It is not said often on this blog, but a story is the gathering of many ideas, told from a perspective called narration. However, without the telling aspect, the story can still be understood from beginning to end. By removing the narration, those ideas are referred by another name: the content.

In this form, those ideas are unraveled in a logical order. And for this to happen, context must be established. Context is an element in the story whose objective is to explain why certain events occuredExample : I jumped (event) because there was a hole (context)..

And the context is created by reflecting on two questions:

• What is the story about?
• Why does the story even exist?

Those are the 2 W of content. Much like the 2 W of narration, they are queries that gives important introspection for the writer and their story. But the answers found aren’t definitive. While narration needs to be determined immediately, most of the content is found during the writing process. Because as inspiration goes, new concepts may appear, and change becomes inevitable.

– What

The first W is the “What” as in “What is the story about?”. The story is defined by its principal intrigueThe plot that will resolve throughout the reading. For the author to have a broad understanding of what they wish to write would be obvious, if not crucial. However the what focuses on having an overall theme rather than a complete script or even having a first draft. Hence terms like “principal” and “broad” are to be in the mind of the writer when building the plot.

From this vagueness, a starting point, and a direction are defined. Those represent the primary idea and its resolution. The story’s progression will be based on those two parameters, this can be viewed as a synopsis of the story, like introducing the main character, period, and world.

– Why

But behind every story, there must be a reason to write. The question then becomes, “Why does the story even exist?”. People write for many reasons: some to entertain, other to convince, but ultimately, they all write to deliver a message.

Whether it is a heavy political statement or a classic tale of good vs evil, this message becomes the reason of the story’s existence. And all plots and ideas are then written to support this message.

However, it is only at the end that the message becomes clear. As the writing progresses, the author is still trying to find ways to convey his message, he may even change his mind midway.

– Conclusion

To reiterate, the content is a sequence of ideas logically ordered by the context. It is the story in a form where the overall themes and plots can be understood. But it is only by pondering the what and the why that the context can be added. The answers aren’t definitive and may change during the writing, but they will serve as a solid foundation for the story.