What motivates them?

A while ago I talked about  Christopher Vogler's The Writers' Journey, based on Joseph Campbell's mythology studies, and I was reminded of that yesterday when I was checking the last batch of edits of Eyemind.

At some stage your main character Crosses the Threshold, finally accepts the Call to Adventure, and is plunged into the special world of the story.  But what persuades an often very reluctant hero or heroine to get involved?  Your characters must be motivated to get involved in what are usually difficult and dangerous adventures. 

Motivations can be broadly classed into five types :

Self-preservation - hunger, fear for their safety, self-defence

Love - a desire for sex, loyalty to someone, or pity for another

Worship - gratitude shown to someone, awe of a role model

Power - either destructively as in a dictator, or constructively in righting a wrong

Social urge - acting according to herd instinct, the desire to play or express humour 

Motivations are driven by emotions, and it is only when something happens that the main character has a deep emotional reaction to that they get involved in the the story.

In Eyemind, at the end of chapter one I have Keri getting caught in an art installation that contains subliminal messages.  She is given the option of withdrawing from her Intel contract, and refuses.  She thinks that the installation is art  corrupted in the service of a crazy, and she can't stand by and let that happen.

Make your characters' emotional involvement in the story strong and your readers' will be too.