Goal, Motivation & Conflict

What is GMC you may ask? This was the question I found myself pondering when I attended my first national Romance Writer’s of America (RWA) conference and began looking over the list of possible workshops being offered. For all I knew the letters GMC could have been the acronym for Giant Mouse Catching, Great Mountain Climbers, or maybe Gorgeous Male Caterers. Okay I was at a romance writers conference. There should be gorgeous men on my mind, preferably in kilts.The first workshop I chose was one given by Debra Dixon called Goal, Motivation and Conflict, where I discovered the meaning of the these three letters as well as the importance of GMC to the construction of a story, any story if as an author your goal is to engage the reader. I learned how with a solid GMC in place your reader will not be able to resist turning the page to see what happens.

If the idea of GMC is unfamiliar to you, it can be boiled down to two simple lines:

GMC=strong plot
Strong plot=engrossing story

From talking with a wide variety of writers of all genres it became clear they all held the same opinion when it came to finding the most reliable solution to story problems. “The answer is simpler than you believe,” I was told many times. If you find yourself stuck, unsure of which direction to take or lost in the murky middle, isolating your GMC will most always enable you to find the trouble’s source. Without a strong GMC for your protagonist, villain and your secondary characters as well, your story will not move forward.

As the letters suggest there are three elements to GMC.

G = Goal Without a goal there is nothing to move the story forward. Your first
question: what does the Hero want to achieve?
M = Motivation Without motivation there is no reason for the protagonist to pursue the
set goal. Your second question: why does the Hero want this? Why
does she need this?
C = Conflict Without conflict, there is no reason for the reader to turn the page.
Your third question: what stands in the Hero’s way? Why can’t your
Hero have her goal?

To make it simpler to implement in your story’s arc, let’s take the three components of GMC individually:

Goal – The main focus of your protagonist (Hero/Heroine). A goal is the one thing tangible or intangible your Hero must do or have. The one something she must strive for, prove herself worthy of. Your Hero needs to want this something…badly. Without your Hero having a strong goal, the story will come to a standstill. Without a solid goal, there is no reason for your character to be on the page. The goal is the ingredient which will propel your hero or any character into stepping out of the safety of their ordinary world and into the risky one of taking action. Your Hero’s goal should not be one easily attained. Her goal needs to be earned through choices made often times under pressure and through change within the character’s core. Your Hero’s goal at the beginning of the story may also not be the same at the end of the story. From your hero’s quest there often will arise several sub GMC’s, all somehow strangely intertwined. Goal is what ignites your story. Without a strong goal, your Hero will have no idea of what she wants, let alone how to get it. If your Hero does not have a strong enough or a believable enough goal, there is no story to interest the reader.

Motivation – The reason achieving the goal is so important to your Hero. Why is attaining this goal so important? What are the stakes at risk if she does not reach her goal? The motivation needs to be compelling and again, believable. Your hero must have a logical reason for wanting her goal so badly she will do anything, risk all she has to get it. I am going to repeat myself here. A logical, believable motivation is an absolute necessity. If you begin with a hero who is fearful, shy to the point of never considering making an impulsive move, you must give her a logical, yet driving reason she would now do so. What are the stakes?

Conflict – The final element to creating a great story is conflict. That seemingly insurmountable something which will hinder your Hero from attaining her goal must be present and again believable. This something is what forces her to earn her goal rather than just take it. This something is what forces her to make difficult decisions and choices, often not necessarily always good ones. The conflict’s purpose is to consistently raise the stakes; to build tension and to propel the story’s momentum. Tension and momentum are built by sufficient motivation to achieve a goal as well as sufficient conflict between the stories protagonist and the realization of her goals. Conflict tends to work best if it’s between your two main characters; your Hero and Heroine.

Though not a necessity, a time limit to attaining the goal will lend to the drama, the tension as well as the story building. If the hero has forever to prove her sister is not guilty of witchcraft who cares? If she has one month to prove this or she will be burnt at the stake, then now you have a reason for her to take some serious risks.

