Writing Wednesdays - Longing #1

The Longing: What Your Character Thinks They Want

So far we've talked about identity, that protective persona your character uses to navigate the world. We've explored how the Enneagram can help you understand what drives that identity. Now we need to talk about what happens when identity meets desire.

This is where longing comes in.

Longing is what your character thinks they want. It's the thing they believe will make them truly happy. And here's the kicker: they're usually wrong.

The Difference Between Longing and Need

Michael Hauge, whose framework I've found incredibly useful over the years, makes a distinction between longing and need. Longing is what the character consciously wants. Need is what they actually require to be whole and happy, but they don't recognize it yet.

The story is about the journey from longing to need. From what they think they want to what they actually need.

But at the beginning of your book, your character only knows about the longing. They have a goal, a desire, something they're reaching for. And as far as they're concerned, achieving that goal will solve all their problems.

Spoiler alert: it won't.

Longing Is the Short-Term Goal

In practical story terms, longing shows up as your character's short-term goal. The thing they're pursuing in the opening chapters of your book.

Luke Skywalker wants to leave Tatooine and become a pilot. That's his longing. Getting off that dusty planet feels like freedom to him. It feels like the beginning of real life.

Shrek wants to clear all the fairy tale characters out of his swamp and be left alone. That's his longing. He thinks solitude equals peace.

The journalist in The Woman in Cabin 10 wants to write a big story about the cruise and gain professional recognition. That's her longing. She thinks success will validate her and make her feel secure.

Notice something? Each of these longings makes sense given the character's identity. Luke sees himself as wasted potential stuck on a farm. Shrek sees himself as a loner who doesn't need anyone. The journalist sees herself as someone who has to prove her worth.

The longing grows directly out of the identity.

Why It Feels Like Sanity

Here's what I've learned after 85 books: your character has to believe their longing is not just desirable, but necessary. For their own sanity, they need to be where they are, wanting what they want.

This is important for two reasons.

First, it makes your character believable. Real people don't casually want things. We convince ourselves that our desires are justified, that we need them for good reasons. Your character should too.

Second, it sets up the change that's coming. If your character is ambivalent about their goal from the start, there's no arc. The whole point is that they're wrong about what they need, but they don't know it yet. They're absolutely convinced that achieving their longing will make everything better.

They have to believe it. Or there's no story.

In the next Writing Wednesday, I'll go through part 2 of 3 dealing with Longing.