on Fiction University:

I’m the first person to heap trouble and pain upon my characters (bwahaha), but even I know there’s a limit to how much you can dump on a poor soul before they just give up. And we need our characters—especially our protagonists—to keep going when things are at their worst.

When we create our story people, we typically focus more on their problems, flaws, and the things that make them unhappy, because that’s where the best conflicts and plotting opportunities come from. But it’s also important to consider what will make our characters willing to go through all those horrible things we throw in their paths.

Which is totally what they care about and what’s important in their lives.

These are the memories, people, or even possessions that give them the strength to persevere when everything and everyone is against them. It might be a trusted friend, or an heirloom with sentimental value. It might be a bit of wisdom from a relative or mentor. Big or small, relevant or not, there will be things in a character’s life that they’re thankful for, even when everything else in their life is crap.