#29 - Every Character WANTS something. But how to figure out WHAT that is?

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#029 - Let's create a character for your song who does what's necessary to get what they want. And besides, we also figure out WHAT a character might want.

In a story, the main character actively pursues a goal, right?

I don’t think you’ve ever gone to the movies to watch someone sitting on the couch all day and doing nothing. We watch a story to follow a certain character in their journey of how they’re trying to achieve something, more precisely, a certain goal.

And when it comes to writing lyrics, your song’s character also needs to WANT something.

But how do you figure out what your character might be after? What is it they want?

If you have trouble finding an answer to that question, this podcast episode will give you some great insights on where you can look to easily find out some great possibilities of your character’s want. And the good thing is: we are talking about possibilities that have been proven in how they hook and engage the audience since there were stories. So it can’t get any better than that.

So let’s find out how we can easily figure out what our song’s character might want. So that we don’t create a character that’s sitting on the couch, never leaves his house, and does nothing. But someone who will do what’s necessary to get what they want.

Episode Overview:

[00:01:57] Recap: Universal Human Values

[00:04:16] External Content Genre

[00:06:22] Hierarchy of Needs

[00:08:13] What does your character WANT?

[00:10:22] Physiological Needs – Action Stories

[00:11:22] Safety Needs – Crime, War, Thriller, Horror, Western

[00:13:30] Love and Belonging - Love Story

[00:14:08] Esteem – Performance and Society Stories

[00:15:36] Now, why is it so important to know what your character wants?