In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Fairly good day
* Topic: The Question Rules
* Followup
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
I’ve talked here before about having a specific skill in mind when you sit down to write, for example pacing or dialogue or whatever. That’s how you practice and improve. Today’s topic will help you practice a particular technique. HS
“Deliberate practice is what turns amateurs into professionals. … Deliberate practice means practicing with a clear awareness of the specific components of a skill we’re aiming to improve.” Farnam Street
I had a fairly good day yesterday, and frankly, I was due. The story’s still running.
Topic: The Question Rules
He or she who asks the questions controls the conversation. This is true of people in “real life” and it’s true of characters in fiction.
I first learned that truism long before I started writing fiction seriously when I was a student in a Dale Carnegie sales course that was part of Marine Corps Recruiter School. But it’s applicable to fiction.
In fact, this is a fantastic technique to apply in fiction. You can use it for light comic relief, to indicate the relationship between two characters, to hint at deception (or playfulness, etc.), to indicate a back and forth battle for control or for any number of other effects.
If you’ve ever talked with any competent salesperson, and if you paid attention, you’ll remember that the salesperson asked a lot of questions. In fact, often, if you asked a question, they would respond with another question. That was strictly an attempt on their part to control the conversation and eventually lead or guide you to a successful sale.
And of course, as a fiction writer you are also a salesperson. Your ultimate goal is to make the reader lean into your work, to make him become so engaged that he hungers to know more. In that regard especially, the question rules.
Yesterday I mentioned that the question is the most important grouping of words in any language. That’s true. Not because it leads to answers, but because it tends to lead to more questions. And it doesn’t hurt anything that the question also evokes the characters’ and the readers’ curiousity.
I encourage you to look for instances of this technique in the works of your favorite novelists and short-fiction writers. And when you find an example, study it. Ask yourself why the writer used the technique and how well it worked on you.
But for now, as an example, here’s an exchange between two people (female and male, wife and husband) from my current novel, Terra 2.
As this mini-scene opens, the husband (Rob) has just met his wife (Rebecca) for supper in a lounge. As he approaches the table, he leans down to kiss her on the cheek before taking his seat. He’s hoping to get some information from her:
Rebecca looked at Rob and frowned. “What was that for?”
“What?”
“That peck on the cheek?”
“Sorry. It’ll have to do for now.” He made a show of glancing around. “After all, we’re in public.”
She laughed. “That isn’t what I meant and you know it. What’s going on with you?”
Rob said, “So you changed tables?”
She jerked one thumb over her shoulder. “I was sitting with Mark and Amanda when you called. I figured you’d wandered off to play with your friends again.”
He grinned. “Nah, nothing like that.”
“Right. I can see that now because you’re here. So where were you?”
“The doc mentioned that you and I have some special circumstances. What circumstances?”
She arched her eyebrows. “The doc? You were at the infirmary?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“That is the subject. I asked you hours ago whether you were wounded. Were you wounded, Rob?”
He shrugged. “Just a little scratch. What special circumstances? I asked the doc, but he said I should ask you. Said it wasn’t his department, whatever that means.”
“Where?”
“Where what?”
“Where were you injured, you dweeb?”
“Oh. About five miles north of—”
“Damn it, Rob. Where on your body were you injured?”
“Oh. Just a little scratch on my left shoulder. So what are our special circumstances?”
As the waitress came up with their drinks and set them on the table, Rebecca plucked her folded napkin from the table, smiled up at the waitress, then fluffed the napkin and gentled it over her lap.
The waitress smiled. “Your supper will be right out.”
Rebecca said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am.” The waitress turned away.
As the waitress receded back toward the bar, Rob said, “Rebecca.”
She looked up, her eyes wide with an innocent look. “What?”
“What are our special circumstances?”
“I’m not sure I want to tell you.”
He straightened in his chair. “What? Why?”
“I assume you’re probably not really interested. At this very moment, you’re probably dreaming of getting back to the ship and hunting bugs. Aren’t you?”
“What? No. I mean I have a job to do, yes, but I’m here right now and—”
“Are you certain you want to know?”
“What? Of course I’m certain I want to—”
A grin burst across her face.
Followup
And finally she did tell him.
As you read the excerpt, were you interested? Possibly even guessing at the “special circumstances”? Did you want to know what those were?
If you use this technique, you can have the same effect on your reader.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Practice Guide: How to Be the Best” at https://fs.blog/2021/04/deliberate-practice-guide/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 850 words
Writing of Terra 2 (novel)
Day 1…… 3535 words. Total words to date…… 3535
Day 2…… 4660 words. Total words to date…… 8195
Day 3…… 3739 words. Total words to date…… 11934
Day 4…… 3638 words. Total words to date…… 15572
Day 5…… 2882 words. Total words to date…… 18454
Day 6…… 4777 words. Total words to date…… 23231
Day 7…… 3531 words. Total words to date…… 26762
Day 8…… 2785 words. Total words to date…… 29547
Day 9…… 1005 words. Total words to date…… 30552
Day 10… 3272 words. Total words to date…… 33824
Total fiction words for April……… 33824
Total fiction words for the year………… 320901
Total nonfiction words for April… 6520
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 73920
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 394821
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 6
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 60
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.