Vu Tran - A Taxonomy of Desire

As writers, we often say that good characters must want something important, that they’ll only come to life if we make their desires convincing and compelling. But what exactly do we mean by desire? Given overlapping motivations, goals, urges, compulsions, needs, etc., how do know we’re focusing on the right ones for our characters and writing about them in the right way?

In this talk, we'll take a more personal approach to these questions,  defining and categorizing all the desires our culture has given name to. This taxonomy is more subjective than scientific, an encouragement for you to create one for yourself. When we can organize the nuanced and elusive ways we want things, we can see the deeper complexity and humanity of our characters while expanding the palette we use to paint them and their desires.  

VU TRAN is the author of Dragonfish, a NYT Notable Book, and a forthcoming novel, Your Origins. His other writing has appeared in publications like the O. Henry Prize Stories, Best American Mystery Stories, Ploughshares, and Virginia Quarterly, and he also guest- edited (with Thi Bui) the Spring 2025 issue of McSweeney’s. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award and fellowships from the NEA, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Bread Loaf. Born in Vietnam and raised in Oklahoma, Vu completed his MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and his PhD at the Black Mountain Institute. An Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Chicago, he is director of undergraduate studies in creative writing.