In the last flogging I indicated a few "information questions" that, for me, were not good storytelling technique. My goal with readers is to raise "story questions."
So the writer of the piece rightfully asked for an explanation. Here is the material from my book, Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling, on that subject:
Story questions are created and raised by what is happening in the NOW of the story and need to be strong enough to force a reader to read on. They are “what happens next” questions.
- Will he get out of the trap?
- Will she be shot by the killer?
- Will the giant spider eat them?
An example:
When he grabbed Sheila’s throat, she bared her teeth, grabbed his shirt with one hand, and drew back her fist.
The story questions are: Will she hit him? Will he free himself? Will he hit her? What happens next? This is the kind of story question that keeps a reader reading. There's another valid story question that isn't what happens next but "why did that happen?"
Information questions are about something the reader can’t know. I have seen opening pages that had statements like this one:
Only Simone could have done what she did.
That would be okay if the narrative had let the reader know who Simone was and what she had done. Unfortunately, it hadn’t.
Here’s another example, an opening paragraph:
When they learn what has happened, the truth of it will own them. They will be completely overtaken by the raw reality of it. In that moment, everything else in the universe will become invisible to them.
In this case, the reader did not know who “they” was, nor what happened, nor the truth of it. The entire paragraph is fundamentally meaningless. Other examples:
- Reference to an unknown creature that hasn’t been mentioned: Raising his weapon, he blasted the articulated bandersnatch.
- Reference to an organization that hasn‘t been mentioned: The president vowed to stop the attack by S.N.A.R.P.
- Reference to an action that hasn’t been mentioned by a person who hasn’t been mentioned: Norman basked in the glow of his victory.
Withholding information from the reader to create a question does not increase tension, it can actually decrease tension and take a reader out of the story.
For what it's worth
Ray
© 2015 Ray Rhamey