Create a character with competing wants
See this course’s project requirements
An original 600–900-word story with a character want, obstacle, consequential choice, two revised passages and an editing note.
Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.
What to include
- Compose an original 600–900-word story or clearly stated accessible equivalent.
- Show a character want, meaningful obstacle and choice with consequence.
- Maintain an intentionally chosen viewpoint.
- Include two before/after passages and specific edit reasons.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Story causality: decisions lead to consequences.
- Craft: viewpoint and scene/summary choices serve the event.
- Originality: text is learner-created, not copied source fiction.
- Revision: evidence shows specific changes and their effects.
Want more background?
The idea in everyday life
Character description becomes useful when it predicts and complicates action. Instead of attaching labels such as kind or selfish, give Mira an immediate aim, another value and a habit that collides with the situation. Competing wants can both be understandable. No diagnosis or fixed personality category is required.
A revealing choice makes one want expensive to protect.
Create a character with competing wants — worked practice
A revealing choice makes one want expensive to protect.
Mira wants the display ready by five and wants Jo to believe she can work independently. She values accurate credit, but skipped Jo’s handwritten donation notes. Jo wants correct titles and to catch the 5:10 bus. Mira stacks the blank card beneath completed ones: that action conceals a problem. When Jo offers help, Mira says “I only need a minute” while gripping the drawer. The grip and delay show tension without naming an emotion.
1. 2.1 Create
Write Mira’s immediate aim, protected value and useful/limiting habit as separate entries. Supply one observed action that could reveal each; do not rely only on adjectives.
You should see: The two wants are completion and independence, not two synonyms for confidence.
2. 2.2 Create
Give Jo a compatible reason to be present and a conflicting deadline. Avoid making the second character obstructive simply because the plot needs a villain.
You should see: Jo has a legitimate bus deadline.
3. 2.3 Create
Write a four-line exchange in which Mira deflects help and Jo asks one practical question. Include an action with the blank card that changes what Jo can notice.
You should see: The card handling affects the exchange.
4. 2.4 Create
Change Mira’s priority: accuracy now matters more than looking independent. Rewrite her next action, retaining the same setting, so the changed priority is visible.
You should see: Mira now reveals the blank card or asks to see the notes.
What to finish
A two-character want/behavior sheet and two versions of the exchange.
Watch for this
Calling a character dishonest as a substitute for showing a particular concealment.
How can I tell I understand it?
You can change a priority and produce a different plausible action.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
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Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
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Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01
Read sensory imagery, precise nouns/verbs and purposeful description; original LifeStarter samples and exercises replace source activities.
Access: Public page text or PDF was opened and read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no signup required for reading.
Reuse: Linked for further study. All LifeStarter scenarios, samples, assets and assessments are original; no source exercises or artwork are copied.
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01
Read the public character section and its discussion of character/event relationships through the web reader; linked source exercises are not reproduced.
Access: Public page text or PDF was opened and read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no signup required for reading.
Reuse: Linked for further study. All LifeStarter scenarios, samples, assets and assessments are original; no source exercises or artwork are copied.
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