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The Five W’s of Writing
10 years ago
"A man is about as happy as he makes up his own mind to be." - A. Lincoln
Been asked over the last year to beta-read/play editor on three major stories. SciFi, Supernatural, and Furry (non-X-rated).
I’ve been told that I come across as being fair and insightful. That and been accused of ’trying to be like (the fictional character) Spock or (the late actor who played him) Leonard Nemoy’. Oh yeah, charismatic too.
Okay, that said, in Real Life I’ve always tried to be rational in my thinking. When beta-reading or playing editor with someone’s written work I use the Scientific Method of dealing with it. It also works when looking at an artwork. Check out “Scientific Method” up on Wikipedia for an idea of what it entails.
Over the years in reading up on How To Write/Create a Story I’ve analyzed the basic elements of story writing as telling a story about a main character having to solve one main problem. That’s it.
Little Red Riding Hood on her trip to Grandma’s House has to deal with the Wicked Wolf. Luke Skywalker takes on the Evil Empire, Romeo wants to hook up with his girlfriend Juliette despite his and her families’ feuding, and Robin Hood takes on the Evil Sheriff of Nottingham, a minion of the usurper to the Throne, Prince John. A story’s “problem” does not have to be BIG in scale or scope. It can be as mundane as getting your Boss or Teacher to be more fair, or your older brother/sister to play your favorite video game with you more often.
Recently I came across a labeling of the two types of story writers: “plotters” and “pantsers”.
The “plotter” organizes his story pretty much starting from the moment he/she commits to writing it. An outline that itemizes the major events of the story right up to the climax of the story where the Main Character solves the Story Problem, or the Story Problem “does in” the Main Character -- fini.
The “pantser” writer writes his/her story using the ‘seats of their pants’, that is, as they get to each decision point in the story, they make a decision themselves at that moment or relies on their fictional characters to make the decision for them. Reality Check please.
Plotters tend to continually ask themselves, as they craft their story, five simple questions: WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN and WHY
WHO - Identify the Main Character, show us why we (the Readers) should care if that character succeeds in accomplishing what he/she is trying to do (solve the Story Problem) or not. Readers caring about a character does not come automatically. It is part of the magic an author has to learn to exert.
WHAT - Identify the (Story) problem that the Main Character is trying to solve and not fluff-fill the story with a lot of words that have nothing to do with the main character solving that one Story Problem but are wicked fun to write about (porn anyone?)..
WHERE - ‘The background’ said one artist, ‘is the other character in the picture.’ The same thing applies to story-telling. Location descriptions and the mood they set for a scene affects the reader; a bright sunny beach with laughing children gets across a different mood to the reader from the description of a foggy twilight-lit abandoned and decaying garden.
WHEN - When does the key points in the Main Character logically solving the Story Problem HAVE to happen in the story? Can they happen in another part of the Problem-solving?
WHY - What is the main character’s motivation in wanting to “solve” the Story Problem? Is that motivation so strong that he or she will not stop trying no matter what? Show that motivation.
If the main character of a story thinks trying to solve the Story Problem is too dangerous, too tiring, or there wasn’t a chance of him or her succeeding, then Luke Skywalker wouldn’t have caused the fall of the Evil Galactic Emperor. The Sheriff of Nottingham would have eventually risen to the throne of England. Juliette would have spent the rest of her life as a lonely spinster, and the Wicked Wolf not only would have “done in” Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother, but would have done terrible things to Red in that lonely cottage in the Great Forest.
Oh, and please try to come up with a motivation for the main character other than revenge for his/her parents being killed when their planet blew up, were killed in a city mugging, killed in a car/plane crash, died in a plague, etc.
If you can do all of that, then I would be glad to beta-read or edit your writings.
I’ve been told that I come across as being fair and insightful. That and been accused of ’trying to be like (the fictional character) Spock or (the late actor who played him) Leonard Nemoy’. Oh yeah, charismatic too.
Okay, that said, in Real Life I’ve always tried to be rational in my thinking. When beta-reading or playing editor with someone’s written work I use the Scientific Method of dealing with it. It also works when looking at an artwork. Check out “Scientific Method” up on Wikipedia for an idea of what it entails.
Over the years in reading up on How To Write/Create a Story I’ve analyzed the basic elements of story writing as telling a story about a main character having to solve one main problem. That’s it.
Little Red Riding Hood on her trip to Grandma’s House has to deal with the Wicked Wolf. Luke Skywalker takes on the Evil Empire, Romeo wants to hook up with his girlfriend Juliette despite his and her families’ feuding, and Robin Hood takes on the Evil Sheriff of Nottingham, a minion of the usurper to the Throne, Prince John. A story’s “problem” does not have to be BIG in scale or scope. It can be as mundane as getting your Boss or Teacher to be more fair, or your older brother/sister to play your favorite video game with you more often.
