External Quest vs. Internal Quest

In 2010 I had the opportunity to attend a writing workshop led by the amazing Linda Sue Park. The focus of her talk was a character’s quests. She explained that a character has two quests: external and internal.

The external quest is what the character wants.

The internal quest is what the character needs.

The two quests are never the same, and the character is often unaware of the internal quest, creating conflict. She then explained that the quest(s) the character achieves dictates the story ending.

If a character gets both what he wants and needs, it is a HAPPY ending.

If a character does not get what he wants, but gets what he needs, it is a HOPEFUL ending.

If a character gets what he wants, but not what he needs, it is a MORAL LESSON.

And finally, if a character does not get what he wants or needs, it is a DEPRESSING ending.

When teaching this concept to my eighth grade ELA students, I begin with familiar texts and video before moving on to more complex stories. This year my classes started with the climactic scene from Wreck It Ralph.

My students determined the following during their analysis of the story.

Ralph’s external quest is he wants a gold medal, so that others will finally accept him and see him as a good guy.

Ralph decides he needs to win a medal - click picture to watch scene

His internal quest is that he needs to accept himself for who he is and realize he already is a good guy. 

Ralph realizes his internal quest - click picture to watch scene

The climactic scene illustrates what Linda Sue shared at her writing workshop three years ago. It shows Ralph recognizing his internal quest. It is also a Disney film, so it provides me with both what I want (to view a Disney clip in school) and what I need (my students to grasp an abstract concept), which as my students can now tell you, gives us a HAPPY ending!

Determining a character's external and internal quests is a great exercise in the classroom and in your writing. Next time you sit down to work on your story, see if you can pinpoint your characters' quests.