Want versus need is one of those things that sounds super straightforward until
the second you try to sit down and actually pinpoint what each element is
because then you start to question what's the actual difference between the
two and that's where things get kind of muddy.
First things first shout out to all of these wonderful authors of these books
that I'll be referencing throughout the video. If you want to help support me
with a couple cents commission while also getting some cool books about
writing you can find them in my Amazon shop I'll throw the link in the description
down below. I also put the names in the description in case, you know, you want to
buy the books without supporting me. You do you, I mean preferably by doing the
first one. Second things second stories are in art form so of course the only
rule is that there are no rules. This is all info that I pulled from research but
a story can absolutely break all of these guidelines and still work really
well because again it's art. Third things third? What is want? When it comes
down to writing strong characters, motivation is essential. Stories put
characters through hell and if we as the audience can't believe that the
character has a strong reason to stick around through all of that we're not
gonna be able to stick around either that's where I want comes in. Want is
easiest to pinpoint because it's external not just in the way it's
presented but also in conflict. The obstacles characters face when fighting
for their wants are gonna be all outside things like dragons,
Voldemort, deadlines, you know those terrifying things that smack you in the
face when you least expect them. Because you know deadlines... never see those
coming. So when it comes to want we're talking about the A story. The action
sequence. The flashing lights. The want is the premise of the story and should
always be clear as day because it's gonna be the driving force behind
everything the character does and thus the driving force behind the plot itself.
Because of this direct tie to the premise, the want will often be very
specific to the character and not at all relatable. Take for example the Hunger
Games. If we boil Katniss's main want down to its most basic form we're still
left with her wanting to survive a battle to the death. That isn't very
relatable, at least, I hope it isn't relatable to you. But that's okay because
it's a very strong driving force that keeps the plot moving forward and
I bet there wasn't a single member of the audience in the theater sitting there
thinking "I should just walk out, I mean, it's not like I'm ever gonna be in a
fight to the death" because the want is rich with intrigue and questions.
We can't relate but we're interested to see how the character handles the situation
anyway. Now wants don't have to be relatable but they do have to make sense.
There should always be a very strong why and the character's wants shoud tie into
their roots and their history. For Katniss it's clear why she wants to
survive, I mean, survival is generally something we all strive towards. But
there is a deeper driving force as well that Suzanne Collins slips in there
which is Prim. Prim: just try to win if you can!
Katniss: I promise
Peeta: If I'm gonna die I want to still be me.
Katniss: I just can't afford to think like that. Ihave my sister.
This makes for a very
powerful why which is part of what pulls us in so quickly. Another aspect of a
strong want lies in the specifics of it. The want should be easy to envision.
Lisa Cron writes: "Remember that what your protagonist wants doesn't have to be
logistically possible ... it just has to be concrete ... that means creating the rules
of the world in which the action takes place and solidifying not only what is
and isn't possible, but why." And as Jessica Brody puts it in Save the Cat
Writes a Novel: "My hero wants to be happy is not a good enough answer. The most
effective character goals or wants are concrete and tangible. The reader should
be able to know if and when the hero gets what they want." Let's take for
example How to Train Your Dragon 1. On the surface it may seem like Hiccup just
wants his father's approval or he wants to be accepted as a true Viking but how
do you measure that want? It's too general. But then we're given something
more honed in and character specific. Hiccup: "please two minutes I'll kill a dragon my
life will get infinitely better" Hiccup: "I'll cut out your heart and take it to my father.
I am a Viking. I AM A VIKING!" Hiccup wants to kill a dragon. That's
something measurable and you might be thinking 'well yeah Megan but that was
only for like a tiny part of the story' Well that's the thing with wants is
wants tend to change a lot throughout the progress of the plot.
Sometimes a plot is singular and specific and the character goes all in
and think, often falsely so, that getting that want will be the solution
to all of their problems. But generally there's kind of an overarching want that
character then pursues with more smaller more tangible and specific wants that
change the plot advances. This is especially common in serialized things
like TV series where each episode might have a specific small want, each season a
more broad one, and then the entire series may have an overarching
all-encompassing want that they all sort of fall into and contribute to. As an
example the 100: Clarke's main want is obviously to keep skykru alive but
although that's a little measurable, I mean if they all died she would have
failed, it's not super specific. But we get tons of other small wants throughout
the series. For example she wants to get to Mount Weather, she wants to save
Jasper, she wants to contact the Ark. These are things that are much more
measurable but they do contribute to the overarching want that we see throughout
basically the entire series. Okay, so that was pretty straightforward, but then what
the hell is a character need? Don't they just need the same thing that they want?
No, it's not that simple. Aaaand the word "want" has now begun to not sound like an
actual word to me because I've used it too often.
So the inciting incident of a story generally comes with a problem or an
opportunity that ties directly into the main characters wants. But the character
doesn't know when they set out on this adventure towards the want is it at the
end of the path they're actually gonna find the need often the need that they
were either in denial about or didn't even know they had. In the Anatomy of
Story John Trube writes: "the need is what the hero must fulfill within himself in
order to have a better life. It usually involves overcoming
his weaknesses and changing or growing in some way."
So whereas wants are very specific needs are almost always broad categories, overarching
themes that ring true to all of us and fill out the heart of the story and
they will often sound cliche when put into simple terms, but they're at the
core of most of the stories that you know and love.
