continues, defying all odds, in the face of all obstacles incredibly huge. We all want to read about people like that. And a good writer can deftly create such a character so that it's believable. And in creating that character, it all boils down to the very thing I didn't used to think very much about: motivation.

Thoughts? Fictional versus real life motivations . . . What motivates your main character?