In a message to her mailing list, Janice Hardy says having your characters ask the right questions can increase tension and get your plot moving. “Questions are a powerful tool, but only when they move the story forward,” Hardy writes. “If all they do is tell the reader what they’re probably already thinking, you’re wasting an opportunity.”
As an example, she shares a real-world example from a writing partner’s manuscript. In the story, the protagonist witnesses someone tearing up bushes in a local park, and thinks “Why is he tearing up those bushes?” That bit of internal dialogue was too obvious, so Hardy suggested that the character instead think, “Why is he sabotaging the park?”
The difference is clear. In the first instance, the question may have an innocent answer. Perhaps the bushes have a plant disease. In the latter example, the subtext suggests intrigue or danger. The character is not merely asking a question, but raising a suspicion. Dramatic tension achieved.
“Watching a character figure out a problem allows you to show how that character thinks, slip in the critical elements of your plot, and hide clues (and red herrings) in plain sight,” Hardy says. “And what they question can make readers wonder exactly what you want them to wonder about.”
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