A character who has a passionate desire

In Art in the Zen of Writing, Ray Bradbury says that all you really need for a story is a character who has a passionate desire. The character and the desire will generate the plot. So one of the first things I do is figure out what each character’s driving desire is, and I’ll freewrite on that. 

– from “The Soul Tells a Story: Engaging Creativity with Spirituality in the Writing Life” by Vinita Hampton Wright Loyola Press