Sunday, September 25, 2011

Be a Whys writer

Never leave your readers with unanswered questions unless you absolutely, positively have a good reason for leaving them in doubt. By the end of what they're reading, they're going to want to know "why" or have the satisfaction of figuring it out for themselves on the basis of the hints ("gold coins") you've tossed them along the way. This is true for both factual and fictional writing.
It is possible to write a short story by simply answering the question "Why?" five or more times.
Here's how it works. Write the opening sentence of a story. Something simple. Don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. After you write the sentence, ask the question: Why? Answer the question in your second sentence. Then ask the question again: Why? Do this five times and you're well on your way to writing a story.
Here - I'll write the first sentence for you...
"Richard entered the bank."
You answer the question "Why?" with your second sentence and then keep asking and answering that question with each subsequent sentence.
Have at it.

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