by Michelle Sass Aleckson, @Jesses_girl4evr

I admire all you goal-oriented people out there. Some of my friends are great at setting goals and achieving them. I love their determination to push through and reach their goals. But, alas, I am NOT a goal-focused person. In fact, I have something against the word “goal.” I don’t know why. I don’t know what it stems from, but there it is.

And so, when trying to learn how to write a novel, I got all hung up on the GOAL-CONFLICT-MOTIVATION concept. All I wanted to focus on was how my characters were feeling or thinking. Who cares if they have goals?

But, have you ever read a book with a lot of thinking and feeling?

It makes for a boring story!

I happened to be at Susan May Warren’s Deep Woods Retreat, stewing in frustration at that word Susie kept using: goals. What’s your character’s goal in this scene? He needs a goal. She needs a goal. Every scene needs a goal.

Blah. I just didn’t get it! Why do they need goals? I can’t set goals for myself. How am I supposed to come up with a goal for every single scene for an imaginary person?

Then, she switched up the wording just a tad. “Michelle, what does your character want?”

Oh.

Well, that’s easy. He wants to go to the beach and surf. Why didn’t you say that earlier? 😉

Changing from the word “goal” to “want” made all the difference to me. It finally clicked. But, if that doesn’t help you, maybe some of these questions will:

• What does your character need right now?
• What does she desire? Dream about?
• What does he wish for?
• What problem does she need solved?
• What question does he want answered?
• What does she need to prevent from happening?
• What does he want to avoid?

All of these are different kinds of goals. Who knew? And once you’ve identified this goal, you’re on your way to constructing a good scene. And with good scenes you can build a great story!

So, why did we have to figure out a goal for our hero in each scene? Glad you asked. Now that we know what he wants (and a good reason for wanting it) we get to throw in some conflict. And that’s where the magic happens. That makes the story interesting. Once we know what our hero’s goal is, we’re going to set some roadblocks in the way. This will make our readers worry that our hero might not get what he wants, and sigh in relief at the very last minute when he finds a way around the obstacles and reaches his goal.  OR, we can make it look like our heroine is on her way to achieving her heart’s desire, everything is sliding into place for her and then, BAM, nope. Something happens that stops her in her tracks, and our readers will feel her disappointment and wonder what she’ll do next.

And it all started with a goal.

So, be sure each POV character has one main dream (or Noble Quest, as Susie likes to call it) for the story. And then build each scene with one smaller goal or want in mind. Make it clear for the reader in your first opening paragraphs for the scene and see what kind of conflict you can throw at your hero or heroine to make the story interesting. Even your reaction scenes have a choice or dilemma your character needs to face.

If you find a scene falling flat, go back and identify what your character wants and then find ways to make it difficult for him to get it!

Michelle Sass Aleckson grew up on both the east and west coasts and has traveled the world, but now enjoys living the country life in central Minnesota with her husband and four children. She loves rocking out to 80’s tunes on a Saturday night and playing board games with family and friends. She’s a graduate of Novel Academy’s Storycrafter course, and she won the 2018 Genesis Award for Romantic Suspense and the 2018 Cascade Award for Contemporary Fiction. Connect with her at michellealeckson.com!