Questions + Clarity = Interest

Among the basics of popular storytelling is the benefits of creating questions in the readers' minds, then guiding them toward the answers . . . without betraying the age-old addage: "Make 'em laugh. Make 'em cry. Make 'em wait."

Story Question

The central story question is the most important, for it holds the entirety of the acts and scenes together:

• Will the Apollo 13 astronauts make it safely back to Earth?

• Will Frodo destroy the ring before it consumes his will-power?

• Will Luke and friends destroy the evil Death Star before it destroys them?

Establishing a really good story question is the most essential work of the novel author, while simultaneously serving to provide the writer with clarity on how to ratchet up the tension and build the risk-vs-reward payoffs.

Anything short of a clear, easily-posed story question will only convolute the experience.

Sequence Question

A sequence is a series of scenes, and these are best served with a question of its own that drives the narrative, making it more and more difficult for the reader to stop reading:

• Will NASA devise a plan to decrease the carbon monoxide build-up?

• Will the people of Helm's Deep survive the onslaught of blood-thirsty orcs?

• Will the heroes make it to the Millenium Falcon and escape the Death Star hanger?

Keeping the sequence question in focus is key to ensuring we're on the edge of our seats, both the writer and the reader!

Scene Question

Last but certainly not least is the immediate issue at hand. Posing a scene question early and clearly will not only make the read more enjoyable, it will make the writing flow more easily:

• Will the Apollo 13 crew manage to fire the engines one last time and course-correct, or will they be doomed to a bad - and likely deadly - angle upon re-entry?

• Will the human and elven warriors survive the gulvert explosion that carved a huge gash in the defensive wall and rocked all of Helm's Deep?

• Will the heroes fight off the four pursuing TIE-fighters bent on destroying the fleeing Millenium Falcon?

It's fun to write action because it often provides the most accessible question types. Will the character escape the haunted house? Will the race car catch up to its rival? Will the fleeing civilians avoid disaster waiting for them down the road?

But story, sequence and scene questions are also vital for non-action tales. Romance, mystery, drama, comedy - pretty much every genre benefits from solid central questions that orient our attention.

• Will the girl and boy finally meet?

• Who is the murderer and how did they pull off that crime without leaving evidence?

• What happened in the past that led to the family flying apart, and what will it take today to help sew it back together?

• Will the ragtag group of hometown oddballs defeat the evil pickleball champions who lie, cheat and steal every time?

Good writers know how to do this with consistency, and this is often where style begins to separate writers from the pack.

Control the questions, control the story.