Storytelling Pillar 2: Desire

The Second Pillar of Storytelling: Desire

Kiara grabbed it.”

In this example, we can see that Kiara clearly wants something—even though she never says it. And it’s related to Lucas.

There is some underlying desire.

Now imagine she didn’t actually want anything:

“Her brother called. Kiara stared at his name on the screen. Lucas rarely called her. She wondered why he was calling. Maybe he needed something. Maybe it was an accident. Kiara picked up.”

Can you feel the difference?

Let’s break down why the first version works and what desire actually does in storytelling.

What Does Your Character Want?

Desire is the second pillar of storytelling.

I spent the last three years learning storytelling while writing my novel, Five Years Behind, and one of the most important things I learned is that characters need to want something.

Let’s go back to Kiara.

In the second example, there’s no real desire.

Kiara doesn’t want anything. Lucas calls her, she stares at the phone, and then she picks it up.

There’s nothing going on underneath the scene.

In the first example, we can feel that there is.

On the surface, Kiara doesn’t want to answer the phone.

Underneath that, we feel that maybe she actually does.

Or maybe she genuinely doesn’t want to answer—but she definitely wants something from Lucas.

Maybe she wants to talk to him. Maybe she wants an explanation. Maybe there’s something else entirely.

We don’t know yet.

But we can feel that something is going on.

And that gives us a reason to keep reading.

Desire Gives the Story Direction

That’s why desire is one of the main pillars of storytelling.

Once the audience understands what the character wants, they have something they can follow.

You want them to become curious.

Ideally, they should start asking:

Is she going to get what she wants?

That’s the core purpose of desire: it gives your main character something to pursue.

Wanting something gives the story direction.

Once we know what a character wants, we have something to follow, anticipate and care about.

Desire Doesn't Have to Be Complicated

Your character’s desire doesn’t have to be some enormous, life-changing goal.

Your character can want to:

• win a race
• get a job
• find their dog
• fall in love
• escape a bad date

• get home

The important thing is simply that they want something.

Ideally, at almost any point in your story, you should be able to answer one question:

What does this character want right now?

At this very moment.

If I opened my own book at almost any scene, I should be able to tell you what the person we’re following wants right then.

Because a character who wants something has somewhere to go.

Give Your Character Something to Pursue

So when you’re writing a story, ask yourself:

What does my main character want?

They can want to save the world.

But they can also just want to get a taxi.

What matters is that we understand what is moving them forward.

That’s the second storytelling pillar: Desire.

And once your character wants something, you have a very easy way to make the story interesting:

Don’t give it to them.

And that brings us to the next storytelling pillar: Conflict.