March 4, 2025 • 24 mins
Escape analysis paralysis with one powerful question. It’s deceptively simple—and yet it unlocks everything.
If you’re like most of the writers I work with, you’re pretty savvy about story structure. You know your Story Grid, your Save the Cat!, your Hero’s Journey. You’ve probably analyzed your story six ways to Sunday, and you’ve got the spreadsheets and outlines and diagrams and graphs to prove it.
And all that analysis has leveled up your story significantly. You’ve solved major structural problems by applying your extensive knowledge of story theory.
But I also bet there are still some issues nagging at you. Issues that you still can’t crack, no matter how many times you map every act and arc in your story on a spreadsheet.
In fact, if you’re still spreadsheeting your story by this point, you’re probably starting to spin out a little. You’ve analyzed and analyzed and analyzed again, and now all that story structure that was supposed to make revising your story clear and straightforward has turned against you, leaving you overwhelmed and lost.
What if you could break through all that overwhelm and find your footing in your story again?
What if you could snap out of analysis paralysis and reconnect with your characters and the inspiration that compelled you to write in the first place?
And what if you could do all of that by asking just one deceptively simple question?
You can, I promise. And in this episode, I’ll show you how.
Links mentioned in the episode:
- Get the question that unlocks everything in a printable format: alicesudlow.com/79
- Go deeper in character development: How to Flesh Out Flat Characters With Just 4 Questions
- Go deeper in my favorite story structure: The 6 Essential Elements of Every Novel, Act, and Scene
Want my support in your revision?
In Story Clarity, we’ll work one-on-one to sharpen your story’s structure and craft a revision plan that works. If you’re ready for thoughtful, personalized feedback from an editor who gets what you’re trying to do, I’d love to hear what you’re working on.
Get started by telling me about your story here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
if you are, like many of thewriters I work with, you are
(00:02):
pretty savvy about storystructure.
You know, your story grid, yourSave the Cat, your hero's
journey.
You've probably analyzed yourstory six ways to Sunday, and
you've got the spreadsheets andoutlines and diagrams and graphs
to prove it.
And all that analysis hasleveled up your story
significantly.
You've solved major structuralproblems by applying your
(00:25):
extensive knowledge of storytheory.
but I bet there are still someissues nagging at you Issues
that you still can't crack nomatter how many times you map
every act and arc in your storyon a spreadsheet.
In fact, if you're stillspreadsheeting your story by
this point.
You're probably starting to spinout a little bit.
(00:45):
You've analyzed and analyzed andanalyzed again, and now all that
story structure that wassupposed to make, revising your
story clear and straightforwardhas turned against you, leaving
you overwhelmed and lost.
What if you could break throughall that overwhelm and find your
footing in your story again?
What if you could snap out ofanalysis, paralysis and
(01:07):
reconnect with your charactersand the inspiration that
compelled you to write in thefirst place?
What if you could do all that byasking just one deceptively
simple question.
You can, I promise.
And in this episode, I'll showyou how.
(02:12):
Welcome to your next draft.
In this episode, I'm going toshare one of my favorite
questions to ask when you'refeeling stuck or overwhelmed.
But before we get to that, Iwant to let you know that I've
created a free download to gowith this episode.
I've taken the question plus afew bonus questions that I'll
also share in a minute, And I'veput them into a sheet that you
can download and print.
(02:34):
It's not a worksheet.
I don't want you to treat thislike something that you need to
fill out in some formal way forevery scene.
Instead, this is a little promptto reconnect you with your story
and your characters.
Anytime you're feelingoverwhelmed or lost.
So print it out and post it upin your writing space somewhere
that you can glance up and seeit.
And whenever you're spinning outan analysis or stuck in story
(02:57):
theory, look up and see thesereally simple questions.
Turn them over in your mind andimagine how you might answer
them.
And see what that unlocks inyour editing.
You can get this freedownloadable reminder by going
to alice sudler.com/ 79.
And of course that link is inthe show notes as well.
(03:17):
And when you grab that download,you'll also join my email
newsletter where I'll send youbonus editing tips on all the
weeks that there's not a newpodcast episode.
So go to alice sudo.com/ 79 andgrab that download.
And now let's get to thequestion.
I love story structure.
(03:38):
If you listen to much of thispodcast, you've probably picked
up on that.
I have a number of episodesbreaking down my favorite story
structure, the six elements ofstory.
And when writers come to me withstories that they've analyzed
through the lens of thatstructure or any of the dozens
of other story structures outthere, I get really excited.
I love to know how you arethinking about the shape of your
(03:59):
story, how you've crafted eachbuilding block and stacked them
together into the best frameworkyou can design.
That's really helpful for me toknow as an editor, so that if
we.
Take this architecture metaphoreven further.
I can inspect the foundationthat you've built, make sure
that it's rock solid and cansupport your story, and then
continue building on everythingthat you've already established.
