the craft. follow the questions.

Do the naturally curious become writers or do we learn how to question once we become writers? I’m not sure of the answer universally. But I can say for myself that I feel like I’ve always had questions. I think it’s what led me to pursuing journalism initially. It is certainly what led me to writing my first novel and my current work in progress.

Those early days in journalism school were very influential albeit short lived. The who, what, when, where, why and how. That was the skeleton to any well written article, at least from my Intro to Journalism professor’s perspective. And just as much, I’ve found these questions just as useful in writing fiction. Let’s look at Good Morning, Love:

Who: Carli Henton

What: Pursuing her dream of songwriting while working a full-time job.

When: 2017

Where: New York City

Why: To fulfill her purpose and follow in her father’s footsteps.

How: Her work with Dylan and Red and then meeting Tau Anderson

You see here that there is this consistency in storytelling no matter what we’re writing. A story is compelling when we have a clear idea of these elements. Whether we’re writing for the newspaper or the hot new fiction novel. If you don’t have this clear picture for your story, it’s back to the drawing board.

I love asking questions. It’s an attribute that my husband often takes advantage of when he invites me out to networking events. I’m pretty much able to strike up a conversation with anyone because I follow my natural interest in other people. That interest has led me to some interesting stories for sure.

One of our faves Maya Angelou said essentially that creativity begets more creativity and I would say curiosity does much of the same. Questioning will help you in those moments when you’re really trying to figure out where to go next. What to explore. How to delve deeper into your work.

“How could someone do something like that?” A question I’ve often found myself asking in today’s society. People are doing strange things. But when this is the question, I find those are the things worth exploring. If you’re anything like me, you have found yourself down a rabbit hole, baby and good stuff lives there. The things that set your heart on fire serve as great inspiration for the long haul of writing.

Many writers have talked about the need for motivation or inspiration in their work and I feel like that can often be a sign that you’re not asking enough questions. You’re not curious enough about the world around you. That you may only be looking internally for ideas when there’s an overflowing amount of material at any given time.

In “Bird by Bird” Anne Lamott also gives great advice around exploring secondary characters in other stories. These characters are not often flushed out for time’s sake, but they have full lives and backstories all the same.

I think I’ve mentioned how one of the short stories I wrote was all about a side character in the film Love Jones. Remember Nia Long’s fiancé that she went to New York to see if there was anything still there? Well, I asked myself, “what happened to him?” Yeah, he was a little bit of a jerk, but he still kind of got a short end of the stick. HA! I wrote about him waking up the next morning with the engagement ring still on his pinky finger.

Writing is observing. You’ll hear me say that over and over because I love the quote from Nikki Giovanni that says, “Writer’s write from empathy … ” It’s this ability to ask questions, to mine the conversations and life experience from around us and then being able to translate that into relatable work.

Follow the questions, and I feel like it’s a well that never runs dry.

Writing/Job Opportunities

Rachel Poser is a new Features Editor at NYT Mag and accepting pitches. rachel.poser@nytimes.com.

Want to write about travel from an exciting new lens? Check out Conde Nast Traveler’s pitch guide: https://www.cntraveler.com/info/how-to-pitch-conde-nast-traveler

Sundance Film Festival is accepting submissions for their Press Inclusion initiative.

The Guardian is accepting pitches for their music section.

The Verge is hiring a Senior Editor, Search

Univision is hiring a Head Writer.

Hearst is hiring a Copy Editor.

37 Signals is hiring a Content Writer. (Contract role)