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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43533
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43533
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I think it's like this: a normal person wants a lot of things: a new car, a raise, sex, some peace and quiet...

When something dramatic happens, a person suddenly realises what's really important in their life. It sort of crystallises, and everything else becomes less important. For example, if there are rockets falling on my house, getting that new dress is not a priority.

The higher the stakes of your story, the more one goal is going to be important, while more everyday wants - not a priority. For example, Frodo is stuck with the Ring, his goal is now "saving the world". There are things he wants, like coming home alive after saving the world, but those are not a priority compared to the magnitude of the goal. (And Frodo slowly realises that his is a one-way journey. He still wants to come home, but doesn't believe it's going to happen.)

If the stakes of your story are lower, it would make sense for the protagonist to want more things - he doesn't need to be so single-minded. For example, it would have made sense for Harry Potter in the first books to want to learn magic. I mean, magic is awesome and new to him, he's just discovered this whole world, as far as he knows Voldemort is gone (so no grand goal). Or he might have wanted to succeed in Quidditch. Instead he's busy wanting only his parents. (Not saying he can't also want them, but he should have wanted more things besides.)

* * *

Or you can look at it differently. You're not really recounting events as they are - you're telling a story. That is, you're taking the events, and stringing them in a way that makes narrative sense. You're putting themes that are important in the spotlight, you are omitting things that are unimportant to the narrative. (See [The Law of Conservation of Detail](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLawOfConservationOfDetail) tvtrope.)

So wants that lead to nothing are omitted. On the other hand, wants that are important to the story are strung together in a way that makes some thematic sense. For example, as @Wetcircuit points out, Luke Skywalker wants adventure. Everything that follows fits into the overarching desire for adventure.)

If we accept this premise, it's not that the character has no wants, it's that we choose to tell the story focusing on one overarching desire, because it creates a more focused narrative.

Original score: 5