Finally, we have a Purpose

Catch up

Yesterday, I condensed all the sixteen motivational elements into a grid structure, and showed how you could move your characters around on this grid to give them different attributes from the usual archetypal characters that the simple model provides.  This was a way of showing the Motivational Set (or dimension) of the characters, but Dramatica says there are four dimensions to characters, so I will introduce you to another one in this post - Purpose.


The Dimension of Purpose

Sometimes when you look at the character and ask "what drives this character?" it is tempting to look for a motivation as a reason.  The example Dramatica gives is the sentence "Jane wants to become President" - and sometimes this is given as the Motivation for that character.  But which of the sixteen motivations that we have already documented is it?  Pursuit?  Conscience?  They don't seem to fit very well.

In reality "wanting to be President" isn't a motivation at all - it's a Purpose.  Motivation might be the sort of attitude that allows you to get there, but the "there" you are getting to is a Purpose.  A Purpose in the story is the sort of thing your character desires, not the why, not the how, but the nature of the prize.  Being a President could be for knowledge, perhaps the character wants to find out about UFOs, or it could be about Order, they want to stop a war.  In Dramatica, Purpose can is split up into sixteen elements like the other Dimensions.

Knowledge	Ability	Actuality	Aware
Desire	Thought	Self Aware	Perception
Order	Equity	Inertia	Projection
Inequity	Chaos	Speculation	Change

These are again arranged in pairs of opposing Purposes.  It does not seem that Archetypal characters map onto this grid in the same way as Motivational ones, because Purposes are not archetypal and are story-driven.   Dramatica says that each of your characters need to have at least one of these as a Purpose, and it's fun to have two each. 

Let's have a look at what each of these sixteen Purposes mean.

Knowledge	The gaining of information that the character knows or feels to be true. A prime example of a Knowledge Purpose in fiction is the detective wanting to find out the identity of the perpetrator of a murder in a detective story.
Ability	The capability to do something that the character wants.  An example of an Ability Purpose is Luke Skywalker finally being able to use and rely on the Force to guide his actions.  It was always within him, and he finds it at the end.
Actuality	This is a knowledge of the true state of affairs.  An example of an Actuality Purpose is a person who is trying to find out the identity of his real father, and is not happy with the explanation his mother gives him.  He prefers the truth at any cost.
Aware	This is when a character accurately perceives all that goes on around him, sometimes ignoring his own part or thinking.  An example Aware Purpose would be an introvert who wants to be part of the in-crowd and the social scene.
Desire	The wanting to change situation or fortune for the better.  This can be in material terms or relationship terms.  Any rags to riches story will contain an element of a Desire Purpose.  As will many love stories, where the Desire is for love.
Thought	The examination of all aspects of a problem.  Sometimes all a character wants is the time, space or capability to examine a problem thoroughly.  This could be a point of conscience, religious belief or any sort of intellectual problem requiring Thought.
Self-Aware	When a character is unsure of their thoughts, they sometimes seek clarity as a Purpose.  Many love stories fall into this category as the main character struggles to decide what they want out of a relationship, usually between two suitors.
Perception	The view that the world is as it seems, not how it actually is.  many discovery stories are based on the idea that the world that everyone sees is not as expected, such as The Matrix with its simulation. Some characters prefer the illusion to the reality.
Order	The organization of a system according to patterns.  Some characters seek to restore or establish order as a way of minimising hurt or unfairness.  An example would be someone taking charge of a plane crash site, or a life raft in order to maintain calm.
Equity	This is a balance of powers or movements so that things are relatively stable.  Equity may be of mind, or of society. At the end of Jaws, the shark is dead, everyone is now safe, and life can go back to something normal.
Inertia	This is the tendency for things to stay the same, or to stay moving at the same speed.  A warrior for an expanding race seeks to keep up the momentum of conquest, and the old emperor is happy to keep what he has.
Projection	The ability to extrapolate events into the future, someone who has a Purpose of Projection imagines what is to come and has a clear vision of that in order to enact it.  Any character with a vision has a Purpose of Projection.
Inequity	This is imbalance or unfairness in a system.  The character with an Inequity Purpose will focus on the unfairness most of all, sometimes to the exclusion of what is working.  A Social Justice Warrior trying to close a factory down is an example.
Chaos	The lack of order in a system, sometimes typified by disorder and anarchy.  Post doomsday fiction usually contains elements of Chaos where the rule of law has broken down and the norms of society cannot be relied upon.
Speculation	The extrapolation of the current situation into a future which is highly unlikely, leading to erratic behaviour.  An example might be Doomsday 'preppers' who are stockpiling weapons because they sense the end of civilization.
Change	The desire to move things away from a stable condition.  Some characters prefer change to stagnation, and will always eek to maximize change over security.  An example would be an expansionist leader of an already prosperous society.

Every character in fiction has one or more Purposes which can be broken down into one or more of the sixteen Purposes.  These describe in general terms what the character wants to achieve, rather than why.


A brain dump

That was quite a lot for one day.  In the next post I will try to assign my Fiend characters to the Purpose Dimensions to try to ascertain what the devil each one of my cast of characters actually wants!