The first two parts of this series focused on using wants and needs to develop characters and laid out the basics of wants vs. needs. Now we’re ready to take a deeper look at needs and the human condition, which will help write better characters.
As we said in the previous blogs, plot happens as a result of the wants, obstacles and flaws. The character’s need acts as an underlying theme running throughout the story. It should be present from the start so the final scene doesn’t feel out of character. The theme should be a natural progression in the journey the character has taken and the lessons learned along the way.
The need is what lies beneath. It is what informs the want and the obstacles.
These character needs should be based on basic human needs—safety, shelter, food, freedom, respect, belonging, love. The good news is that Abraham Maslow, famed psychologist, already defined human needs in his aptly named Hierarchy of Needs.
In this hierarchy, Maslow names the basic needs of all humans and breaks them down into categories. As writers, we can use these categories to develop deeper characters whose underlying need falls on the chart. Maslow, in his original Hierarchy of Needs, breaks it down like this:
Physical Needs: air, water, food, warmth, clothing, sex, and rest or sleep. These are the things we need to exist.
Safety and Security Needs: security, safety (both physical and financial), law and order, health and wellbeing. (Curious Note: This category explains why we humans (and our characters) often rebel against change. It’s because the familiar feels safer, which fulfills a basic human need. It takes a lot to force change.) This is also the category that incites rebellion if this basic need is absent.
Love and Belonging: intimate relationships, friendships, trust, affection, belonging. This is how we connect with society and others.
Esteem: prestige and feeling of accomplishment from oneself and society, this includes reputation and respect, dignity and independence (Note: Maslow stated that children and adolescents require respect and reputation before self-esteem and dignity, which affects how stories are told for those audiences.)
Selt-Actualization: This is the highest category in the Hierarchy and refers to a person’s potential and self-fulfillment through creativity, personal growth or peak experiences.
Maslow labeled the first four levels as Deficiency Needs. In other words, when these needs are not met, it will drive people to attain them. It is the absence of these that promotes action in people and characters. These levels focus on innate and urgent needs.
The final level of Self-Actualization, which he called Being Needs, are different. They come after the basic needs or deficiency needs are met. Or at least that is what Maslow initially thought. In his early works, he believed the levels of needs were hierarchical—meaning they needed to be met in order of appearance (physical, safety, love, etc.). He later changed this theory by saying the levels were dependent upon the individual. Some may need a creative outlet before shelter or love. Others may need financial security before self-fulfillment. The differences allow for a variety of personalities and motivational drives. But within each individual, they will adhere to a hierarchical structure of needs, even if the order changes for each person.
Think of it like this: The longer someone lacks water, the thirstier they get and the more they need water. The same goes true for people who live in unsafe areas who are always on edge and alert for danger. Their need to be safe grows exponentially the longer they are trapped in that dangerous situation. The drive to fulfill their need for safety will continue to increase until the pressure is released through escape or fortification. The same is true for someone who experiences persistent hunger or loneliness or lack of shelter.
No matter what a person’s individual hierarchy is, primary needs remain hierarchical in nature. For the person who needs security before love, that need will not change. It must be met somehow, which gives a great obstacle for a romance novel. Establishing your character’s personal hierarchy of needs can offer insight into actions and reactions, and reveal great obstacles to overcome, especially if they are at odds with another character’s needs.
It also helps to keep in mind that these needs are not absolute. Finding water doesn’t eliminate the need for it later. It is an ongoing need. But finding water does allow someone the opportunity to then look for food or build a shelter. If you have ever watched Bear Grylls on any of his TV shows, you know that he tackles basic needs first, but not to complete satisfaction. Finding a few bugs keeps Bear going. He doesn’t fill his pockets with grubs. He knows he will find some other gross thing to eat along the way. But he does grab food and water where he can before he moves on, which is why his companions often find themselves transporting dead animals in their backpacks or pockets.
Needs operate like this in the real world too. We have a meal and then move on to the next thing on our list. Characters need to have real world issues that drive them. Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can help you embed basic needs into your character.
Obviously, scale matters. If someone gets a bit peckish (yes, I’ve been watching too much British television in quarantine) and they stop at a pub for a meal, the stakes are pretty low and don’t work as a major story need. But imagine if that same person was the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Alps, above the tree line, and needed to leave the safety of the plane to find food. Then hunger is elevated to a major need and turns it into a driving force in the story. It isn’t the Need in the sense of a character development need, but it is a major driving force in the story that arises from human needs. These are a great way to build tension and a driving force that pushes a character out of her comfort zone into action.
In most stories, the Need we refer to in relation to character development will appear higher on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, beyond the basic physical needs. But it depends the story. Some of the more basic needs can run parallel to the bigger universal need. For example, in the book Hatchet by Gary Paulson, Brian needs to find shelter and food to survive the plane crash. He needs to figure out how to stay safe while fighting off bears, wolves and the coming winter (the actual winter, not the winter in Game of Thrones). All of these baser needs support the major character Need of coming to terms with growing up and dealing with his parent’s divorce and the secret he carries. All of his needs (the basic needs and coming of age bigger Need) work together to create tension and plot. His actions develop from his human needs. The way he chooses to deal with those needs determines his character and ultimately defines the theme of the book, but more on that in the final blog in this series. First we need to finish talking about Maslow’s analysis of needs. Trust me, knowing a bit of psychology will help you write deeper characters.
In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the Deficiency Needs come with a built-in motivation factor. When a person is deficient in something, she needs to remedy that shortfall. If she is hungry, she needs to search for food. It propels her toward a restaurant or a rotting carcass (again, if you’re Bear Grylls). When those needs are met, the built-in motivation disappears. It is only when a person reaches the Being Needs, or the needs of self-actualization, that motivation increases when needs are met.
Basically, once your character meets all of her Deficiency Needs, she can move onto her Being Needs, where she will be motivated by her successes and progress. Her victories keeps her going, thus removing many of her obstacles and signaling the end of the basic story structure. Though Maslow did not cap a person’s story there. He believed in human potential and thought achieving the Being Needs allowed a person to not only reach, but go beyond, her full potential.
There is a reason most stories focus on the first four levels of Maslow’s Needs—they push characters into action and out of their comfort zone. They provide tension and goals. They are needs in the true sense of the word. But those needs are not THE NEED—the one that lies beneath the story and character development. They are not THE NEED that serves as a through line and theme for the story. We’ll explore that idea in the next and final blog in this series.