Ellis Beck: Running away and coping with problems both sound like active expressions of a character’s needs to me.

Oh, I just figured out how to get unstuck on this manuscript. My protagonist wasn't moving towards anything so I just need to throw everything out and start over. Well, better to figure that out at 9000 words than 109,000 words.

Do you mean internally or in terms of plot?

I mean she was just running away from things and coping with problems, not moving towards an immediate goal. "Make your character want something, even if it's only a glass of water." -- Kurt Vonnegut

Running away and coping with problems both sound like active expressions of a character’s needs to me.

They generally don't do as good a job of driving the plot and engaging readers, in my experience, as moving towards a goal.

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