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"But...why?"

"But...why?"
It's a question I must hear at least 200 times a day from my three year old daughter.  She's not happy with my response until I've dug up the root of the answer and waved it in her face.
Whilst it might be tiresome, it's also a question which any writer has to constantly ask of themselves: "But why?"
I spent a lot of time asking that question before I started my novel.  Years, in fact.  I had a lot of answers floating around in my head.  All of them there.  None of them connected.  Then I started writing, so at least I could start to join the dots together.  For the first 40,000 words or so it worked okay (the opening chapters are focused on two main characters whose backgrounds and motivations are entrenched in my mind).  Then, as a raft of new characters entered the fray, I found myself wading through treacle.  Why are they anti-establishment again?  Why would they risk their life for that?  Why would they know each other?
Luckily, a helpful talk at my local writers group on character development (thanks Mandi) set me back on the right path.  Over the last month I've halted progress on my novel and gone back to asking "but why?"
I have focused my attention on writing a character synopsis for each important character so that all my disparate ideas are finally together for appropriate scrutiny.  It's been an essential task and one I should really have completed a long time.
And I'm not finished yet!
In the novel the political background is reaching boiling point and I need to know who will support who and why, and this means also having an idea of the family history and previous feuds and tensions (which have no bearing on this novel, but may well be relevant in the future).
So once my daughter has finished asking me, "but, why?", I open up my notebook and start asking myself the same question.  "It just is!" is not an answer my daughter will accept, and so I'm fairly certain it's not an answer my readers (yes - plural - I'm optimistic) will! 

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