Q is for Question

by Lillian Csernica on April 18, 2013

There are a lot of books out there on how to write fiction. Sometimes they focus on one particular type of fiction, such as the mystery genre. Other books are more general and reach for the loftier heights of literary technique. How do you write a good story? I’ve just shown you how.

You ask questions.

In science fiction, the two famous questions are “What if?” and “What then?”

In the murder mystery, you can ask the classic “Who done it?”, the more forensic “How done it?”, or the psychological/psychiatric “Why done it?”

Journalists know that every story, fiction or nonfiction, must contain the answers to five simple questions:

 Who?  What?  Where?  Why?  When?  and  How? 

 The questions are simple. What makes the difference is how clever you are at coming up with answers that will intrigue and entertain your readers.