What is it worth? How much are you willing to pay for your freedom? To achieve a goal or dream? To save a loved one? To win love?

Every story we write had an arch, a journey, driven by the protagonist. But what drives the protagonist?

What is he or she after? Why? Is the pay off or reward worth the price he has to pay? In other words, what’s it going to cost?

Let’s look at Jesus for a second. What in heaven’s name would motivate Him to leave the splendor of heaven, take on the form of created man FOREVER, died a brutal, cruel death for our offenses, then sit next to the Father praying for us?

The cost is extreme. Unfathomable. In light of this, what is His reward. What motivated His heart to love like He loved?

Love? Knowing what awaits us in Eternity with the Father. Knowing how horrendous eternal separation will be? Just looking at His sacrifice alone should grip our hearts without letting go.

Take a look at your protagonist. Does the reward justify the cost? Cost and reward has to create true desire.

In Braveheart, William Wallace considers the cost of war and the lives of Scotland’s men worth the reward of freedom. But when he looks deeper in his heart, he’s fighting for justice and to avenge the death of his wife.

A careful line to walk between revenge and avenge. 

We talk a lot about “Why?” here on My Book Therapy. Why does the character want to do this or that. 

In my current work-in-progress, the heroine Jade is estranged from her mother. So much so, she doesn’t even care if her mother attends her wedding. Why? Well, Beryl wasn’t such a great Mama, leaving Jade and her siblings with Granny while she sought her own desires.

But was the cost of not inviting her mother to the most important event in a girl’s life worth any kind of reward? Hmm. It’s okay, but not great. I had to go deeper. Why is Jade so estranged from her mother? Why thirteen years of strain, and antagonism.

I had to go deep into Jade’s heart, pull up the pivotal issue and bring it to the page.

When a character looks inward and asks, “what do I truly desire?” then we see true change.