Ignacio, good questions. 🙂

“On the main character: Is there any significant difference between saying that “the main character needs to do BLANK” vs “the main character’s goal is BLANK”?” For this one, it really depends on the heart of what you want to know. Sometimes a character has a false goal, and they pursue it for awhile and then realize it’s not what they need. So an example of this would be a character going to law school to follow in the footsteps of his lawyer parents because he’s seeking their approval, but at a certain point, they realize becoming a lawyer is what his parents want, not what he wants, and to be truly happy, he needs to find his own path, and perhaps in his case he’s always dreamt of becoming an artist, something his parents wrote off as a ‘hobby.”

So in this case, what he needs to do (find the courage to live his own life, not the life his parents expect) is different than his false goal (become a lawyer) or his true goal (become an artist).

“On character motivation, as related to the arc: I’m struggling a little with understanding the character motivation-arc aspect (of the GMC+S tracker). Could you please clarify? ”

This is a topic we cover in The Conflict Thesaurus Volume 2. Your character’s goal is “what do they want?” and Motivation is “why do they want it?” On the worksheet, it is essentially asking you to think about Goals, Motivations, Conflict and Stakes at two levels: 1) the plot (the other story) and arc (the inner story).

Using the above example, Motivation is getting you to think about the “WHY” as it applies to PLOT “WHY does the character want to become an artist?” (because it’s their passion, whereas being a lawyer is duty) and ARC, which is their transformation journey to becoming someone happier, better, and more fulfilled. That WHY question for ARC might be: “WHY will becoming an artist cause positive growth and change that this character needs?” The answer might be that becoming an artist is a symbol for having healthy self-belief and the rejection of tying validation and worth to what others (his parents, in this case) think/deem as important.

I hope this helps a bit!

On the main character: Is there any significant difference between saying that “the main character needs to do BLANK” vs “the main character’s goal is BLANK”?

On character motivation, as related to the arc: I’m struggling a little with understanding the character motivation-arc aspect (of the GMC+S tracker). Could you please clarify?

Thank you!

Hi, Tera. I’m not in this space personally, but my opinion is that you can create a new demigod without it being disrespectful. Rick Riordan did this with Percy Jackson, and I don’t recall there being any blowback. It’s my understanding that Greek mythology is mythological rather than factual, and while there are a small number of people who worship the Greek gods, the vast majority of people don’t view it as a religion. Some online research should provide insight into your concerns and help you come to a decision about this (or point you toward people closer to the topic who can tell you their thoughts). Good luck!