Exploit your Characters' Unfulfilled Desires to Enhance Your Narrative
In the realm of storytelling, understanding a character's motivations is crucial to creating compelling narratives. One powerful tool that writers use is the Hierarchy of Human Needs, a psychological theory created by Abraham Maslow.
The Hierarchy of Human Needs organises human needs into a pyramid, with the most basic physiological needs at the bottom (such as food, water, and shelter) and self-actualisation at the top (personal growth, fulfillment). This hierarchy helps writers understand a character's motivation by identifying which needs are unmet and driving their behaviour.
A character lacking fulfillment of a critical need, such as safety, belonging, esteem, or self-actualization, creates a psychological pressure that compels them to act in order to fill the void. For instance, a character missing safety might take risky actions to find security; one lacking esteem might strive for respect or recognition; and one yearning for love may pursue connections desperately—even at personal cost.
Tonya, for example, needs to have a healthy relationship with her daughter. This unmet need forces her to let go and support her daughter's independence. Similarly, Mary's need to share her life with someone pushes her to open herself to love again, while a fear of trusting the wrong person after a betrayal keeps her from seeking love.
On the other hand, Rodney's need to achieve a lifelong goal of summitting Everest convinces him to take up his passion once more, even knowing the risks. However, a fear of death after a near-fatal climbing accident keeps him from living life to the fullest.
Unmet needs can become increasingly disruptive over time, eventually reaching a breaking point. This "final straw" varies depending on the individual and their reasons for being in the situation. For some, it could be the fallout of emotionally wounding events like a car accident, failing to save someone's life, infertility, or being sent away as a child, which can derail a character's life for years or decades.
In some cases, characters may sacrifice one need to satisfy others, leading to a hierarchy of needs. For example, a character's goal to become a doctor may be set aside if they must leave school to care for a loved one with a terminal disease. If a character must choose between financial stability and universal admiration, they will often choose the former.
Change is often painful and requires great courage to step into the unknown. Unhappy marriages may end in divorce when the pain becomes unbearable, while an employee may quit a job when workplace esteem levels bottom out or mistreatment escalates.
In conclusion, the Hierarchy of Human Needs in storytelling is a valuable tool for writers to pinpoint what motivates characters based on their most pressing unmet needs, shaping their decisions and emotional arcs throughout the narrative. By understanding and addressing these needs, writers can deepen character complexity and evoke reader empathy by showing relatable gaps and struggles in their characters’ lived experience.
- A writing coach might help writers delve deeper into understanding their characters' motivations, drawing upon the Hierarchy of Human Needs as a framework.
- In her story, the protagonist's personal growth (self-actualization) is hindered due to a lack of fulfilling relationships, making it difficult for her to find peace and happiness.
- A writer could utilize fashion-and-beauty as an external symbol of a character's need for esteem, showcasing how the character's perception of themselves changes over the course of the story.
- Confronting unmet needs in education-and-self-development, such as a lack of knowledge or skills, could serve as an obstacle for a character, forcing them to seek help and grow.
- As a means of personal-growth, a character might strive to better understand themselves and their motivations, using this self-discovery to build healthier relationships and lead a more meaningful lifestyle.
