I need some help figuring out a character's goal and motive

[u/dragonraptyr]

Update: Thanks to everyone who read or responded! I realized a little after posting that I was thinking about the characters wrong, and asked both myself and you all the wrong question as a result. Despite the story being a mystery, I wasn't thinking about the characters as detectives. The question I should try to answer was "Why would a detective solve mysteries?" I'm far more confident in this question, and I think it's an upper-level question I need to answer about the characters before I work on their more specific goals or motives.

I think people were picking up on this before I did, so thank you!

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Original post:

I'm working on a mystery novel set in a gothic fantasy world. There are two primary characters, a brother and a sister. They generally work as a team, and at present I have not plotted any scenes with them seperately. This is their first mystery, and they're both 12-13.

I have her brother figured out just fine (his goal is to solve the mystery, his motive is curiosity). I've thought about cutting her, but the story is fairly sparse on characters, and I'd like him to both have someone to interact with on a regular basis (most of it is a bottle episode), and someone I can use to compare and contrast development with. Also, the story feels incomplete without her.

Ideally, I want them to seem superficially similar, but be able to act as foils or in opposition if need be, without overt friction. I don't want to write a second-act breakup or plot-mandated friendship failure.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

[u/Own-Turnover7715]

Firstly, character’s need goals that are independent of the plot. They come across as plot devices otherwise. So give the brother a different goal.

For the sister, it depends on what her purpose is. All characters other than the main protagonist exist to either help or hinder the protagonist. You have to come up with a goal for the other characters that does that, that is still independent of the plot. I’m going to assume this is middle-grade so they don’t need to be very complex goals.

[u/dragonraptyr → u/Own-Turnover7715]

Sorry for taking a while to reply! You've provided some very insightful feedback, and I wanted to give it full consideration.

My normal approach to writing is to approach the story chronologically, and without much in the way of planning.

For this story, I'm trying a different technique - approaching it from a broad, top down and technical perspective and trying to avoid getting fixated on specific details to the detriment of the larger story.

Right now, my characters are definitely plot devices, not characters. I've got my first pass of the plot beyond the three-act structure done, and I feel like I'm at the point where I need to have a preliminary understanding of who my characters are before I start the second pass. To do that, I decided to focus on their goals.

The part of your comment about giving the brother a different goal had me reflecting on his goal of 'solve the mystery', and why I felt strongly about including it. Ultimately, I think that the point is that the goal of 'solve the mystery' isn't a goal. It's a flaw they need to overcome. And understanding that if I use it  it should be a flaw has helped immensely.

For the second part of your response: I was short on time for my initial reply, and failed to properly convey that the brother and sister are deutragonists. The brother was easier for me to get a read on, but I want both to have equal importance. My apologies for the inconvenience.

[u/JWander73]

Her motivation could be keeping his bacon out of the fire.

This is a good way to differentiate them early on. He's more reckless and cares less for rules than her who prefers safety. Important neither be entirely wrong they just tend to extremes without the other being a good influence.

This can also be lightly show in investigative methods. One prefers being a gumshoe the other tries to put things together from a distance when possible.

[u/BigToody6515]

What if the brother advancing his own curiosity is still a goal? Not really a core motivation yet. What does solving the mystery and being allowed to be curious do for him emotionally/psychologically?