The one question you should be asking as you write your book

The power of asking why

I know I said I’d be back this week for part 2 of my genre series, but I’m still in study mode, it turns out. Who would’ve thought that big craft-heavy articles don’t just write themselves and come pouring out? 😏You’ll have to wait one more week until you learn all about crafting suspenseful mystery/thrillers.

Until then, I wanted to switch gears for a second and talk about something else I’ve been thinking a lot about as more writers drift into my life looking for help. So here goes…

If you’re a writer, chances are that a part of you is driven by curiosity. You’re seeking to understand the world, the way people work, human behavior, and even how your story fits in with the stories of others.

Maybe you’re curious about what the world would be like without spoken or written language, and so you set about writing a novel to answer that question. Maybe you’re curious about what it might be like to live as a woman thrust into a spotlight against her will. Or you’re eager to explore the psyche of a serial killer. Or a family that loses everything and has to find their way back to each other.

The question of what if drives so much of the fiction that we read.

And yet…I’m not convinced it’s the best question to ask yourself as you write. It’s a great spring-board question, sure. But there’s one better question that will sustain you as you write, from your heart and motivation to the narrative taking shape on the page:

Why?

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been curious about why things happen. Why that boy was angry. Why that high school couple broke up. Why those people were fighting.

I remember my mom singing How much is that doggie in the window to us, and when she got to the line that said, “I must take a trip to California, and leave my poor sweetheart alone…” she sang it as “We must take a trip to California, and leave poor Daddy all alone.” And, though it’s far from the point of the song, I always asked her why? Why can’t Daddy come to California? Why do they have to leave him all alone?

Asking why helps us better understand the world and especially why people behave the way they do. Our brains are constantly trying to process, sort, apply meaning to stimuli, and there is nothing murkier than human behavior. Why? Because we cannot ever truly know what is happening in the mind of another person.

So, it all starts with why?

Let’s explore all the ways asking why can help improve your writing.

Why do you write?

This question, when you’re able to answer it can sustain you in your writing practice. It is essential to understand what calls you to the page, and how you can tune into that why to keep you going when things get hard and you don’t feel like writing.

Do you write because it’s your way of connecting with God or the divine? Do you write to help yourself understand things? Do you write for your kids? To develop a legacy that you can leave to them? Do you write because you want to know yourself better? Do you write to escape?

There are a million reasons that one might feel drawn to the art of writing. For me, it’s about connecting with my source of creativity. It makes me feel alive, and allows me to escape from the millions of things that are swirling around my head at any given moment. It’s because I want to create beauty and meaning and make people feel. I write because I want to feel. And because I want my kids to see me doing something creative and following dreams and doing things that bring me joy.

And everything I just wrote is what I remind myself of when I don’t feel like writing. Or when I’m struggling to get up in the morning to get going on my revision. Or when I feel discouraged about the book industry or the speed at which I write. Or when I think my story is complete and utter garbage and I want to chuck it all out and quit.

I come back to my why to keep me grounded.

Because writing is tough. It’s painful, sometimes, even. But if you’re doing it for a good reason, one that comes from a deep, longing to create something, or to connect to a higher part of yourself, then try to focus on that when the going gets tough. Come back to your why.

Why are you writing this?

Next, up, we are going to narrow our question of why to the project you’re working on. While the question of why do I write can sustain you in general, the question of why this project can help you make it through the bumpy patch as you navigate the mess of making it through a whole book. Or as you muck through a revision.

Why must you tell this story? What about it has drawn you to it? Why can’t you let it go? Why does it matter to you? This why is often deeply tied to what motivates or frightens or angers you. It’s tied to the point of your story and the message you want to impart to the world.

My why for project I’m revising, for example, is that, as a twin, I’ve always wanted to write a twin book. But not just another Sweet Valley High or a book that perpetuates twin stereotypes, but one that shines a light on the individual experience of being a twin. A singular perspective. A book that gives a voice to the sort of sibling rivalry and unwanted comparisons that people draw about twins. And I wanted to write about second chance love because I know it firsthand. I want to write about forgiveness and the bonds that connect children and how those bonds morph into young adulthood.

So as you sit down to write or revise a project, asking yourself why this project can help you zero in on the heart of your book—the book’s point—as much as it can also sustain the writing process. When you feel passionately about something, you’re more likely to stick with it, right?

Asking why is your ticket to pocketing that passion and carrying it with you throughout the difficult task of writing a whole darn book. It also will infuse page if you let it. If you’re driven by your “why,” and it’s a deep, meaningful one, it will draw readers to it. People don’t just buy the “what” that you’re making. They’re buying the why. Probably because they have the same burning desires, questions, fears inside themselves that they’re seeking to understand. So if you let this why sustain you as you write this book, and you let it bleed onto the page, I promise you and your book will be better off for it.

Why now?

We are going to shift now to the why questions you can ask the manuscript itself, beginning with why now?

When my therapist sister onboards a new client, she starts with this question: Why now? Why are you seeking therapy now. Usually the answer illustrates the client’s need for things to no longer continue the way they have been continuing. It’s time for things to change, and for them to take action against whatever’s weighing on them.

You must ask your character(s) this same question: why now? What about this moment in time is going to make a story? What changes things for them, calls their attention so that they can no longer ignore the need to act.

This question is intimately tied to the inciting incident, or the catalyst. It’s the question that will ultimately kick off your character’s journey. So if you’re struggling with your beginning or wondering where to start your book, this is a good question to ask. Because the pattern of stories goes like this (according to Pixar):

1. Once upon a time there was (character)
2. Every day, (stuff happened). One day (something happened) _.
3. Because of that, ____.
4. Because of that, ____.
5. Until finally____.
6. And ever since that day____.

Your “why now?” Well, that’s in the second part of item #2, and it’s an absolutely essential piece of the story. Your character is going through their day-to-day, living in their ordinary world, until something happens. Something that changes everything, that sends them off on a new trajectory.

That “why now” is what will make it a story.

Why do they do/think/feel like that?

A year ago or so, I was listening to a conversation between a published author and her editor. The editor was brought on to give tips and tricks to writers, and one of the things they spoke about were the most common notes, or pieces of feedback, she gave the author.

The number one comment she gave the author was “Why?” Why is the character doing that? Why does the character feel that way? Why do they think that?

Asking your character that question as you write will be tantamount to writing great interiority…which is the direct connection between your character and readers. Making it clear why a character is thinking or behaving a certain way lets the readers into the story. It allows them to understand a character, to deeply know them, to experience life through the character’s eyes.

If there’s not enough why on the page, you risk losing your reader. They might feel left out, like they’re missing something. And it makes events, choices, dialogue, too random, out of the blue.

When I’m giving feedback on a client’s submission, why is one of my most common questions, too. Readers hate feeling disoriented or confused or left out. So the trick is, not only asking yourself that same question as you build your scenes—making sure to put the reason behind a character’s thoughts/beliefs/actions on the page—but also tuning into places in which the character says or does something and checking to make sure the answer to that why is clear.

In other words, ask it while you draft. Ask it as you revise. Especially as you analyze places of action and dialogue. Ask it, then make sure it’s answered.

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So there you have it…The most important question you can ask as a fiction writer. Get curious, writers, ask why. Explore yourself and your characters and let those answers carry you through as you write your book.

Happy Writing!

Karyn