Character Motivation Thesaurus: Escaping Homelessness

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. This thesaurus explores common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

Goal (Outer Motivation):
Escaping Homelessness

Forms This Might Take: One of the most basic human needs is shelter. When an individual or family has no home of their own, their other basic needs become endangered. For this reason, finding a home of one’s own can be a driving force for someone who is homeless. It should be noted that …

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): physiological Needs

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

• Finding temporary lodgings (at a shelter, the YMCA, a motel, with a friend, in an abandoned building, etc.)
• Borrowing money from a friend to secure what’s needed to get a job (clothing, shoes, toiletries, etc.)
• Asking for help at a local church, shelter, or nonprofit organization
• Facing the past so the character can move forward…

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

• Facing the pain of things they’ve been avoiding (failing, reconnecting with estranged family and friends, the truth about an addiction or mental condition, etc.)
• No longer being on their own; having to be responsible for and to others
• Having to live life by a more traditional set of rules and expectations…

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

• Self-doubt and fear
• Drug and alcohol addiction
• Mental and physical challenges…

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal: Blending In, Gaining the Trust of Others, Empathy, Charm…

Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:

• Never being able to reconnect with estranged family members
• Having to do dreadful things to survive
• The character never achieving their dreams
• Their self-esteem being forever compromised…

Clichés to Avoid: The homeless person who fails in their goal but teaches others some meaningful lessons about life along the way

We hope you’ve found this sample useful. To access the complete entry and our full range of thesauruses, head over to One Stop for Writers.

What does your character want, and how far will they go to achieve it?

On the surface, the protagonist’s goal seems to be the most important, but the inner motivation driving your character toward this goal (despite pain, suffering, fear, setbacks, and sacrifice) is what really draws readers in. Understanding the four cornerstones of character arc and how they frame a story is paramount for today’s writers. To help with this, we have integrated this Character Motivation Thesaurus into our online library at One Stop For Writers.

Each entry has been enhanced to provide even more information about your character’s motivation and is cross-referenced with our other thesauruses for easy searchability. We’ve also included a must-see tutorial on Character Motivation.

Interested in seeing these expanded entries? Head on over and take advantage of our FREE TRIAL!