by Beth K. Vogt, @bethvogt My last blog post focused on how every novel has a Story Question that fuels your story. Just a quick refresher: A Story Question is the …
Story Question, Story Question, Who has a Story Question?
by Beth K. Vogt, @bethvogt I’m going out on a limb here and making a blanket statement: Every novel has a Story Question. And now that I’ve started this post with …
The Starting Point for your Character’s Inner Journey
I am up north at the writing cabin this week, getting ready for next week’s Deep Woods Writing Camp. It’s gorgeous here, quiet and last night I was able to …
Step-by-Step: Storycrafting Process
My brother ran a ½ marathon last weekend. For him, this is a regular occurrence – he has a wall full of finisher medals from marathons and iron man competitions …
Extreme Book Makeover: Help! Why would someone pick up my story?
Make your reader care with the Story Question!
Why should someone pick up your story and read it – all the way to the end? We talked the last two weeks about having Story Stakes – or a reason your character should care about your story by giving your character something to lose. Last week we dissected the difference between High Concept and Low Concept stories (and how tell the difference), noting that High Concept stories are driven by high public & personal stakes, whereas Low Concept stories are fueled by the characters’ inner journeys, or the private stakes.
This week, we’re going to add another potent ingredient to the mix…the fuel for the inner journey of your character, the Story Question.
The Story Question is that question your character is asking as the book opens, ignited by the inciting incident and lingering in their mind throughout the second Act of the story. All the tidbits of truth your character discovers along the way contribute to the answer they discover at the Aha! Moment of the story, or the epiphany.