Percy’s Six Elements of Story: Human Urgency

[This is the second in a series of six posts that started on December 2, 2020. We’re exploring Benjamin Percy’s foundational elements of story as found in the opening of his book Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction.]

Human Urgency

Motivation that demands prompt action. This must be coupled with the narrative goal. Neither can stand alone. There must be a character who wants to achieve the goal and there must be some urgent reason for doing so. This reason is at the character’s core, it’s intertwined with who they are.

Ideally there are layers of urgency, multiple internal and external reasons why the character must accomplish the goal. These are called stakes. The stakes may be outcomes that are material as well as metaphysical—relationship, money, recognition, revenge, desire. The urgency is tied to who the character is, their needs, and he or she is willing to sacrifice to achieve these stakes—to sacrifice comfort, possessions, the stability of home.

Human urgency is the force that propels action.