In my editorial work, I read many manuscripts that need help. Usually, one or more key story elements are off, or not quite there yet. But there’s one that comes up more than almost any other, and it’s surprisingly easy to miss, even with very talented or experienced writers: motivation.
Not just the protagonist’s but the cast’s. Because when motivation is absent or underdeveloped, even the most beautifully written scenes will fall flat.
When readers can’t feel the ‘why’, they have no reason to care.
If your protagonist’s motivation isn’t landing on the page, readers won’t be able to relate to them, understand their choices, or step into their shoes. And if they can’t do that, they’re not invested in the outcome so there’s little reason to keep reading.
What makes this tricky is that writers are often the last to notice it’s missing. You know your story so intimately that you can see what isn’t there, filling in gaps automatically, the way you skim over typos in your own work because your brain already knows what the sentence is supposed to say. You’ve built entire backstories in your head: the teenage trauma, the fractured friendship, the breakfast habits (yes, really). You know exactly why your character does what they do. The problem is, it’s still living in your head rather than on the page.
Not all of it needs to come out, of course, only the bits that matter. And that goes for your villain as well
Villains tend to be the most underdeveloped characters in the story. We forget that they too are characters in their own right. Full, complex, driven characters with their own goals and their own reasons for chasing after them. Their aim isn’t simply to make the protagonist’s life difficult. They’re chasing something, and your protagonist just happens to be standing in the way (or is the whole reason for it).
Whether your protagonist is collateral damage or your villain’s main nemesis, the villain’s motivation needs to be on the page or your villain starts to feel like cardboard. Worse, they lose their threat and you can’t build real tension with a villain who can’t be taken seriously.
If you want your forces of opposition to carry genuine weight, you need to give them genuine reasons.
A place to start: dig into the ‘why’
A useful question to ask is: what do they want, and why do they want it now? What moment, wound, or turning point brought them to this place?
You probably won’t have the space (or the need) to lay out their entire history. But you can hint at it, and readers are clever enough to fill in the rest.
Take a villain motivated by revenge. Something happened. Someone wronged them, and that someone is either your protagonist or connected to them. Dig into that event. How did it make them feel? What did they resolve as a result? And how do they want to go about it? Then find a way to weave it in, through a line of dialogue, a flash of interiority, a small moment of exposition. A well-placed hint does more work than a full explanation. Trust your readers to pick up on the clues.
The same applies to your protagonist. Why do they want what they want? Not the surface goal, but the emotional engine underneath it. If they want a new job, ask what it brings them? Status? Recognition? A feeling of worthiness because they can take care of their family and give them something they didn’t have themselves? Bring your shovel and dig deep because that’s the layer that makes a reader lean in.
Before you hit the next chapter, it’s worth pausing: is your protagonist’s motivation coming through clearly? What about your villain’s? And the other key characters in your story? Can you highlight the exact sentence or paragraph that reveals their motivation?
If you’re not sure, that’s worth sitting with. Sometimes the best revision starts not with plot or prose, but with asking ‘why’ a little more honestly.
Drop a comment and let me know: whose motivation is giving you the most trouble right now?
