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 an idiom (going out on a limb) and by asserting a premise without providing evidence (Every novel has a Story Question), I’m going to back up so we can talk about what and why.
WHAT:
If you’re going to believe me when I say that every novel has a Story Question, then we need to define what a Story Question is.
A Story Question is the underlying question that your main characters are wrestling with throughout your novel, from chapter one, page one – and that they’ve answered in some way by the time they reach The End. Your readers are also subconsciously wrestling with the Story Question, too, as they journey through the story with your characters, and as you, the author, pull them into the emotions and choices your characters face.
WHY:
Why is a Story Question so important to a novel? A Story Question fuels your novel, just like gasoline fuels your car – it keeps your story moving along. If your story stalls out, the problem often is that you didn’t “tank up” your novel with a Story Question. Oh, the Story Question is there – remember, every novel has a Story Question! – but you, as the author, haven’t taken the time to laser in on your novel’s Story Question. It’s as if you’ve put low-grade gas into your car. A Story Question is vital and it’s also never an easy yes or no kind of question – it often forces characters to choose between competing values. This creates tension both between characters and within readers. (And tension can be a good thing – keeps readers turning pages.)
My upcoming release, Things I Never Told You, delves into the relationships between the four Thatcher sisters: Johanna, Jillian, Payton, and Pepper – it’s a “Little Women gone” wrong story. And yes, I crafted a Story Question before I began plotting the book. The Story Question is:
Is family always worth fighting for?
Remember how I said that a Story Question is never an easy yes or no kind of question? When you consider “Is family always worth fighting for?” some people would say yes, some people would say no. Some people would struggle to answer the question at all because they are just too conflicted over it, thinking “I need to say yes, but I really want to say no!”
Next time I post, we’ll talk about Story Question some more – specifically how to discover your novel’s Story Question. And I’ll even take on a couple of classics (To Kill a Mockingbird, anyone?), and suggest possible Story Questions for them!
Things I Never Told You by Beth K. Vogt
It’s been ten years since Payton Thatcher’s twin sister died in an accident, leaving the entire family to cope in whatever ways they could. No longer half of a pair, Payton reinvents herself as a partner in a successful party-planning business and is doing just fine—as long as she manages to hold her memories and her family at arm’s length.
But with her middle sister Jillian’s engagement, Payton’s party-planning skills are called into action. Which means working alongside her opinionated oldest sister, Johanna, who always seems ready for a fight. They can only hope that a wedding might be just the occasion to heal the resentment and jealousy that divides them . . . until a frightening diagnosis threatens Jillian’s plans and her future. As old wounds are reopened and the family faces the possibility of another tragedy, the Thatchers must decide if they will pull together or be driven further apart.
Includes discussion questions.
Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Now Beth believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Beth’s first women’s fiction novel for Tyndale House Publishers, Things I Never Told You, releases May 2018. Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding Series by Zondervan. Having authored nine contemporary romance novels or novellas, Beth believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Novel Rocket and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people, and their youngest daughter, Christa, who loves to play volleyball and enjoys writing her own stories. Connect with Beth at bethvogt.com.