Source for "rule" about character wanting something -- even a glass of water?

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  • #16
    Re: Source for "rule" about character wanting something -- even a glass of water?

    Now, pimping my own post (above), if you did Google that phrase in the OP's first post, you'd have also found a link to another Vonnegut quote on this subject:
    “Make your characters want something right away even if it's only
    a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of
    modern life still have to drink water from time to time.”

    ... which provides some context.

    As for using Google to find a quote, it's often best to start out with a short group of word in the search box. If that doesn't get you want you want (e.g., maybe too many results), then add a few more words to your search. And/or try changing-up those words. You don't have to enter an actual phrase; simply use a series of keywords.

    So here, I might have started with only a glass of water - which would not have worked. So then, maybe wants only a glass of water - which would have worked/does work fine.

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    • #17
      Re: Source for "rule" about character wanting something -- even a glass of water?

      Of course, what characters want/desire can drive a scene and give it energy-- and yet I think John August makes a good point in #1 of his scene-writing checklist:

      http://johnaugust.com/wp-content/upl...te-a-scene.pdf

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      • #18
        Re: Source for "rule" about character wanting something -- even a glass of water?

        I don't know that this is the source, but I do take it as corroboration:

        Uta Hagen's Nine Questions:


        7. WHAT DO I WANT?
        (Character's need. The immediate and main objective)
        8. WHAT IS IN MY WAY?
        (The obstacles which prevent character from getting his/her need)
        9. WHAT DO I DO TO GET WHAT I WANT?
        (The action: physical and verbal, also-action verbs)
        If you really like it you can have the rights
        It could make a million for you overnight

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        • #19
          Re: Source for "rule" about character wanting something -- even a glass of water?

          Originally posted by hscope View Post
          No wonder I haven't sold. One of my characters said, "I don't want anything."
          Characters should want something because people all want something. If they say otherwise, they're either not acknowledging their wants, or they don't see the perspective that their lack of desire for anything is in itself a desire.

          Perhaps they want things to stay the same as they are now, or they want to be left alone, or peace and quiet, or they want to be dead. I think saying "I don't want anything," is just a more passive way of saying "I want nothing." It would be pretty easy to have a story that starts out about someone just content with their life, and then something happens to upset their equilibrium, and they spend the rest of the time with the goal of just getting things back to "normal".

          My 0.02. Am I crazy?
          Last edited by Kindari; 07-13-2014, 07:35 AM. Reason: formatting

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          • #20
            Re: Source for "rule" about character wanting something -- even a glass of water?

            This quote from the Vonnegut list jumped out at me:

            Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

            Which in turn reminds me of this quote from the great sage Bill Cosby:

            I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

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            • #21
              Re: Source for "rule" about character wanting something -- even a glass of water?

              Originally posted by MrZero View Post
              This quote from the Vonnegut list jumped out at me:

              Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
              So you're saying, Vonnegut thought pneumonia was an STD?

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