Asking the Right Question, Asking the Wrong Question

 

While I was at sea for my writing cruise, I reflected an awful lot on questions. The more I thought about it, the more I came to see that, as an author my job is all about moving a character, in a compelling way, from asking the wrong questions to asking the right questions.

Let’s look at an example. I’ll use my SAVING MARS series. That series has so many characters with whom I can contrast Jessamyn, my main character. We can take a quick look at three of the “contrast characters”: Harpreet, Ethan, and Kipper.

Harpreet doesn’t have much of a growth arc, because when we meet her, she’s already done the hard work of becoming who she was capable of becoming. She has, in essence, learned what the guiding question is for her life.  She faces her circumstances with this simple question, “Will it bring cheer or ease the burden of those around me?” From donating her precious store of tea in book one to refusing to be “rescued” from New Timbuktu prison in a later book, this query is her pole star.

Ethan, likewise, has done much of his work. He filters everything through this question: “Will it help the people of Mars?” In some ways, this makes him very similar to Kipper, although she has more of a growth arc, I would argue. So what is Kipper’s filtering question at the beginning of the series? Easy: “Will it help Mars Colonial?” There is a subtle difference between her question and Ethan’s. Ethan is more focused on individuals rather than “humanity.” Kipper’s growth arc consists of shifting from her question toward Ethan’s question. Her final act in the series comes from this shift. That is, she is able to act as she does because she has finally learned to care about individual Marsians, as opposed to the vaguer concept of “Mars Colonial.”

And this brings us to Jessamyn.

“Get me in a cockpit!”

In book one, she’s got a pretty basic question, which drives her forward through the first half-ish of the book. “Will it get me back in a cockpit?” Everything she does is about getting back in the air. After six books of growth and change, however, her final question becomes other-centered: “Will it save my people?” It is this question which leads her to walk straight into Lucca’s trap, knowing full well it is a trap, because trap-or-no, it is also the only way to save her people. Same person, different trajectory. You can even see it in the cover images!

So there you have it. If you are a writer and find yourself struggling to understand your character or to find their motivation, you might see if you can figure out what question guides their every move. And this might help you to figure out what trajectory you are most interested in sending them on!

“Imma walk into a trap!”