The Skellingcorner

[The Skellingcorner]

[writerswritecompany]

Characters are the most important devices in our stories. In this post, we offer 30 character motivations to kickstart your story.

Characters drive stories. Without compelling characters who are in trouble and need to reach a goal, we have no plot. They are the heartbeat of our novels and short stories, and what they want matters. Their motivations carry a story from the beginning, through the muddle in the middle, to the ending.

Must-Read: The 7 Qualities Of Compelling Character Motivations

In my post on the qualities of compelling motivations, I said that motivations only work if they matter, and if the character has something to win or lose. There need to be consequences if they fail. 

Our characters need to reach a story goal. Great motivations give them the desire to want to achieve this goal. The best motivations have physical and emotional elements. For example, a person who wants to beat addiction (physical) does it to become happier (emotional).

I want to help you make sure you have a strong enough motivation for your main characters by giving you 30 character motivations to kickstart your story.

30 Character Motivations To Kickstart Your Story

[The Skellingcorner]

[witchesversuspatriarchy]

May the Godess have the final word.

[The Skellingcorner]

[nunyabizni]

When your friend needs encouragement to come out and play

[sirterrypratchett]

I imagine this is how Nanny Ogg would act trying to convince Granny to come and hang out

[The Skellingcorner]

[writerswritecompany]

31 Writing Prompts For March 2020

Writers Write shares writing tips, writing prompts, and writing resources. Use these writing prompts for March 2020 to get you writing.

Prompts are wonderful things for writers. If you use them regularly, they can teach you to pay attention, to feel, to use your senses, to think, and to observe.

A daily prompt helps when you are stuck. There’s no pressure. You can write anything and that can lead to new story ideas, new plots, and new ideas for characters. The more you write the better you will become at writing on demand.

If you write every day, you create a writing habit. Set a time. Use a prompt. You can use our monthly prompts or subscribe to our daily writing prompts to help you do this.

If you want to know how to make the best use your prompts, we suggest you read: All About Writing Prompts & Writing Practice

Remember that a prompt can be a word, a song title, a name, a myth, a photograph, or a quotation. It is anything that gets you writing.

We hope our 31 writing prompts for March 2020 inspire you to start a writing routine.

31 Writing Prompts For March 2020

[The Skellingcorner]

[babyanimalgifs]

If you’re having a bad day, watch this

[deviantdee]

Yay!!

[The Skellingcorner]

[writerswritecompany]

Writing Lessons

[The Skellingcorner]

[plague2904]

For those who would like to learn more about the witcher world:

This is a full length movie made by the fans. It's non-profit and took them 4 years to make and it premiered like a 2 weeks ago.

It is available on YouTube with subtitles in many languages so show it some love.

It is set AFTER (beware the spoilers) the events in the saga and follows the adventure of Triss Merigold, Jaskier (Dandelion), his son and Witcher Lambert.

[The Skellingcorner]

[muaddibbler]

The most impressive communal shitpost I’ve yet seen from a linguistics Facebook group

[The Skellingcorner]

[tredlocity]

Someone: A movie can’t be wholesome and dark at the same time. Those qualities are mutually exclusive.

Me:

[xmagnet-o]

Wtf is this? Vampire Queer Eye?

[tredlocity]

That is…

100% what that movie is.

[nerdyfangirlingbooks]

fun fact: stu is literally just a guy called stu. like. taika’s friend. his name is stu. he is a geotechnician. this is not the first movie of taika’s where he has played himself. he didn’t even have a script. they just said “hey stu! you stand here, and you be stu!” so he did. when he’s talking to the girls in the bar? that’s his real job. when he’s actung awkward because he doesn’t seem to know what’s going on or what to do? he doesn’t. he’s just rolling with it. just stu being stu.

[ravingliberal]

Stu also designed the fantastic strobe lighting element used for the Valkyries in Thor: Ragnarok!

Thank you, Stu! 

[The Skellingcorner]

[theblacksiren]

Not to get emo on main but you ever think about how the troop sang about their dreams of finding “a girl worth fighting for”, and they think their girl worth fighting for is one of romance, but the song abruptly comes to a halt when they find a different girl worth fighting for.

A tiny girl that had been killed at the hands of the Huns. A child too weak, too small to have any chance of withstanding the murderous invaders. That is their girl worth fighting for.

[xxstar-bluesxx]

This is fucking horrific

[gay-jesus-probably]

It’s also worth noting that ‘A Girl Worth Fighting For’ is the last song in the movie. Up until here, it’s a fun movie, and the imminent invasion feels like it’s just there to keep the plot moving, and to provide a little bit of drama to spice things up. None of the soldier’s are quite taking this seriously yet; sure, Mulan wanted to save her father from the draft, and on some level she was aware that he would die if he went to war, but beyond that she’s interested in not being caught, and not shaming her family. Her motives are good, but they’re entirely self centered. All the other soldiers are more or less in the same boat - they want to get tougher, they want to impress girls, they want to be cool soldiers. Shang’s easily the most serious of the bunch at first, and even then it’s just because training bad soldiers will reflect poorly on him, and important people are paying attention.

The abrupt ending of ‘A Girl Worth Fighting For’ is the wake up call. The soldiers and the audience get slapped in the face with the realization of what’s really at stake here. China is being invaded. Villages are burning, civilians are dying, and this isn’t going to stop until the country is conquered or the invaders are defeated. This is not a fun musical, this is a major crisis.

Mulan is such a good movie for so many reasons, but the abrupt tone shift is such a major reason why. It’s an excellent commentary on the reality of war, and it being a kids movie just meant they had to make their point without showing any actual gore, which I’d honestly say makes it that much more poignant.

[taraljc]

That moment, when they come over the rise and see the razed village is one of the best scenes in film. Period. Somehow, instead of giving me tonal whiplash, it took my breath away, and that’s one fuck of a balancing act.