Do you ever feel like your writing is a bit shallow in places? Whether you feel it's deficient in character, plot, worldbuilding, theme, or even for non-fiction where you feel the argument is lacking, today I'm going to talk a little bit about a technique I use sometimes to help deepen my writing.
You'll probably feel like it's pretty obvious once I say it, so here goes: Ask questions.
Okay, if you're still here, that means you'd like a little more detail. Here goes:
Asking questions and then answering them in the writing is a great way to fill holes, improve consistency, deepen characters or worldbuilding, solidify a theme, bolster an argument, etc.
For example, you could look at a bit of story that details a few characters traveling from A to B...
How did they get there?
How long did it take?
Did they see anything on the way?
Did they talk to each other?
Has any of them been there before?
You can ask a huge number of questions, and if you deem any of them important, you can come up with answers and figure out where to put them in the story!
Some of the best questions are what a reader might naturally ask about your writing--answering those before the reader has a chance to ask can feel both satisfying and reassuring!
Examples for worldbuilding:
What are the plants and animals there? What do they look like?
What does the native culture look like? Does it have any distinct aesthetics or rituals?
In Pursuit of the Heliotrope, I added some details about local animals and flowers that the characters observed on the different planets they visited.
For characters:
What is he/she feeling here? What is he/she thinking?
What does this character think of this place? Does something in his past color his reaction to it?
Where did this character get this skill?
In Missed Contact, I used an existing habit of one of my characters as a believable trigger to a significant plot event.
For themes:
Does my theme tie in with this part of the story? Does this part support or counter my theme? Can I make it support my theme somehow?
Does this character's actions correspond with his philosophical position on my theme?
What are the common counters to my position on this theme? Who represents those counters, and are they believably written?
In Pursuit of the Heliotrope, I made sure each character fit in with my theme of professionalism, and found some times where they characterized that theme well, and some when they didn't.
For arguments or informational non-fiction:
What information does someone need to know to understand this topic?
What questions would a person ask upon hearing this for the first time?
Can I elaborate on any specific vague word in my argument? (If I say something is interesting, can I list a few points about it?)
If I said, "Quantum mechanics is cool," I could go on to explain some of the strange effects in QM, and further, I could explain how and why they work, detail some interesting conclusions, make connections with classical mechanics...
Et cetera...
There are a few more examples in the video, but hopefully I've given you a little mind-bump that'll help you deepen your next bit of writing, whether it be a short story, a novel, an essay, or whatever! Just sit still, look at your writing as a reader, and ask the questions you think a reader would ask you!
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