MOTIVATION/REACTION

No matter how many manuscripts I read, there is nearly always one fiction element that is missing.  Most beginning writers have some idea of motivation without realizing it, but reaction to motivation is, for the most part, missing.  Sometimes it’s the opposite, the character reacts, but to what?  It’s a mystery as to why there is a reaction to something not on the page.  This leaves a reader clueless, and as I’ve stated in other columns, emotion is the key to success.  Emotion starts with motivation and reaction. Cause and effect starts the motivation/reaction unit.

There is a pattern in constructing a motivation-reaction unit.  1.  Motivating stimulus, 2. Character reaction, which consists of three parts, a. feeling, b. action, c. speech.

Let’s start with the motivating stimulus.  Cause becomes motivating stimulus.  Motivating stimulus is anything outside your focal character to which he reacts.  Each time there is a motivating stimulus, there is a character reaction.  Anything can be a motive stimulus.  A face to face meeting with a skunk. Someone pulls a gun.  A man gets a whiff of perfume.

Motivation always precedes reaction.

For instance, your character is standing on the steps of a porch when she/he notices a skunk (the motive stimulus).  The skunk raises its tail. Effect is character reaction. Always, there is a pattern in reaction.  Chances are pretty good that your character automatically knows the end result of a raised tail. 

With a gun pointed at your character what would be his/her reaction? They stop short, the heart races.

 With the scent of perfume?  A man might pause to look to where the scent is coming from.

 Feeling precedes action because feeling provides the drive for action and speech.  Feeling is not thought, but an automatic process.  Because you developed your character from scratch, you, the author, should allow that character to react appropriately.  You don’t decide to feel a certain way; you just do. 

When the scent of the skunk is released.  First, your character has a feeling. The scent of skunk makes the character feel sick to their stomach. 

 Now, the character reacts to the feeling they just had.  Unlike feeling, action can be controlled.  Action is instinctive. 

Your character’s heart might race as he decides to run from the offensive odor…or out of fear that the skunk might be rabid.  If your character is like most people they have a physical response to what just occurred.  Usually the body trembles.  However, if your character works with wild animals, his/her response would be far different.  It’s up to you the author to give the response appropriate to the character.

Going back to the gun incident.  When confronted by a gun, the character’s action would be much different.  Perhaps freezing in place as sweat pours down his back comes to mind.  Thoughts of how to control or handle the situation causes his heart to pound in his ears, his hands tremble as he ponders his fate.  On the other hand, what if your character is a policeman? Different situation, different reaction.

Finally, speech.  This behavior reveals your character’s state of mind.  And speech demands conscious thought.  As the character runs from the skunk he/she screams a warning to others nearby.  With the gun welding incident he might calmly talk to the thug holding the weapon.  The perfume?  The man might ask her for a date.

The motivation/reaction unit takes place in a split second.  This is one element that demands the immediate from your character.  It is the one element that will make or break your story.  Emotion is what keeps the readers turning the page.

I have my own personal story of a skunk.  While we were building we lived in a trailer, which had a room built on to it.  During the summer months I always left the door open.  After all we lived on ten acres of country property with the nearest neighbor 5 acres away.  Anyway…one morning at around 2 a.m. something caused me to wake with a start.  To my surprise I was staring into the shiny eyes of the black and white creature that I knew wasn’t the cat.  Fear and dread swept over me.   It only took a second from the motive stimulus to my reaction.  I beat any record of high jumping over the animal as I raced out the open front door.  My heart raced as I screamed “Skunk!”  And the nerve of the skunk?  He stood in the front door with his tail held high as if to say, stay out.  At that time of year both Duane and our son liked to camp in tents outside.  Even the dogs slept. They were of no help…and didn’t even hear me screaming.  When the skunk stepped outside onto the porch to watch me sitting on a boulder I knew I wasn’t about to confront that raised tail.  It was a stand off until the skunk moved on…an hour later. 

If you are still confused by the motivation/reaction then pick up a novel and see how the author uses the Motivation/Reaction unit to illustrate this very important fiction element.

Until next month, keep writing and I’ll see you in print.

Karen

P.S. to the skunk story.  Living in the wilds with animals you know that anyone of them will be skunked now and then.  When the dog arrives bounding into the living room with that delightful odor, simply pour one or more bottles of douche all over them, rub it into the fur and don’t wash it off.  The skunk scent goes away immediately.  In rural areas The Dollar Store sees a lot of this product flying off their shelves during the summer months.  Save the tomato juice for the Bloody Mary afterward.