SKU: 8828325689

What Do Your Characters Want? Using Highly Motivated Characters to Drive Stronger Stories

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Description

What Do Your Characters Want? Using Highly Motivated Characters to Drive Stronger StoriesAll genres have traps, inherent weaknesses that writers can fall prey to if we arent careful. Maybe your literary fiction has beautifully dimensional characters, but not a lot going on. Or maybe your thriller has a high octane plot, but the characters seem too archetypal or forgettable. These might seem like opposite problems, but the solution is the same: Its time to stop thinking of plot and character as separate elements and start using your

All genres have traps, inherent weaknesses that writers can fall prey to if we aren’t careful. Maybe your literary fiction has beautifully dimensional characters, but not a lot going on. Or maybe your thriller has a high-octane plot, but the characters seem too archetypal or forgettable.

These might seem like opposite problems, but the solution is the same: It’s time to stop thinking of plot and character as separate elements and start using your protagonist’s motivations to fuel the engine of your story, driving the action and enhancing the theme.

In this OnDemand webinar, you'll learn how to leverage your characters' goals and desires from Page 1 to get readers to quickly invest in their journeys, eager to come along for the ride. With plenty of examples from bestsellers across genres, you’ll see how focusing on character motivations as a guiding principle can not only bring your story’s central players to life, but add propulsion to your plot, raise and complicate the stakes, and elevate the themes of your story. 

What will You Learn:

  • How your characters’ motivations compel readers to care about them
  • How to minimize backstory to just the right details to maximize impact
  • How your characters’ strengths and flaws should relate to their goals
  • How to juggle multiple points of view, each with their own driving motivations
  • How to use shortcuts to access the heart of a character
  • Why the most relatable characters want very specific things that still feel universal
  • How to build tension through characters' conflicting desires
  • How character motivations might look different with unreliable narrators
  • How to leverage your primary and secondary characters' relationships for enhanced authenticity, complexity, and staying power.

Who Is This Webinar For:

  • Fiction writers whose work-in-progress takes too long to gain momentum
  • Fiction writers working on an outline or story plan that feels disjointed or incomplete
  • Fiction writers who feel their characters are generally stronger than their plots, or vice versa
  • Fiction writers who are struggling with pacing and can’t identify why
  • Fiction writers who feel stuck in the “muddle in the middle” of their story
  • Fiction writers in the drafting stages of their novel, looking for direction
  • Fiction writers in the revision stages who need clarity on what isn’t working
  • Fiction writers who’ve been told the ending of their story isn’t satisfying the reader

Instructor:

Jessica Strawser

Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large & columnist for Writer’s Digest, where she previously served as editorial director. She is the USA Today bestselling author of seven popular book club novels, including Almost Missed You, Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month bestseller), Forget You Know Me, A Million Reasons Why, The Next Thing You Know (a People Magazine Pick), The Last Caretaker, an Amazon Editors’ First Reads selection, and Catch You Later, brand new in October 2024. She has written for The New York Times Modern Love, Publishers Weekly, and others, and is a popular speaker at writing conferences. She lives with her husband and two children in Cincinnati, where she received a 2024 Individual Excellence Award for her fiction from the Ohio Arts Council. Find her on Facebook and Instagram @jessicastrawserauthor.

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SKU: 8828325689

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AJ1983
Houston, US
★★★★★ 4
Great buy
Size: 2 Count (Pack of 1), Style: Pack of 2
Easy to track balls. My dog loves them and I like that they whistle when you throw them cause some times my dog loses track of it in the air. This helps because they can hear where it's going. Will buy again.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2026
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Staci
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
My Dog's Favorite Balls
Size: 2 Count (Pack of 1), Style: Pack of 2
My dogs love these balls and won't play with any others. My lab has to carry the orange ball and track and retrieve the blue one. We have a system!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2026
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Jay
Natrona Heights, US
★★★★★ 5
Our perfect chew toy for a relentless chewer!
Size: 2 Count (Pack of 1), Style: Pack of 2
We have looked high and low for a ball that our Australian Shepherd couldn't destroy. Read on to find out why we are sticking with this one. We've used other Chuckit! products in the past to mixed degrees of success. We absolutely love the ring fetch toy, though the dog can destroy those rings in a couple days. We tried other "nearly indestructible" balls only to have to throw them away within a couple days because our dog had destroyed them and left small pieces around the house for the baby to find. We have been COMPLETELY satisfied by these balls. They fit with the Chuckit! stick, which is a great bonus, but the most important thing is the dog hasn't been able to get pieces torn out of them. His orange one is his "indoor toy" and he's been going to town on it for weeks without any indication of wear. We periodically inspect it and are always floored to see that it's generally in the same condition as when we gave it to him. The orange color did fade a little when he left it outside for a few days in the sun, but considering how well it works otherwise, this didn't concern us at all. The "whistling" aspect of this ball is... well, an interesting gimmick but I wouldn't buy it if that's what you're interested in. Sometimes it makes noise in flight, other times it doesn't. We don't care. He chews it until he's tired of it (which is usually hours) and it squeaks and squorks on his teeth which keeps him happy as a clam. We honestly didn't think we'd find a ball that could keep up with his chewing, but this one has been phenomenal. We cannot recommend it enough!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021
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RR
Phoenix, US
★★★★★ 5
So Far So Good
I adopted a young adult dog less than 2 weeks ago. She had spent over 12 hours a day in a crate and has excessive energy and anxiety built up. She is a strong chewer. So far, out of 6 toys, this is the only one still in one piece. It appears sturdy and extra bouncy. So much better than regular tennis balls.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
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Lisa B
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 5
My dogs favorite!
My dogs love these! They will play all day if you'd let them, these balls are their favorites. I use the chuck-it handle and they get tons of exercise in the big yard!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2026

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