Dramatica Term

the underlying given or inequity which drives a character

Motivation is the force that drives a character in a particular direction. In order for the problem in a story to be fully explored, all motivations pertaining to that topic must be expressed. This is accomplished by assigning characteristic elements that represent these motivations to the various Overall (Objective) story characters. In this way, different characters represent different motivations and the story problem is fully explored. In creating Overall Story Characters for a given story, 16 of the 64 elements will be selected as the Motivation elements of that character set.