February 2026 …
I recently finished reading Stephen King’s non-fiction book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. The work is often referenced in writing courses or other texts about writing craft – so I thought I should read the source material. I was delighted to come across one of the more memorable quotes from the book: “…the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” King readily admits it is very difficult to eliminate all adverbs, but he does warn against their overuse – one needs to understand a rule before you can break it.
An insight that caught my eye related to generating ideas for stories. King admits there is no single universal method, or even one that he uses, and that different methods work for different people. His revelation was that he tends to initiate stories from a “What if…?” question. An example of this is from his novella, The Shawshank Redemption; namely, “What if an innocent prisoner possessed unique financial skills that were exploited by the prison officers?”
Reflecting on my crime novel, Grey of the Night – written before I’d read On Writing – I realised I had started with a “What if…?”question; i.e., what would a person do if they were the only witness to a murder?
Conventional wisdom about writing fiction suggests that interesting stories feature characters who face moral, social or emotional dilemmas, and that the reader’s enjoyment comes from characters resolving their dilemma. Before writing my first draft of Grey of the Night, I recognised that the protagonist’s dilemma of being the only witness to a murder would be compounded if he were trying to disappear. While that’s a mildly interesting concept, the dilemma is expanded when he realises that he knows either the victim, the murderer, or both.
And so the possibilities grow. Does he like the person he recognises? If not, how would it change the way he reacts? How would his reaction impact his original goal – to disappear?
Interesting stories are those where protagonists are active – working hard to overcome obstacles to their goals, reacting to their dilemmas. If my protagonist is morally responsible and alerts the police about the murder, he risks his plan being exposed, delayed, or misunderstood. Out of the pool of obstacles, dilemmas and complications, the author needs to find or create, not just any story, but the most interesting story.
Starting with a “What if…?” question, I was able to create a cast of characters, sketch out interactions and relationships, and a map out a sequence of events and consequences.
Interestingly, while Grey of the Night originated from this basic “What if…?” question, the story shifted and I ended up deciding to make the investigating detective, Laura Grey, the main protagonist. Her “What if…?” questions emerged more slowly. What if a murdered man was found to be supplying drugs to her sons? What if her boss was actively trying to prevent her career from progressing? Her dilemma is, how can she solve the case quickly without defying the orders of her boss? And what if her ex-husband – and the father of her children – was somehow involved?
The “What if…?” question is a great way to find story threads. Now that I’m aware of this literary device, I expect I’ll be able to find diverse story ideas more quickly. However, it is only the first question to reveal a story. Thinking how the basic scenario interferes with a characters plan’s, or creates dilemmas that interfere with those plans, is what creates interesting stories.
The question has wider application than just story-telling. To me, the core of imagination in any field of endeavour, is being prepared to ask “What If…?”