What If? And So? Two Powerful Questions for Generating Your Story

Image by Justin Luebke via Unsplash

Last month I reviewed several methods for structuring your story. Knowing basic story structure is crucial for creating a narrative arc that builds toward a satisfying climax and shows your main character’s transformational arc.  

However, it’s not, as I’ve mentioned, a simple paint-by-numbers approach. You still have to figure out what happens, and how you will demonstrate that character’s arc of change.  

Sometimes you have ideas that carry you through. You see the story perfectly: what comes next and why it’s important to the character.  

But sometimes... it’s not that clear. No good ideas come to mind, or you’ve tried one and written yourself into a corner. Or, worst of all, it’s boring. The action you’ve chosen doesn’t resonate with the character’s journey, and there’s a big So What? Who cares?  

Sometimes, we’ll try and shoehorn the Really Cool Idea into the story, because it’s SO COOL. But that doesn’t usually work. It makes us move our characters around like puppets to fulfill what we think should happen, rather than let them learn and grow through dealing with the events in the story. Think plot holes or inconsistent character actions (see: Game of Thrones final season).  

We don’t want that! But what do we do to make sure our Really Cool Idea actually works? Or even get a Really Cool Idea in the first place? 

We can ask two powerful questions: 

What if...? 

And so...? 

These two questions work together to create your story. If all you have is the What if..., then you generate lots of ideas but no meaning behind them. The And so... helps you get to that meaning.  

Here’s an example: 

What if a cyclone carried a little girl into an entirely new world?  

And so... she can’t go home again; how will she ever get back to her family?  

What if she accidentally killed a wicked witch, but a good witch told her take the ruby slippers? And then the wicked witch’s sister showed up, and wanted the ruby slippers and would do anything to get them?  

And so... Dorothy needs help. The good witch sends her to The Emerald City to find the Wizard who can help her get home.  

What if she meets three characters on the way, needing a brain, a heart, and courage, and they go with her to meet the Wizard? 

And so... these characters actually represent the qualities she’ll need to develop in order to defeat the wicked witch and find her way home.  

I could go on, but you get the idea. For every What if... you need to have an accompanying And so... to move the story – and the main character – forward.  

Of course, this is easier to do with a story we all know. It’s more difficult to make sure you are tying the two together when you’re still figuring out the story in your head.  

If you’re really stuck on the question of what should happen next, focus on the What if...? Sit down and either create a list or a mind map of as many possibilities as you can think of. Set a timer for 15 minutes, and just go. Don’t hold back on any idea just because you think it’s silly or unworkable. It may be the nugget of your breakthrough. Alternatively, set a target number of ideas (say, 20) and don’t stop until you reach it.  

Then focus on the And so...? Think about what happens to the main character as a result of that thing that happens? What do they do? How do they react? Do they seek advice? Make a plan? Retreat? How does the event force them to reckon with the lesson they have to learn over the course of the story? (You know what that is, right?) They may not learn the lesson yet – but whatever they do should take them a step forward or backward toward this goal.  

This will ensure that, even if it’s not a big moment in your story, it has meaning to the character’s overall journey to their inner as well as outer goal.  

This also gives you time to think about the event in the context of the whole story. If it’s the Midpoint, is it enough of a game-changer to hold up such a tentpole scene? Does it force the character to radically rethink their direction? 

Writing a novel involves making a million different decisions about what could happen. Pairing the What if... and the And so... questions helps create Really Cool Ideas that move the character forward in their arc of transformation, while also allowing you to choose the best from among all the exciting alternatives.