5 Essential Criteria For Creating Successful Story Goals

How do you know if your story goal is good enough to support your entire novel? We detail the 5 criteria writers need for creating successful story goals.

How do you know if your story goal is good enough to support your entire novel?

‘In nearly all good fiction, the basic – all but inescapable – plot form is this: A central character wants something, goes after it despite opposition, perhaps including his own doubts, and so arrives at a win, lose, or draw.’ ~John Gardner

In our previous post, What Is A Story Goal? The Secret To A Strong Plot, I discussed what a story goal is and the importance of this goal. Remember what we said in the post?

“To define a story goal, a character needs:

1. to get something physical, or
2. to cause something physical, or
3. to escape something physical, or
4. to resolve something physical, or
5. to survive something physical.”

This week, I want to give you a checklist to find out if you have a good enough story goal. Choose one of the goals above and then fill in all of these five criteria below:

5 Essential Criteria For Creating Successful Story Goals

1.  Possession Of

Your protagonist must try to gain possession of something – an object, a person, or information.
Example:  Brad, who is trying to rescue his kidnapped daughter, wants possession of his child.

2.  Relief From

Your protagonist must try to gain relief from something tangible – a threat, an object, a person, an animal, or a condition such as oppression or persecution, and relief from something emotional – fear, pain, sadness, despair.
Example: Brad needs relief from the kidnapper’s demands and relief from his feelings of pain, fear, and despair.

3.  Terrible Consequences If

Your protagonist must face terrible consequences if he fails to achieve his story goal.
Example: If Brad fails, he will never see his child again.

4.  A Worthy Motivation For

Your protagonist must have a worthy motivation for pursuing his goal. These could include duty, freedom, love, honour, justice, dignity, integrity, redemption, self-respect, and survival.
Example: Brad is motivated by love, duty, and the survival of his daughter.
Note: Soft emotions like kindness and generosity do not work. Neither do negative emotions like lust, envy, anger, greed, pride, and hatred. Revenge is interesting. Readers have trouble sympathising with a protagonist whose sole goal is to get even. The way to make this work is when the justice system has failed to punish someone who really deserves to be punished.

5.  Face Tremendous Odds

Your protagonist must face tremendous odds. It should appear impossible for your protagonist to achieve this goal.
Example: Brad will have to track a criminal, deal with law enforcement, handle his family’s pain, and test his bravery.

The Last Word

If your story goal is a physical goal, and if it meets these five criteria, you will have a solid plotting foundation for your novel. A strong story goal gives your novel direction, tension, and purpose. Make your goal matter deeply to the protagonist to create meaningful conflict. This will keep readers invested in the story. Additional Reading: 12 Point Checklist For Your Story Goal

by Amanda Patterson
© Amanda Patterson

If you enjoyed this post, read:

1. The Story Goal – The Key To Creating A Solid Plot Structure
2. Proust’s Questionnaire – 35 Questions Every Character Should Answer
3. Word Counts – How long should your novel be?
4. 10 Things To Stop Doing To Yourself As A Writer
5. The Nine Types of Unreliable Narrator

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