No, GMC doesn't stand for "Great Mountain Climber."

At the root of any unforgettable work of fiction are unforgettable characters. Much goes into making them remarkable, not the least of which are three elements known collectively as "GMC": Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. These three concepts are distinct, yet inseparable.

G: GOAL. Your character needs something to strive for, which he must prove himself worthy of. This goal should not be easily attained, but rather earned through choices made under pressure and through change on the part of the character. The goal your character starts out with may not be the same by the end of the story.

M: MOTIVATION. Your character must have logical reasons for wanting that goal so badly he'll do anything to get it. I repeat, logical. If you?e going to have your meek librarian suddenly be willing to endanger her life for something, you? better make sure the reader believes she'd do that under the circumstances.

C: CONFLICT. A seemingly insurmountable "something," which will hinder your hero from attaining his goal; "something" which will force him to earn that goal; "something" which will force him to make difficult choices.

GMC can be internal or external, preferably a combination of both. External forces of GMC manifest themselves in a physical way. Internal forces of GMC come from your character's emotions. Heroes and villains burdened with both external and internal G, M, & C are the richest, most in-depth characters.

To get a handle on your characters' GMC, start with the "WANTS, BECAUSE, BUT" statement:

Joey wants (GOAL) ice cream because (MOTIVATION) it's hot and he has a few cents burning a hole in his pocket, but (CONFLICT) the neighborhood bully demands his money or he'll beat him up.

I, as a reader, would have trouble believing that Joey would fight the bully for a few cents and ice cream that's going to drip all over his hands in the hot sun anyway. Neither goal nor motivation is compelling enough to warrant a thrashing. Joey tosses his money at the bully and runs. The End.

Now let's add some things.

Skinny 12-year-old Joey WANTS to buy ice cream for the girl next door with his hard-earned lawn-mowing money, BECAUSE he has a crush on her and wants to impress her (and, what the heck, because it's hot), BUT the bully demands his money or he'll pound him.

Now what's at stake is more than melting ice cream and a few cents. We're talking money this kid worked his butt off to earn, and his budding male ego (not to mention the girl). His choices are a whole lot more complicated, now. He's afraid he'll look like a wimp and lose face in front of the girl if he backs down. He's afraid he'll literally lose his face if he fights back. He knows he's no match for the bully. However, now if Joey chooses to fight the bully, I might not believe he'll win, but I would believe he'd be stupid enough to try, and I would understand why he is doing so. It's the choice of a 12-year-old boy with his fragile manhood at stake, not just a kid on a hot day with nothing better to do than buy ice cream.

In your hero's quest, before he fulfills his heart's desire, there will arise many "sub- GMC's", all befuddlingly intertwined. It's your job to weave together all of the threads in logical fashion, tie them off neatly in the end, and to make doing so invisible.

How do you keep it all straight without going insane? Debra Dixon's elegantly simple chart, described in detail in "GMC: Goals, Motivation, and Conflict" (Gryphon Books ISBN 0-9654371-0-8), is a dandy GMC tracking device. An example follows, as applied to The Sad Saga of Joey and the Melting Ice Cream. I've given each goal a number. The numbers for motivation and conflict refer back to the numbered goals.

 

	EXTERNAL	INTERNAL
GOAL	1.Buy ice cream for girl and self   2.Impress girl   3.Not lose money to bully	4.Wants to be a hero; wants to be looked up to as a "man" (Self respect)   5. Father's respect
MOTIVATION	1. & 2.He has a crush on the girl   1. It's hot   3. He worked hard for his money   1; 3. impress girl	3.; 4; 5. Bully beat up Joey's younger brother while Joey ran away (last summer)   3; 4; 5. Father wants him to stand up for himself and others
CONFLICT	1.; 2.; 3.Bully threatens him   2.; 4. He's still just a kid   1.; 2.; 3. He's small and skinny	1.; 2.; 3.; 4; 5. Sees self as a coward and ineffectual   2.; 3; 4; (5?). Fears he'll look stupid to girl if he fights, win or lose (see, he already has an idea how women think)   1.; 2.; 3; 4; 5. He hates pain

 

Notice how internal and external intertwine; how the G, M, and C can be interchanged ("Impress girl" is both a G and a M) or confused. If in doubt, apply the "Wants, Because, But" statement to each goal and its related motivations and conflicts.

How important are "G, M, & C"?

Without a GOAL, there's nothing to move the story forward.

Without MOTIVATION, there's no reason for him to pursue his goal.

Without CONFLICT, there is simply no reason for the reader to turn the page.

Goal, Motivation, and Conflict give your characters depth, your scenes purpose, and you the means to analyze what works, what doesn't, and why.

And that's your goal.

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Author's note: Thanks to Debra Dixon for permission to use "GMC" as a source for this article.