DEFINING STORY, PLOT, AND THEME

In the Western storytelling tradition, stories typically revolve around a struggle to overcome a problem while the plot comprises events that drive the characters towards their goal. These events can be altered without changing the overall story.

Themes may not be apparent until after we have finished writing our story. It is important to step back and examine our work to ensure that we are effectively conveying our intended themes.

Otherwise, our plot and character choices may unintentionally overshadow or contradict our message.

WRITING LESSONS ARE EVERYWHERE

Lessons on writing can be found in unexpected places. I was reminded of this when I stumbled upon the science fiction political thriller TV series, Babylon 5. While I had enjoyed the show during its original run, it wasn't until recently when I rediscovered it on Roku that I truly appreciated its greatness.

As a fan of the science fiction genre, I found Babylon 5 to be unique from other shows of its time. It focused less on epic space battles and more on the intricate politics between various alien races after a devastating war. Now, as a writer, I can appreciate the concept behind the show's production even more.

Babylon 5 was one of the first TV shows to have a planned story arc spanning five years, with specific plot points and storylines in mind. Despite some network complications during its fifth season, it remains one of the best examples of executing a planned story arc on television. The executive producer, J. Michael Straczynski, wrote every episode of seasons three and four, and over 90 episodes in total. This was a rarity, as most shows had a team of writers. But JMS wanted to bring the structure of a novel to TV, creating a cohesive narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Of course, there were challenges in executing this vision because of real-life issues such as actors leaving or facing medical problems. However, JMS took these challenges and used them to enhance the story even further.

As a writer, I now appreciate this aspect of the show even more. While not flawless by any means (some episodes fall flat and the fourth and fifth seasons were affected by network issues), Babylon 5 aimed for greatness and achieved it, mostly.

The foreshadowing and epic nature of the story arcs are unmatched, particularly in seasons two through four. Each rewatch reveals new layers of foreshadowing, with events from season three hinted at in season one. If you haven't watched Babylon 5 yet, I highly recommend it and will refrain from spoiling anything in this post.

POINTED QUESTIONS CAN DEFINE THEME

Throughout the five-year arc of the series, a recurring theme was hinted at through the show's world-building. In this universe, the most advanced alien races were each defined by a single question that shaped their ideology.

When considering all these advanced alien races together, their defining questions were:

Who are you?

What do you want?

Why are you here? (What motivates you to live?)

Although these may seem like basic questions, they ultimately led to vastly different cultures and priorities for each race. The less advanced alien races were influenced by the ideologies of their "mentors," which further amplified these differences and resulted in some thought-provoking themes.

For instance, if someone determines what they want before understanding who they are, it can lead to destructive behavior or a selfish path with no boundaries. When one is solely focused on achieving a goal without considering consequences, morals, or laws, they may adopt an "ends justify the means" mentality at any cost.

Attempting to define who we are without considering our goals or aspirations is nearly impossible. Many of us would initially answer this question with career or relationship titles, which tie into achievements. However, fixating on a singular label for who we are may blind us to its limitations or push us to act against our own desires just to fit into that mold.

In the show, the question of "why are you here?" is presented as a middle ground; it prompts consideration of the greater good and the bigger picture when answering the other two questions. This question revolves around our purpose or reason for living and serves as guardrails to prevent negative extremes stemming from the other two questions.

POINTED QUESTIONS CAN DEFINE STORY AND PLOT

The fundamentals of journalism dictate that writers should adhere to a 5W1H structure, answering the questions of Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How within the first few paragraphs of a news article. Fiction authors can take a similar approach by addressing specific questions to better understand their own story.

But just as how the final "Why are you here?" question in the show Babylon 5 revealed the bigger picture more effectively than the others, certain questions may be more valuable in uncovering the larger scope of our story, plot, and themes. Questions such as "when?" and "where?" may provide insight into individual parts of the story, but it takes a different type of inquiry to truly grasp how all these pieces come together.

For our story, we need to know both the "who" and the "what" that define the central problems our characters must face.

In terms of the plot, we must understand "how" events unfold and lead to crucial choices and transformations that drive our narrative forward.

Surprisingly enough, by asking just a handful of pointed questions, we can determine all these crucial elements of our storytelling. This understanding can benefit us during revisions, editing, writing synopses or query letters, and even marketing efforts.

By having a clear grasp on what our story is about, we can better emphasize its essence in all aspects of sharing it with others. Of course, depending on our unique stories or thinking processes, we might need to adjust the basic questions outlined in this post.

But hopefully, they serve as a useful starting point for using questioning as a tool for exploring and revealing the true core of our stories. Once we have this understanding, we can ensure that the stories we present to others truly reflect the stories we intended to tell.

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