Want vs. Need . . . or What Your Story Is Really All About

Every great story is in actuality comprised of two intertwining stories, the A Story and the B Story. The A Story is external, or the obvious physical actions happening outside the protagonist as they journey along. The B Story is internal, or the obscure (obscure at least at the beginning of the story though it becomes clear and evident by story's end) emotional underpinnings happening inside the protagonist while they endure through the necessary adversity of their plot.

If I told you plucky farm boy Luke Skywalker wants to join the rebel alliance to save the beautiful princess while thwarting the evil Empire's dominating plans to finish building a death star by stealing the death star plans so they can blow it up before its completion, well, that's Luke's A Story arc. And when I tell you our same boy Luke needs to learn the ways of the Jedi and trust in the mysterious Force to do it, well, that's Luke's B Story arc.

Take note of two simple words:

A Story = want.

B Story = need.

Luke WANTS to join the rebel alliance against the evil Empire.

Luke NEEDS to learn the ways of the Jedi and gain trust in the mysterious Force.

Three rules exist when it comes to A Story and B Story:

1. The B Story is necessary to complete the A Story.

2. The B Story begins shortly after the A Story starts.

3. The B Story resolves shortly before the A Story concludes.

As per our Star Wars: A New Hope example, it goes a little something like this:

1. Luke cannot make the impossible shot to blow up the death star without trusting in and using the Force to guide his shot.

2. Luke begins his Jedi training with Obi Wan after joining the rebel alliance against the evil Empire who murdered his Aunt and Uncle (and, because of Obi Wan's initial lie on Tatooine, Luke also believes Darth Vader betrayed and murdered his father).

3. Luke finally trusts in the Force and uses it to guide his otherwise impossible shot to blow up the death star.

If you want to envision it, think of a timeline of numbers 1 through 10. 1 is the very beginning of your story and 10 is its end. All the numbers between are the events of adversity your protagonist endures that produces change through character growth accompanied by lots of action. Now, if A Story starts at 2, then B Story begins somewhere round 3. And if A story concludes at 9, then B Story resolves somewhere round 8. Because the B Story is the internal character arc within A Story's external plot arc.

1. Once upon a time . . .

2. A Story starts

3. B Story begins

4. Stuff happens

5. More stuff happens

6. Then even more stuff happens

7. And even more stuff, whew

8. B Story resolves

9. A Story concludes

10. . . . and they all lived happily ever after, the end.

Want another example?

Sure!

Dorothy Gale is whisked away via tornado from the miserable black-and-white stasis of home she resents and finds herself in colorful Oz where she believes she and Toto have made it "over the rainbow" where she'll find true happiness. Only Oz isn't the wonderful world of cuddly kittens and wet-nosed puppies she'd hoped. Glinda Goodwitch gifts her a pair of ruby slippers for killing the Wicked Witch of the East then tells her to skedaddle down the yellow brick road because the Wicked Witch of the West blames Dorothy for murder and swears cackling revenge.

Dorothy's A Story is to get the heck out of dangerous Oz and get back home by meeting the Wizard in Emerald City.

Only problem being Dorothy doesn't appreciate her home . . . yet. Which is why the ruby slippers can't work their magic and transport her back home soon as she gets them, only she doesn't know that . . . also yet.

Until her B Story comes along via Scarecrow, Lion, and the Tin Man who eventually help her understand that she already has a home where she is loved.

After Dorothy melts the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda Goodwitch appears and informs Dorothy that she always had the power to return home but she needed to learn it for herself. B Story resolved through the teaching power of friendship, Dorothy clicks them ruby heels together while chanting, "There's no place like home" and is whisked away. She wakes up in her familiar bed, surrounded by her loved ones and with a new appreciation of home, and thus concludes her A Story.

Now, just because the three rules of A & B Stories state that B begins and resolves within the A doesn't mean there aren't hints and elements of the B Story before the A Story starts and after it concludes. That just means the purpose of the B Story is unclear until after the A Story kicks off, because just as the B Story's resolution is necessary for the A Story's conclusion, so too the A Story is necessary to catalyze the B Story into active prominence.

Luke Skywalker longs for a more exciting life, but he's denied by his Aunt and Uncle at every turn. This presents elements of his B Story before his A Story kicks off, but without the A Story shoving Luke into high gear by the Empire killing his Aunt and Uncle he would've continued longing and longing and longing on the farm without any feasible end.

So what makes a good B Story and how do you find yours?

Glad you asked!

