We are all familiar with these guys, the plot motivators; they make up who we are as human beings. No one likes to admit to possessing these qualities, these hush-hush personality traits, which some consider being character flaws and try to hide them, like catastrophic diseases.

Yes, I'm talking about one of them, a Sense of Survival, the theme that is currently making television history, the reality program that is illustrating to the world that survival rules. Of course our example deals with humans pitted against the environment and the lengths our species will go through in order to physically survive. But what about the psyche? What lengths would it go through in order to preserve the emotional self? Self-preservation is the first principal of our nature, said Alexander Hamilton. I think that once you have wrestled with environmental survival, you, the writer, can delve into the realm of emotional survival. When you think of it, this theme provides a gold mine of ideas for the storyteller. Throw into the mix the same sub-plots the television reality programmers do; deception, conspiracy, authority, making amends, suspicion, et cetera, et cetera. You get the idea.

Which leads me into talking about Ambition as a plot motivator; the two seem to go hand in hand. In our world of where conformity, maintaining the status quo and 'taking your place in life' seems the norm, ambition to be different enough to change all of that is an oddity and yet that's how we are created -- different. Except for twins, triplets, etc., and I have my doubts about them, there are no two of us alike. Themes using the sense of ambition motivator are terrific minefields of story ideas. Spice it up with the same survival sub-plots and you have an effective story to tell. One example that comes to my mind quickly, as I write, is Ayn Rand's "Fountainhead", a novel whose theme deals with conformity and it's destructive influences.

Another motivator akin to survival and ambition is rivalry. Now that is a bouncy kind of word to describe what really makes us tick! It even shows up in our communications with one another. I have e-mail tucked away in my files that reflects the power rivalry can wield in its most basic form. These e-mails seem innocent enough and yet they are rivalic in nature. (My dictionary says that there is no such word as rivalic but it sounds so good that I think I will keep it in. Anyway, I justify that by saying that the duty of the writer is not only to weave stories around concepts but also to invent the words they need to illustrate those stories.) My brothers, two of them, and I have an E-Mail War going on, which deals with our gardens. "My tomatoes came in early this year and that gives me bragging rights," one brother wrote. "I don't know why you two can't grow cucumbers, mine are crawling all over the place," replied my other brother. "My roses are profusely gorgeous and huge this year," I wrote back. "Well, if I can't eat it, I don't grow it," the other two replied. And it goes on and on, growing year after growing year. So, on a small scale, like rival gardeners, to a large scale, like the television program, "Survivor", rivalry works. Along with a sprinkling of sub-plot spices that I mentioned in survival and ambition; rivalry as your theme works even better.

TRIVIA:
Tramp rivals tramp; singer rivals singer. And so it goes. (Hesiod -- 8th century B.C.)

EDITOR'S NOTE:
Next month I will delve headlong into the world of the theme enhancers that give richness and fullness to your storytelling. Contact us on site; http://www.4pointspress.com or direct your email to the Editor.