Five Keys to Effective Internal Goals

Readers are interested in characters whose external goals, motivations, and conflicts move the plot, but they care about characters whose inner landscape is vibrantly developed. Internal goals, motivations, and conflicts weave together the foundation of larger-than-life characterizations--the kind of characters readers remember long after the story ends.

Whereas external goals are physical and photographable, internal goals are born of intangible, universal human needs. Some examples of human needs include: intimacy, acceptance, identity, mastery, security, fulfillment, survival, harmony, and integrity. Usually, one need dominates a character for his or her life. The selection process is a blend of motivations planted in the character's backstory and individual personality.

Characters in the grip of a strong internal need look for a way to fulfill or at least cope with it. That is, they develop an internal goal. If they develop the right one without any trouble, they'd be perfect and there wouldn't be any purpose for the story. That's where fallen humanity's tormentor--fear--comes in to play. It blindfolds a character to what will truly fulfill his inner need, and goads him to select an inherently flawed internal goal instead. If the mistaken internal goal is achieved instead of eventually corrected, that character's worst fear will manifest and he will come to a tragic end. This is how villains receive their just desserts, and morality tales issue "warnings."

In popular fiction, the protagonist corrects his mistaken goal in time to save himself from his worst fear manifesting irrevocably (though the Black Moment gives him a frightening foretaste). In other words, he learns a lesson that precipitates and necessitates relinquishing his mistaken internal goal for one that truly fulfills his inner need. He changes. He grows.

Since internal goals can't be seen, felt, tasted, touched, or heard, the question remains--what do they look like? How do they make their presence known on the manuscript page? A character's internal goal manifests as a specific type of lifestyle or experience that brings him a sense of satisfaction, however incomplete and lacking. It's his emotional version of the yellow brick road. He is convinced it is his only path to happiness. It is Marlin's safety-first aversion to risk-taking in Finding Nemo. It is Scarlett O'Hara's seductive, man-eater scheming in Gone With the Wind. It is Nickie Ferrante's lush life of heiress-dependent luxury in An Affair to Remember.

What makes an internal goal engaging and effective?

#1: It's long-term. The character pursues his internal goal long before the story begins. Quite conceivably, if he doesn't change, he could continue to pursue it for the rest of his life or until it brings about his isolation and self-destruction. Scarlett applied her flirtatious ways to conquering men's souls for her own purposes long before the barbeque at Twelve Oaks (Gone With the Wind).

#2: It's something the character is consciously aware of. By contrast, he may not (even probably not) be aware of the inner need he's trying to assuage with the internal goal. Marlin deliberately invests a great deal of energy into being overprotective and not letting anything happen to Nemo. He's largely unaware his internal goal is actually undermining his inner need for security for himself and his son (Finding Nemo).

#3: It's often embodied in a subplot. (In character-driven novels, it's reversed: the inner journey is the main plot, and a subplot carries the external journey.) An internally driven subplot, while action oriented like the external plot, gives readers a fuller understanding of the character. The turning points may occur right before or right after the turning points in the main external plot, setting the character up for a one-two punch at his most vulnerable moment(s). Ella breaks company policy by going to Jeffrey's apartment to wake him for his appointment--an external turning point. When he asks her to stay as moral support while he finishes the outline for his new play, she feels reality is better than her wildest dreams--an internal turning point that initiates "hands-on" intervention in other customers' lives (Bells Are Ringing).

#4: It conflicts with the character's external goal. If he recognizes the potential conflict of interests, he may initially reject adopting the external goal until the stakes become too high to deny. If he's initially oblivious to the mutual incompatibility of his internal/external goals, he'll still run into trouble eventually. Belle's quest for adventure compels her to breach the boundaries of her imprisonment in the Beast's castle; likewise, her determination to take her father's place confines her exploring (Beauty and the Beast). Advancing one goal jeopardizes the other.

#5: It conflicts with the goals of other characters. The Dark Moment is when the main characters recognize their internal goals are forever irreconcilable. The fear pressuring them to pursue the mistaken internal goals triumphs temporarily, and they are unable to place their faith in a better alternative. They bring about the inevitable consequence of their mistaken internal goals upon themselves, tasting isolation and defeat. When Lucy asks Jack for a reason not to marry his brother, Jack refuses to provide one. He chooses his internal goal of keeping his family happy above his love for Lucy and mutes his real feelings, resulting in his witnessing her march up the aisle toward another man (While You Were Sleeping).

The character learns his lesson and either adjusts his internal goal or abandons it for a truer one immediately before the resolution of the main external plot. (If it's a tragedy, he rejects the lesson without further reservations and recommits to his mistaken goal.) This character change empowers him to make the climatic choice necessary to resolve the story. After seeing Terry in the company of her old boyfriend, Nickie realizes he no longer finds satisfaction in the role of a wealthy lover's lapdog. He rejects his wealthy ex-fiancee and commits wholeheartedly to the lifestyle of a self-sufficient, working artist (An Affair to Remember). Only then can the main plot find it's happily ever after.

An internal goal is the dominant landmark on the inner landscape of a multidimensional character. Around it revolves the internal conflicts and motivations that make characters feel real and make readers care.