Story Thought of the Day

Here's something from my moleskine notebook from a few days ago:

To motivate a character from happiness, take away something that makes them happy, and they will go after it. Make it harder and harder to get. In the end, give them what they really want, not what they think they wanted. But only if they gave up something else in return. No victory without sacrifice. That is the holy math of story. No success without change.