There are two types of GMC: external and Internal. Both are important components to your story’s arc. External GMC is your plot, the external actions, the force that propels your character through his or her story. Internal GMC is the character’s emotional journey, her internal arc and growth within the story frame. Most times the external and the internal GMC are intertwined. Often the character doesn’t realize or understand her own internal GMC which doesn’t matter at all. It’s always there.

If you are having trouble coming up with your Hero’s GMC, try beginning with a want statement; Hero wants, because, but can’t have it because…

Don’t over-think this exercise. Write whatever first comes into you brain. You can pare it down on your next pass through and if need be the one after that. If you are looking for some examples and a more thorough and detailed explanation of how to put your story’s GMC together without causing yourself to become so frustrated you want to throw your computer through a window, read Debra Dixon’s Goal Motivation and Conflict. Her charts laying out various examples of GMC from classic and popular movies are easily understood and followed.

As an example of external and internal GMC, I’ve let’s take a look at the classic Wizard of Oz:

External GMC want statement:
Dorothy wants to leave Oz and go home because her Aunt Em is sick, but the Wicked Witch of the West wants to stop Dorothy and get her revenge

External Goal:
What does the Hero want to have?
Dorothy wants to get out of Oz. She wants to get home.

External Motivation:
What motivates the Hero to act? Why doesn’t she just sit around and wait for something to happen or for someone to come by and offer help?
Dorothy’s Auntie Em is sick. Dorothy needs to get to her bedside.

External Conflict:
What prevents the hero from getting or achieving her goal?
The Wicked Witch of the West is ticked off at Dorothy for landing her house on her sister and taking her ruby slippers. She wants revenge.

Internal GMC want statement:
Dorothy wants to be happy; to find her place because she is not content with her life, however, she is not certain what exactly she wants or how to get it.

Internal Goal:
What does the Hero want to have or attain?
Dorothy wants to find a place she’s happy; a place she is wanted and belongs.
(Dorothy’s theme song is Over the Rainbow)

Internal Motivation:
What motivated the Hero to act?
Dorothy is not content. She is always getting into trouble, causing her family to be unhappy with her.

Internal Conflict:
What prevents the Hero from achieving her goal?
Dorothy doesn’t know how what she really wants or what true happiness feels like.

A second example of external and internal GMC taken from a more recent movie release: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo:

External GMC want statement:
Mikael needs to solve the case to prove his worth and integrity as a journalist, but the family of the man who has hired him does not want him to succeed and will do anything to stop him

External Goal:
What does the Hero need or want to have?
Mikael wants to solve a forty-year-old missing persons case

External Motivation:
What motivates the Hero to act? Why doesn’t she just sit around and wait for something to happen or for someone to come by and offer help?
Mikael needs to get his mind off his conviction and his impending jail sentence.

External Conflict:
What prevents the hero from getting or achieving her goal?
Mikael’s belief that the person who he see as an ally is the serial killer he is looking for.

Internal GMC want statement?
Mikael wants to clear his name in order to get his life back, but has no idea how to prove he did not make up the information he included in his story.

Internal Goal?
What does the Hero want to have or attain?
Mikael wants to clear his name.

Internal Motivation:
*What motivated the Hero to act?
Mikael wants to regain his reputation as a journalist and resume his position as editor at his magazine.

Internal Conflict:
What prevents the Hero from achieving her goal?
He has no idea of how to begin to find the proof he was set up.

For practice in detecting a story’s GMC, watch several of your favorite movies. Write out the external and internal GMC. Need a few to begin with? Try Raiders of the Lost Arc, The Hunger Games, Cinderella Man to name a few. Print up a few worksheets for the current story you are working on or are thinking about working on to find the weak links in both your story and character development. I guarantee it will open the creative flow, improve your story and prevent you from giving in to any impulse to send your computer sailing through a window out of frustration. Cleaning up shattered glass is never fun.

For a couple of excellent reading suggestions;

GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction by Debra Dixon

The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition by Christopher Vogler and Michele Montez

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