I absolutely LOVED this scene from Tangled! Take a bunch of terrible, fearsome outlaws and watch them emote about the things they would much rather be doing than their bloody occupations. Hilarity ensues!
But what about characters in a book. Yep, they got a dream too. Whether its the nosy neighbor or the hero, each has motivation for their actions, reactions and prejudices. Now maybe you don't want to come up with a complex background for EVERY single person that walks on stage in your book. But even one sentence can make a walk-on part sparkle. Is the waitress at the diner a little blah and you need someone to egg on your heroine to stand up for herself? Let the waitress get a little snarky or pop some attitude and let it have the desired results. But while you're crafting the dialog, be thinking, "Why is she having such an attitude? Did her boyfriend just dump her? Did her cat get run over? Did her accountant just embezzle her trust fund?"
So get thinking and start plumbing the depths of your characters (real or imagined;) and find out the hidden dream of each. Whether the dream is actually mentioned in the story or not, it will give consistent motivation for that character.
Happy Reading and Happy Writing!
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