Here are the ten most applicable protagonist B Story lessons learned:

1. ACCEPTANCE: of self, of circumstances, of reality.

2. FAITH: in oneself, in others, in the world, in God.

3. FEAR: overcoming it, conquering it, finding courage.

4. FORGIVENESS: of self or of others.

5. LOVE: includes self-love, family love, romantic love.

6. REDEMPTION: including atonement, accepting blame, remorse, and salvation.

7. RESPONSIBILITY: including duty, standing up for a cause, accepting one's destiny.

8. SELFLESSNESS: including sacrifice, altruism, heroism, and overcoming greed.

9. SURVIVAL: including the will to live.

10. TRUST: in oneself, in others, in the unknown.

These are not all the B Story lessons, obviously, because people are complicated creatures possessing a plethora of wants and needs, but they are the ten most prevalent. And to present the first elements of your B Story just pick one then show don't tell your protagonist lacking that particular necessary quality (Act 1). Over the course of their story (Act 2) they learn the true value of it because experience is the best teacher, then eventually (Act 3) they apply it to their fullest potential realized through earned character growth.

Let's do one more example for the sake of filling space.

In First Blood, drifter and Vietnam War vet John Rambo wanders into town and is accosted then arrested by the local tough guy Sheriff William Teasle. After suffering some undeserved abuse, John's fight-or-flight soldier instincts kick in, he punches his way out of jail and flees into the mountains with the angry Sheriff swearing vengeance in hot pursuit. John's A Story becomes waging a one-man war against the local Sheriff and his deputies eager to hunt him down to the bitter end, because John wants the war to continue. While John's B Story kicks into gear because what he really needs is to come to grips with the fact that he's not a soldier any more and the war he brought home with him is over whether he likes it or not. Eventually he does, John's B Story resolving through his surrender after a dramatic conversation with Colonel Sam Trautman who pounds the harsh truth into Rambo's thick skull by yelling, "It's over, Johnny!", though only after Rambo blows up half the Sheriff's town, then John surrenders his one-man war and he's taken away into military custody and his A Story concludes.

So how do you find your protagonist's Want? Simple. Your protagonist's Want is established through the Inciting Incident. After the Inciting Incident disrupts your protagonist's normal world no longer normal in as permanent way as you can make it, their Want should be clear and concise.

Luke returns home to find his Aunt and Uncle dead courtesy of the evil Empire. From that moment forward it's clear Luke WANTS to join the rebel alliance against the Empire and get revenge. Heck, he even says it out loud to Obi Wan. But he NEEDS to learn the ways of the Jedi and trust in the mysterious Force he doesn't yet believe in to do it.

Because Want and Need are intertwined just like A Story and B Story are intertwined.

One cannot exist without the other.

As a teenager you Want your driver's license. But you Need to learn how to drive first.

Simple analogy, yes, but it works.

As an impatient writer you Want to be a successful and published author NOW! But you Need to apply years of patience and discipline so you can learn to write well and finish that bestseller first.

But let's talk tragedies for a parting moment.

Maybe you don't want to write a "happily ever after" story. Okay. I'm a pessimist too. I'd give you a high-five but you probably have dirty hands and I don't wanna.

The defining difference between protagonist and antagonist (most times but not always) is that the protagonist eventually embraces their internal Need but the antagonist forsakes theirs while clinging to their external Want like grim death.

So have your tragic protagonist deny their B Story Need to the bitter end, or maybe even temporarily embrace it only to let it go through returning obsession of their A Story Want.

Leaving Las Vegas starring Nicholas Cage is a prime example of a heart-tugging tragedy. Alcoholic Ben Sanderson Wants to drink himself to death because his wife left him and his boss fired him and his only remaining friend is his next bottle. But he Needs to learn to love himself and put the bottle down for good.

Does he do it?

Of course not!

That's what makes Leaving Las Vegas a tragedy.

Ben forsakes his B Story Need to love himself enough to stop drinking and instead embraces his A Story Want of drinking himself to death.

Imagine if Luke Skywalker stayed at home instead of joining the rebel alliance, content with farming.

Or Dorothy Gale wandered off elsewhere instead of venturing down the yellow brick road to Emerald City, refusing to see the Wizard.

Or John Rambo chose suicide over surrender and went out in a blaze of glory.

Or Ben Sanderson gave up the bottle and turned his life around.

Completely different stories.

And all because they eschewed (or in Ben's case embraced) their B Stories.

A Story Want and B Story Need are the two most important elements of every great story and every great protagonist.

Without either, your story and your protagonist have no reason to exist.

Happy Writing!