What does WTRR mean?

We don’t need to approve of a character, or their actions, to invest in them. We just need to recognise the internal logic that ties their values to the actions they take under pressure.

We can accept a character doing the Wrong Thing – an ethically dubious or outright harmful action – if we understand the values that underpin their choice and can see merit in those values. That’s the Right Reason.

Having your character – especially the protagonist – do the Wrong Thing for the Right Reason is a powerful writing tool.

Walter White in BREAKING BAD does increasingly reprehensible things – but in the beginning, at least, he believes he’s doing it for his family. Later on… not so much.

Michael Corleone believes that he’s doing everything for his family. Again, at least in the beginning.

Why is WTRR useful?

It adds nuance to your story, relatable complexity to your characters, and avoids simplistic outcomes.

Who can relate to someone who always does the right thing? There is nothing that interests me in a story about someone who does the right thing for the right reason with the right outcome all the time. Except for, perhaps, Lassie.

We all know we are flawed. We all learn more from our mistakes than from things we get right. Half the time we don’t even notice what we get right.

And even with good intentions, there are always unforeseen consequences. We’ve all had moments where an action we took with the best of intentions led to surprising – or disastrous – results.

That’s not even counting the times we fool ourselves into believing our motives are pure, when in fact they’re selfish, fearful, or compromised.

Life is unpredictable. The chains of causality twist and turn. What’s obvious in hindsight is often invisible beforehand.

Our characters should live in that same reality. That’s what I want to see in stories.

WTRR also creates multidimensional conflict, which gives your story more legs. How many variations can you ring on a story with clear-cut moral distinctions and nothing but one-note antagonism?

Don’t rescue your characters

Most writers I know – including myself – love our characters and want them to be loved by the audience. So, we use our godlike writers’ powers to keep them noble, honest and always right. They become saints, not living, breathing human beings.

And then we discover that our story is predictable, and our characters are two-dimensional at best.

So, what to do INSTEAD?

The secret to multidimensional characters is to give them strong values, then put them in a situation where those values clash. Force them to make either/or choices with significant and visible costs.

Get us to understand them, but not endorse them, by getting them to do the Wrong Thing for the Right Reason.

We can all identify with impossible choices. And by identifying personally, we can maintain a connection to the character without losing dramatic tension and without resorting to simplistic one-dimensional conflict.

Humanise your Antagonist.

WTRR is not just for your protagonist. It’s also an excellent tool for building richer antagonists and avoiding one-dimensional villains.

The job of the antagonist is not to be evil – it’s to challenge your protagonist to their core.

Give your antagonist a good value, then have them cross the line in acting on it.

Give them a mantra: “Whatever else happens, I must…”

“Whatever evidence people have, I must protect the Church.”

Let that good value drive them into destructive territory. You’ve built a visible contradiction into your antagonist, so you don’t have to pump up their nastiness just to provide conflict.

In a coming-of-age story, which is the bigger obstacle to a daughter’s maturity:

• A mother who constantly belittles her to make her stronger.
• Or a mother who will do anything to protect her from the dangers of the world?

Both can do the Wrong Thing for the Right Reason—just in different directions.

Find plausible unforeseen circumstances

Unforeseen consequences are where WTRR can help you distinguish protagonist from antagonist.

When unforeseen consequences arise for your antagonist, they plough on regardless:

“Whatever else happens, I must…”

For your protagonist, on the other hand, unforeseen consequences trigger a moment of anagnorisis—a sudden recognition that they’ve done the wrong thing, and must reassess and correct their course, whatever the cost.

This contrast between characters is dramatically powerful.

Some USEFUL questions

Empathy and identification

• When does a character’s wrong choice – if plausibly justified – deepen empathy?
• When does it alienate us?

Intentions vs outcomes

• When does acting in good faith become “the end justifies the means”?
• How visible must consequences be – for the character, for others, for us – for them to land?

Recognition and repair

• Does the audience understand the harm caused?
• Does the character?
• Does the protagonist get a chance to recognise and repair the harm? At what cost?
• Does the antagonist get the same chance? If they don’t take it, why not?

Power, culture, timing

• How do cultural norms and power dynamics tilt our judgement of what counts as a “Right Reason”?
• What values do you hold that shocked your parents? And what values do you hold that your children reject outright??

Questions like these keep your writing on its toes, shape your characters, and sharpen the dilemmas.