Lately I have been having this problem where I can't finish a story because I can't stop describing the character motivations, and then end up trashing the story because the motivations I come up with are total trash to me and kill the story.
Any suggestions?
Think about the motivations ahead a bit. Know where the characters are coming from. Treat them as someone you know and get in their heads. If you know your characters and care about them a bit, then you should be able to describe reasonable motivations for them.
Yeah, what Scott said. You don't need to describe any of the motivations to the reader. Just so you know what they are, and are consistent, the reader will usually come along for the ride.
Trust the reader.
What Scott and Jeff said. Also? Lots of stories start off fine and then, for whatever reason, end up wandering off into the woods to be eaten by bears. Or at least that's a thing with some of what I write.
Want to spend some time wallowing in a Recommended Read? Pick one! Or two! Or seven!
You might try writing what your characters do and let the reader decide their motivations from their discernable actions.
Motivations, like character backgrounds, are something that the author should know more about than actually goes into the story (or so I've read - do as I say, not as I do). It's good that you're thinking about them, but don't drag the story down with too much detail. And if you really don't think that the character would do what you want them to do (e.g. why is this shy virgin suddenly demanding a gangbang from 27 bikers?), then you either need some intermediate scenes (to show her journey from shy virgin to gangbang queen) or a different plot or different characters.wF5lTy5CDpayEUbQ
Thanks all. That helps. Time to rewrite.
Ok, story is done. I think I have done a good job with the motivations.
https://
Write the story. Write the motivations, write the details, write everything. The when its done, go back and edit about anything you don't need.
I wroteca story one time and wrote that the female protagonist (a home health aide, caring for a temporarily bed ridden athlete) lowered the thermostat 20°. No idea why, but later in the story, the athlete pissed her off.
She took all the sheets and blankets off the bed leaving him laying on a bare mattress in his boxers. Of course the cold got to him fairly quickly which in turn served to warm things up.
Write first. Edit later.
I have issues similar to the OP, and have applied some of the suggestions others have made.
Here is something I tell myself to allow my characters to act with less motivation and to make less obvious choices:
My characters can be less analytical, calm, considerate, fearful, etc., than I am.
My characters can be more spontaneous, insane, kinky, ignorant, etc., than I am.
When reading, I don't second-guess everything a character does.
When writing, I shouldn't have to build an iron-clad basis for each action.
