What Is Your Story Question?

When a story isn't working—when you know it's not quite coming together, when beta readers and critique partners confirm your fears but can't put a finger on why, or you're not getting offers from agents or publishers—savvy authors start trying to diagnose the issue by examining its component parts, like characterization, plot, and stakes.

- BY TIFFANY YATES MARTIN

But often, the problem is both more intrinsic and overarching than any one storytelling element; authors get lost in the trees and can't quite get a grip on the forest. If you know your story lacks something, the problem may be a missing, vague, or undefined central story question.

What a Story Question Is (and Isn't)

The simplest way to think of your story question is as the main unknown that readers are reading to find out: Will Katniss survive the Hunger Games? How will Stella get her groove back? Where did Bernadette go—and why?

Good, engaging stories have many unknowns, but it’s this central question that gives a story its spine, that creates a propulsive throughline for the narrative that hooks readers and keeps them turning pages. The central story question is a concrete and specific unknown with a clear, tangible answer.

Humans tend to be curious creatures. It’s why suspense and tension are such powerful tools for hooking readers and creating momentum in your story. Give readers an unresolved question and—if you've earned their investment in your characters and their journey—they feel compelled to read on to find the answers.

The story question is the core unresolved issue that gives your story cohesion and provides the overarching framework for all the other mysteries and uncertainties that are laced throughout the most effective and compelling tales.

It doesn’t work in a vacuum, but hand in hand with the other essential elements of story:

• Readers don't care what’s happening until we care who it’s happening to, which requires strong characterization.

• We can’t care about their goals and whether they achieve them unless we understand why it’s crucially important to them that they do, so stakes must be clearly established and meaningful.