So unlike want, need is much harder to pinpoint because it's all internal. Need
is the B story and it drives theme. In Creating Character ARCS K.M. Weiland writes:
"The thing your character needs is usually going to be nothing more than a
realization. In some stories this realization may change nothing about his
external life but it will always transform his perspective of himself and
the world around, him leaving him more capable of coping with his remaining
external problems." For example think of Ready Player One. Wade wants to find all
of the keys, the Easter eggs. He wants to win this great prize that is the game. But
through his struggles to achieve this he makes connections with other people, not
just in the game, but in the outside world. And he comes to the realization
that he needs these connections to thrive. So in the end he gets the want
but he then sacrifices part of it to satisfy the need by shutting down the
game for two days a week so that people, himself included, can have more human
connections. Which by the way he should have shut it down for like two days
every nine days or something cuz the poor people who just happen to have days
off that fall on the days of the shutdown they would be just out of luck and they
wouldn't be able to play and I know that's a dumb complaint to have about a story
but you know... So basically think of the need as the moral message. In Save the
Cat Writes a Novel Jessica Brody says: "The life lesson is the inner journey
that your hero didn't even know they were on that will eventually lead them
to the answer they never expected." That's what the need is. And again when
summarized in a single line these will often sound cliched and kind of cheesy.
For example in the Lion King Simba's main want is to put his past behind him,
to turn his back on his problems and just run away from them.
Singing: "It's our problem-free, philosophy"
But his need is to confront his past, face his mistakes and embrace
responsibility by taking his place as king. If you want to get practice with
kind of pinpointing the needs of specific characters it is a good idea to
kind of watch kids films because they are generally a lot more on the nose. But
these types of messages are hidden in things that you wouldn't even expect.
A lot of writers shy away from big thematic revelations that show the
characters need because they're concerned about sounding preachy but
when done properly this can be the final hit that drives the nail into the
audience's bone and ensures that they carry the story with them for years to
come. You just have to hit the nail on the head without, you know, hitting the
nail on the head. Which is where it gets a little complicated. The reveal needs to
be layered and abstract. It needs to be shown and never told. Basically unless
the story is geared towards children you should never outright state the need,
that's what will come off cheesy. Rather you should show it through actions and
the character's decisions so that it can be something that professors turn into a
really annoying essay question one day. Now it should be noted that, and
especially in series, the character may not always choose the right path at this
point. They may end up going with the want and ultimately failing.
But generally speaking most satisfying stories end with the character going
with the need over the want. Whether that means they get the want as a reward
or they decide they don't actually want the want anymore
or they learn to live without the want. There are a lot of different ways this
can play out, but almost always satisfying endings will result with the
character ultimately choosing the need and the need will get priority in the
climax. K. M. Wieland writes in creating character arcs: "Sometimes the story will
have to end on that bittersweet note of interior gain and exterior loss but
other times once the character has embraced the thing he needs he will then
be more empowered in his pursuit of what he wants allowing him to harmonize both
his inner and outer goals in the finale." And it's also worth noting that having
the want and need interact together and conflict with each other really adds to
the complexity of a story and generally pulls audiences more in. The more
difficult the decision, the more on the edge of our seats we're going to be.
Whereas the obstacles the character faces in pursuing their want we're all
external, the obstacles the character's gonna face in terms of realizing their
need are going to be internal. For example in How to Train Your Dragon
three Hiccup's main want is to find the hidden world so that dragons and Vikings
can live together in harmony. And the main thing sort of fighting against this
is the dragon hunters and the fact that he has to actually find the place. These
are external obstacles. But what hiccup needs is to realize that dragons will be
safer on their own. He needs to let go. And the obstacle he faces in terms of
this realization is of course his love of Toothless and his love of this colony
that he's watched grow over years and years. Hiccup: "I was so busy fighting for a world
that I wanted, I didn't think about what you needed. Lead them to the hidden world.
You'll be safe there. Safer than you could ever be with me."
Want to bawl your eyes out over that? Go watch this video which apparently some
people watch sometimes just a cry. Link in the description down below. Okay so
that was it for general needs so now we're gonna talk about moral needs
versus psychological needs. What there are more needs??? Yes I was also concerned
and slightly exhausted but it's interesting I swear. Ambitious stories
will sometimes give a hero a psychological need as well as a moral
one. In John Truby's The Anatomy of Story he states: "A psychological need involves
overcoming a serious flaw that's hurting nobody but the hero. A character with a
moral need is always hurting others in some way (his moral weakness) at the
beginning of the story." Later on he goes on to say: "In good stories the moral need
usually comes out of the psychological need. The character has a psychological
weakness that leads him to take it out on others." A good example of moral need
is (I believe) Breaking Bad. Walter White wants to leave money to support his
family and this drives him to do ever-escalating things that get worse
and worse which eventually lead to this moral need of him needing to realize
that it's not worth it. That he's ultimately doing more harm than good. And
his psychological need is (I think) that he needs to learn to let go. To come to
terms with the life he lived and accept the legacy he wrote before the diagnosis.
So that was it for this video. So comment down below what's your favorite
character arc??? Because I want to annales... because I want to analieze.. ah why can't
say analyze today? So comment down below, what's your favorite character arc because I
want to analyze what the want and need is. Again make sure to go check out this
how to train your dragon video I did. I'm super proud of it, I really like how
it came out. I'll link in the description down below. And if you're interested in
something a little more writing based, you can check out this video on
prologues. If you like dark dystopian books, new adult ones that play with
cliches of the genre, check out Aletheia. It's available in hardcover, paperback,
and ebook. And thank you so much for watching! As always I will see you in the next video!