[Writing] Character Motivations~!

Hey y’all,

The full Script for Paizuri University Chapter 1 is now available!

Chapter 1 is the chapter where we introduce several key characters; Summer, Evelyn and Musashi. I really wanted to focus more on each character’s personality and their underlying motivations, setting them up for their journey ahead.

Some advice I learned for writing characters is that every character is a main character from their perspective, and that each has their own motivations, faults and desires.

As we’ve come to know more about our characters over the years, their personalities have developed into their own. And making sure their personalities don’t steer the story off in a completely different direction is all too tempting sometimes.

Spending time writing Evelyn’s backstory really helped to not think of her as just a sex crazed cougar. If you haven’t read her short stories, here’s the links. Unlucky Evelyn and Evelyn’s “Business Partner”.

I had to recognize that she didn’t start out that way in her life, and that a number of events had to happen in order for her to become that way. 

It’s obvious when it’s laid out like that, but it can be very easy to take for granted when I’m writing and I’m trying to move the story along.

Summer and Kareen are also in this chapter, and coming up with their motivations was like falling into a rabbit hole. Why is Summer really selling cookies? Why is Kareen really choosing Bill? What’s really driving them to do those things under the surface?

Their desires have to come from somewhere deeper, and finding that helps ground their actions within the world. But initially uncovering them wasn’t super straight forward.

Once you get to know them, writing with their motivations in mind often makes the writing process a little bit easier, and helps filter out certain actions. Almost as if their personality decides how they want to act in situations I put them in.

It’s difficult, but it’s like a fun puzzle I’m always trying to figure out, that doesn’t really have a solution because each character grows with each situation. I just hope that all the fiddling comes through in the writing.

If you have the time and have read the script, let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

~ Zuri Sama ~