John Yorke, in his book on story structure Into the Woods (2013), sees ‘the problem’ as central to structure. He claims story shape can be boiled down to this:
- there is a problem
- the protagonists go on a journey
- they find the solution
- they return
- the problem is solved
There may be many problems your characters face through the course of the story, but there needs to be one that will take them the entire narrative to solve. To help you develop your work and create a strong story structure, it is crucial to understand what that problem is.
Another way of thinking of this is to look for the Major Dramatic Question at the centre of your story. This is the key question that forms in the reader’s mind early in the story, sometimes unconsciously, and propels them to keep turning the pages in search of an answer. It will reference the problem to be solved and is ideally a closed question that can be answered at the end of the story with yes, no, maybe, yes and no, or yes, but not in the way expected.
The major dramatic question does not have to be complicated, and usually isn’t. Let me give you some examples from manuscripts I’ve read. Literary fiction: Will Dominic achieve his dream of becoming a successful opera singer? Middle grade fiction: Will Tien and her brothers escape the pirate island? Memoir: Can Belinda overcome the grief of losing her partner and find new meaning in her life?
Now, did you notice that all those examples of the major dramatic question include reference to the central character? This draws attention to the link between story structure and character development. The problem that needs to be solved is not only an external one, but an internal one. The plot will be shaped as much by the emotional journey of the central character as it will be by the events of the story. The two are interlinked. Lisa Cron, in Story Genius (2016) writes: ‘The events by themselves mean nothing; it’s what those events mean to someone that has us compulsively turning pages.’ If your central problem isn’t connected to who your character is, you will struggle to make the story sing.
Think about what the major dramatic question is in your story. Remember, it is not an open question – how, why or what – but a closed question that can be answered with yes, no, maybe, yes and no. Start the question with can or will. There will be how, why or what questions that pique the reader’s curiosity, of course, but the major dramatic question is a structuring tool to help you plot the story, keeping it moving forward and on course. Your secondary storylines – subplots – will have ‘lesser’ dramatic questions of their own. If you have a dual narrative, you will have a dramatic question for each story strand, but you will also have one that encompasses both narratives.
In early drafts, writers are often discovering the story as they go and may not be thinking about a major dramatic question. That’s okay; that’s part of the process of developing a work, which takes many drafts. In practical terms, determining the dramatic question you want to commit to for the next draft will help you evaluate the strength of your story structure. You can use it to help decide what can stay and what can go, to see how each scene either does or does not relate to the dramatic question, or how it can be made to relate to it.
At the end of your manuscript the dramatic question the story raises in the reader’s mind must be answered. And it is important that the answer matches your question. If, for example, you spend most of the narrative asking Will Dominic achieve his dream of becoming a successful opera singer? you don’t want to end with Yes, he has learnt to love again! This type of mismatch between question and answer can happen in early drafts and provides clues to help address structural issues in the next draft. Either the resolution needs adjusting, or the question set up in the beginning needs to be changed.
Take some time to clarify the major dramatic question that forms the spine of your story. If you aren’t sure what it is, look to your resolution, which provides the answer. If you have a few options and can’t decide which major dramatic question to go with, think about your story essence and which question works best to amplify this.
As a writer it is your responsibility to show the reader how the events and story threads relate to the dramatic question so that the plot moves forward in an organic way and doesn’t wander off into side issues. If the plot does digress, it needs to find its way back to the dramatic question and show how the digression is relevant. It can be useful to keep the dramatic question pinned up in your work space while you are writing and redrafting to help you stay on track and hone the narrative.
See also Vital Organs Part 1: Story Essence and Vital Organs Part 3: The Central Event
All titles referred to in this blog can be found on my Recommended Reading page
