CREATING A POWERFUL CENTRAL DRAMATIC QUESTION
A plot has to have its own logic. And you should be able to state the complete action of the plot using clear and simple language.
How?
By focusing on the key conflict in your story. It does not have to be a serial killer and the detective determined to stop him killing again. It could be a caterpillar and the wind. Or a woman and her boyfriend arguing about which movie to watch.
Start by stripping down the action of the plot to just the protagonist and antagonist. Then show how that conflict progresses – by focusing on three steps necessary to create the logical plot.
A. Set up a potential fight between the protagonist and antagonist early on in the story so that the reader senses that these two people are going to battle each other at some point.
A couple who are divorcing are trying to be amiable and working out how their possessions can be divided. There is some tension about the pet dog, but the hero, John, has to be away for work for the next two weeks so Fido stays with Janet. Fido has been John’s dog since he was 15.
B. Touch it off about two thirds to three quarters of the way in, so that this becomes a fight to the finish which only one of them is going to win. Set the stakes high as you can so that the readers are on the edge of their seats, wondering if the protagonist can pull it off.
John comes back and tells Janet that he has changed his job so that there will be a lot less travel and most of it will be for a day or two at most. Only Janet has decided that she wants to keep Fido. He is a good guard dog for a single woman on her own the city. And she likes the company.
C. Bring it to a conclusion. Janet and John face eachother and one of them walks out with Fido.
So. You now have a basic story idea. Janet and John both want Fido.
What is the Central Dramatic Question?
Version One = Will John be able to persuade Janet that Fido belongs with him?
This is a pretty weak example.
THEN, You start building on that basic idea, playing the WHAT IF game to create options and other possible outcomes which have greater inherent power and potential conflict.
For example, using my simple idea.
What if Fido becomes Lucy, their five year old daughter, who has special needs? Janet can work from home most of the time, only Lucy and John adore each other and they have a very special bond and Janet has always been jealous of that relationship.
The stakes are suddenly higher.
But what if Janet takes Lucy on an unexpected holiday to …India, for example, while John is away for his business trip and when he gets back they are both gone. Only Janet has no intention of coming back…her drug and debt problems are bound to come out in court. And she has friends in India John knows nothing about.
What is the Central Dramatic Question?
Version Two = Will John be able to track down his estranged wife Janet and be reunited with his 5 yr old daughter?
The idea is that you work on the Central Dramatic Question so that it can sustain the weight of an entire book. AND involve the reader emotionally in the outcome.
There should be inherent power in the question.
THEN you build this into the Central Proposition and create a much more powerful sequence.
