Story Questions?

What is a story question? It stems from one of two places. Either your story's theme or your character's goal. Because I'm always writing themes of love, my story question always stems from the character's goals.

All characters have Goals. That goal is meant to fill a hole inside them.  

You open the first chapter of a book and find a human being who believes they are lacking something crucial in their lives. Perhaps it’s the dream job, or the right social circle, or their mother’s approval, or maybe it’s love. Rarely do you enter the world of a character who finds themselves whole. A part is usually missing. For the next tens of thousands of words you will embark upon a journey with that character on a mission to fill that void.

Characters fill these holes in one of two ways; with either a Want or Need. There’s a difference. Remember when you were young and you wanted the fancy pair of jeans? But your mom took you to the thrift store or discount department store.

Think Brenda in 90210 -what? I'm Gen X. If you want Millenial shows do your own substack! 

Fresh from the Midwest, thrown in the dangerous waters of the Beverly Hills elite, and her working class parents couldn’t afford the patchwork, ripped jeans that cost the same as a car payment. But Brenda wanted those holey jeans so that she could fit in with Kelly and Donna. In Carol’s, Brenda’s mother’s eyes, there was a need for a new pair of pants for Brenda to wear to school and that’s what Brenda got.

Now if we watched that 20-year old episode we know what Brenda did to those new pair of jeans. She made holes in her jeans to fill her social void.

You might want a pair of Louis Vuittons today, but in the end you need a pair of functioning heels to go with that cute dress.

A want is a false goal, a red herring that throws both the reader and the character off the true course that will lead to filling the character’s hole. It takes some time and some bumps in the road before the character realizes their want is not likely what they need. The need perfectly fills the void the character has been experiencing.

Brenda's story question stems from her want of the jeans because she needed to fit in with that friend group. The jeans are a red herring that will become part of her Try Fail Cycle of obstacles to reach her goal. The story question for this episode would be Does Brenda find acceptance in her new friend group?

What is your character's goal? Will they get it is a yes or no question, and a valid question. That might be your main or A story question. But you can have more than one story question. Especially if you have subplots working.

In mysteries and procedurals like Castle or Law and Order, the dead body or the discovery that a crime has been committed is the main plot making it an A-line story question. The answer to that question that comes at the end when we learn who done it.

The main plot point is usually external.  

What's going on internally? What's going on interpersonally with friendships, family relationships, love relationships, or even taking care of self? 

Let's go back to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot. 

The A story will almost always be will Buffy defeat the Monster of the Week. Which is external.

In the Buffy pilot, her internal goal is to stay out of trouble and do good in school. She doesn't want to be the slayer anymore. So a great B story question for this episode is Will Buffy pick up her stake again? Or will Buffy stay out of trouble? 

Buffy fails spectacularly at achieving her goal. She does not stay out of trouble. She fails at both the A and B story questions in the first episode. She starts to slay again, but for a good reason. Her good deed is rewarded when she saves her new friends and is left trapped in a coffin with vampires closing in. You'll just have to tune in next week to see how it turns out!

TV shows don't get the same vitriol as when a book ends on a cliffhanger. And I think that's because of the Story Question and making sure to answer the main story questions by the end of the episode. Then you ask a new one at the end of the episode to get viewers coming back. 

We'll explore this Open Door method soon. In the meantime, do you know the story question, or story questions, of your current work in progress? Take a look at your character's goal. If they's goal is a want, be sure and base the story question on the need -which is the true goal. Formulate that needed goal into a question. Then be sure to answer that question by the end of your tale. You are free to leave subplots unanswered if you're going to address them in later installments.

Want a more in depth exploration of pacing, try out my course Page Turner Pacing: how to write a bingeworthy novel in 21 days at ineswrites.com/PTP for Page Turner Pacing.