Recently, I sat down to outline my second novel. After just a few sentences, I stopped. My villains are two brothers and a sister who are con artists. One of the brothers is the father of my main character and the plot is about how father and son face off. I knew where I wanted my plot to go but found I didn’t really understand my villains’ motivation. Until I did that, I couldn’t go anywhere with my outline.
Unless it’s a very minor character, I need to understand why my characters act the way they do before I can write about them with confidence. Saying the con artists do bad things because they are con artists isn’t enough. Real con artists have a motive: money, power, or some other kind of gain. I needed to figure out what was driving my villains and why.
To do that, I began outlining a scene which will never be in the book. This scene concerns the three siblings talking about a death in their family and how they can take advantage of it. Now I can shape their motives as they talk among themselves.
My novel is told from the point of view of the son, so the father’s, uncle’s and aunt’s motives will slowly be discovered through the story. But as the writer I have to have every character and his motives laid bare to me so I can figure out how to hammer together the plot.
Writing scenes which aren’t part of my novel is the best way I know to get a handle on a character that seems difficult. Not only can I uncover motives, but also perfect that character’s voice so she sounds unique.
For another opinion on the motives, read this article from Almost an Author.
What methods do you use to uncover your characters’ motives?
Sounds like a more remote section of Middle-earth, doesn’t it? It also goes by the far more ordinary name of Elakala Falls, but I prefer the name used on the map we got at Blackwater Falls State Park, where the falls are located. The falls are a series of four separate falls as 
The path to the first falls is easy to walk and clearly marked. We crossed the bridge as the first falls tumbled beneath us. Walking down the trail that parallels Shays Run, we were able to take photos of the falls. In the evening, we brought our kids back, and my husband experimented with different camera set-ups.
If you get a chance to visit Blackwater Falls State Park, don’t overlook the Falls of Elakala. Or the Elakala Falls. Even if you only reach the first falls, it is worth the hike.
Or at least some serious injury. 
Personal Note
What does a dog think when he or she goes for a walk?
In the days leading up to the solar eclipse, my husband mentioned how extraordinary the phenomenon is. The moon is the perfect size to block the sun and leave the corona visible. Both the sun and the moon are the perfect distance from each other. According to Wikipedia in the article “solar eclipse”, if “the Moon were in a perfectly circular orbit, a little closer to Earth, and in the same orbital plane, there would be total solar eclipses every month. However, since the Moon’s orbit it tilted at more than 5 degrees to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, its shadow usually misses Earth.” 
