Want versus need

A character's want is the conscious goal they pursue and could state aloud, while their need is the unacknowledged lack the story forces them to confront, and the two are usually in conflict.

The want drives the plot; the need drives the character arc. One is the thing the character is chasing across the pages, the other is the thing they will have to accept in order to stop chasing it, and the story tends to be about the distance between them.

The want

The want has to exist from very early, and it does not have to be grand. Kurt Vonnegut's rule is the plainest statement of it: make your characters want something right away, even if it is only a glass of water, because characters paralysed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time. A character with no stated want is a passive protagonist in waiting.

The need

The need is the harder half, precisely because it is unconscious: a desire the character does not know they have, like security, acceptance or forgiveness, which their stated want is an attempt to satisfy sideways. The deepest version of it is what some writers call yearning.

Want vs need examples

• A lawyer wants to win the case that will make her partner. She needs to stop measuring her worth by her father's approval. Why it works: every step toward the partnership is a step toward pleasing him, so winning and growing pull in opposite directions.
• A widower wants to sell the family house and move away. He needs to grieve instead of running. Why it works: the want is escape from the need, so the plot can put the need in every room he tries to empty.
• A teenage guitarist wants to win the school talent show. She needs to admit she plays for her late brother, not for herself. Why it works: the goal is small and clear, and the need gives the final performance its weight whether she wins or not.
• Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol, wants to be left alone with his money. He needs other people. Why it works: the ghosts attack the want directly, and the need is what is left when it collapses.

Innate and plot motivation

It is worth separating innate motivation from plot motivation while drafting. Innate motives (adhere to the truth) rarely change and feed everything else; plot motives shift in response to events. When a character's behaviour stops feeling coherent, it is usually a plot motive that has quietly overwritten an innate one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a character's want and need?

The want is external and conscious: a goal the character could tell you about, like winning the case or getting the house back. The need is internal and usually unconscious: the change or understanding they are missing, which the want is a sideways attempt to get.

Does the character have to get both?

No, and the combination shapes the ending. Getting the want but missing the need tends toward tragedy or hollow victory; giving up the want to meet the need is a common bittersweet ending; getting both is the classic happy ending.

Do the want and need have to conflict?

They do not have to, but the story is usually stronger when they do, because then chasing the goal pushes the character further from what they need, and something has to give.