Recently I came across a labeling of the two types of story writers: “plotters” and “pantsers”.
The “plotter” organizes his story pretty much starting from the moment he/she commits to writing it. An outline that itemizes the major events of the story right up to the climax of the story where the Main Character solves the Story Problem, or the Story Problem “does in” the Main Character -- fini.
The “pantser” writer writes his/her story using the ‘seats of their pants’, that is, as they get to each decision point in the story, they make a decision themselves at that moment or relies on their fictional characters to make the decision for them. Reality Check please.
Plotters tend to continually ask themselves, as they craft their story, five simple questions: WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN and WHY
WHO - Identify the Main Character, show us why we (the Readers) should care if that character succeeds in accomplishing what he/she is trying to do (solve the Story Problem) or not. Readers caring about a character does not come automatically. It is part of the magic an author has to learn to exert.
WHAT - Identify the (Story) problem that the Main Character is trying to solve and not fluff-fill the story with a lot of words that have nothing to do with the main character solving that one Story Problem but are wicked fun to write about (porn anyone?)..
WHERE - ‘The background’ said one artist, ‘is the other character in the picture.’ The same thing applies to story-telling. Location descriptions and the mood they set for a scene affects the reader; a bright sunny beach with laughing children gets across a different mood to the reader from the description of a foggy twilight-lit abandoned and decaying garden.
WHEN - When does the key points in the Main Character logically solving the Story Problem HAVE to happen in the story? Can they happen in another part of the Problem-solving?
WHY - What is the main character’s motivation in wanting to “solve” the Story Problem? Is that motivation so strong that he or she will not stop trying no matter what? Show that motivation.
If the main character of a story thinks trying to solve the Story Problem is too dangerous, too tiring, or there wasn’t a chance of him or her succeeding, then Luke Skywalker wouldn’t have caused the fall of the Evil Galactic Emperor. The Sheriff of Nottingham would have eventually risen to the throne of England. Juliette would have spent the rest of her life as a lonely spinster, and the Wicked Wolf not only would have “done in” Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother, but would have done terrible things to Red in that lonely cottage in the Great Forest.
Oh, and please try to come up with a motivation for the main character other than revenge for his/her parents being killed when their planet blew up, were killed in a city mugging, killed in a car/plane crash, died in a plague, etc.
If you can do all of that, then I would be glad to beta-read or edit your writings.
Enjoy!
But these are very very good tips, Lionus. Thank you for it. ^^
Motivation is the psychological “force” that moves a character to take action in solving a particular Story Problem.
For example, a character can become a vengeful crusader trying to fight a particular evil in one story because his parents were murdered, but would be somewhat of a bore with that same motivation in a romantic story.
Hehe. Most characters I work with neither good nor bad. I like them to be grey. Maybe closer to white or black. :)
The why is to me the most important W.
I find the character with contradictions to be fascinating. A bad character (a villain) who while doing terrible things will make a generous donation to an orphan’s fund when no one is looking for example.
The Evil Auntie who provides a dish of candy next to the cups of poisoned tea she has made. Ghengis Khan who keeps one house from being destroyed in a freshly conquered city because it reminds him of his childhood home. The superhero who keeps a canary as a pet.
That is not to say that ALL fictional literature is going to be, or has to be, written according to a “standard” formula (aside from perhaps a BEGINNING - MIDDLE and END).
The 5 W's are merely a check list that writers of any genre might find profitable in being conscious of when writing least they lose their readers in what to them (the writer) seems obvious, but obscure to readers not privy to the writer's thoughts.
1. Weep
2. Weep
3. Weep
4. Weep
5. Weep
The American movie director once remarked that he ‘did not so much direct the actors of the movie as he did direct the responses of the audience pf the movie.’ The same thing might be said of the goal of any author.
V.
so thanks. By those lights, I usually consider myself a pantser.
I don't write a story, so much as let my characters tell it to me.
And quite often, I end up with a story that's nothing like what
I started out writing. And often, the story's better for it.
Though to assume there's totally no structure on my part
would be a mistake. I may not create any formal outlines
normally, but that's only because I've spent years
internalizing the Who, What, Where, When and Why. So
all through my writing, I'm unconsciously asking these
questions over and over again, as I write. And when I can't
answer one of them, I know something's wrong with
my story.
BUT since it apparently DOES work for a lot of writers, who am I to doubt it?
If you are internally asking yourself the 5 Ws, Serath, and making sure the answers are in your work, then your readers can only benefit by it.