Character Wants and Needs

Characters should have both wants and needs, but it's sometimes hard to tell which is which.

Let's suppose your character is an aspiring politician. They want to be elected as a Member of Parliament. The reasons behind that want are the need - they need to have power over others to hide their own self doubt, they need to win to gain the approval of a never satisfied parent, they need to show the bullies at their secondary school that they can succeed.

Your character, in the telling of the story, might gain their want, but not satisfy their need - for example, they become an MP but realise they don't have any power, or the parent still isn't satisfied or the bullies don't care.

They might lose their want, but gain their need - for example, they lose the election but realise that they'll have more power outside formal politics/they don't need to have power over others, their parent says they're proud of them, the bullies are humbled.

In An Officer and A Gentleman (oh yes, I go for the most high brow examples) the Richard Gere character, Zach, wants to become an officer to gain the respect of others, but what he needs is to learn to become a team player and not to just look after himself. He wants to get the fastest time on the assault course because he wants to win. Towards the end of the film he tackles the assault course but when the finishing line is in sight and it is certain he's going to get the record, he stops to help a struggling team mate and they cross the finishing line together. He loses his want - the record - but gains his need (friendship, he's no longer alone), and in turn gains his other want that of truly deserving to be an officer and a gentleman. Oh, and he gets the girl...

Cue music, the factory, the hat, the uniform...