(04:22):
But for you as the writer,there's a point when all of this
structural thinking actuallybecomes counterproductive.
Often when writers decide toreach out to me, it's because
they feel lost in all theanalysis.
They're spinning out in abstractstory theory, thinking about
turning points and midpoint andpinch points.
(04:43):
Story theory has a lot ofpoints, doesn't it?
And as a result, they'reactually disconnected from their
characters and their story.
They don't often realize justhow disconnected they are until
I ask this one.
Deceptively simple butincredibly powerful question.
But they are, they aredisconnected.
(05:04):
So in this episode, I'm going toshare that question with you so
you can ask it anytime thatyou're spiraling in all your
spreadsheets or getting stuck inanalysis paralysis.
I'll explain when and how to useit, and most importantly, I'll
explain why it works and why aquestion that's so simple.
It's almost a no brainer, hasthe power to unlock everything.
(05:27):
Let's dive in.
The question that unlockseverything is this.
What would your character donext?
It's so simple, right?
It almost feels too easy, tooobvious to be helpful, but I
promise you this question is agame changer.
stories after all, are aboutcharacters doing things.
(05:50):
About a protagonist pursuing agoal through conflict and coming
out changed on the other side.
And I think we generally startimagining new stories with this
kind of bottom up thinking,envisioning who that protagonist
is, what conflict is standing intheir way, what goal they're
chasing and what they're goingto do to get it.
(06:11):
But when we switch fromdiscovering the story to
analyzing the story, we shiftinto top down thinking rather
than studying the protagonistand determining what they'll do
next.
We focus on archetypical storybeats.
In other words, we focus on thetheoretical things that should
happen in the story rather thanthe things that organically do
(06:33):
happen.
My constant drumbeat throughoutthis episode is this.
The top-down analysis of story,structure and theory is
fantastically helpful until itstops leading you to answers and
starts spinning you out.
There are a few symptoms ofspinning out that you can watch
(06:54):
for if you are overwhelmed,either by story analysis or by
your story in general.
You might be spinning out Ifyou've come up with a couple
options for structural changesto make in your story, or maybe
you've come up with a coupledozen options, but you can't
tell which ones best fit yourstory and which ones are getting
you off track, you might bespinning out.
(07:18):
If you're spending more timestudying story theory to figure
out whether you got each termand piece of story structure
right, rather than evaluatingyour story to see whether it
works, then you might bespinning out if you've chosen to
make a structural change to yourstory to better fit story
theory, and yet your story stillisn't working once you make the
(07:41):
change.
The change doesn't seem to fitin practice, even though in
theory it's exactly what yourstory needs.
You might be spinning out In allthose cases, you need something
to pull you out of the abstractanalysis and reconnect you with
your protagonist.
To get out of the top downthinking and back into bottom up
(08:01):
thinking that's organicallydriven by your unique story and
characters, and that's exactlywhat this question does.
What would your character donext?
Let's break this question down.
In order to know what yourcharacter will do next, you
first need to know what theirgoal is.
(08:21):
What do they want?
Literally, what are they tryingto achieve in this story?
Once you know what their goalis, you can work out what they
have to do in order to get it.
Broadly speaking, what steps dothey need to take in order to
accomplish their goal?
And now let's ask anotherquestion to add in the context
in which they're pursuing theirgoal.
(08:43):
What just happened in the story,and now that we know all of
this, the goal they're pursuing,the steps they need to take to
achieve it, and the things thatjust happened right before this
moment in the story.
Now we can return to theoriginal question.
What would your character donext?
This is the magic moment, thequestion that jogs you back into
(09:05):
connection with your story andreveals the next things that
happen in it.
And once you've answered that,you can keep the magic going
with two more questions.
What happens when your characterdoes that thing?
In other words, what's theresult of their actions?
Did they experience the effectsthat they expected, or did
something happen that theydidn't see coming?
(09:26):
How do they feel now?
Are they closer to their goal orfarther away from it?
And then as a result of allthat, you can ask again, what
would your character do next?
And the cycle repeats for aslong as you need.
Now, when I use this processwith writers in my one-on-one
coaching, I don't start withthis full walkthrough of
(09:46):
questions.
I start with just one.
What would your character donext?
Usually, this leads to a reallygreat answer.
It almost always takes sometime.
The writer might sit back andthink for a few seconds or a few
minutes, but the question itselfis all they need to get there,
and that's what I recommend foryou too.
(10:07):
Whenever you feel stuck, comeback to this one question.
What would your character donext?
If that alone doesn't unlockthings, though, that's okay.
Sometimes that one questionisn't enough on its own.
If that's the case, walkyourself through the longer
process.
What's your character's goal?
What do they want?
(10:27):
Whether that's in this story asa whole or in this act or in
this scene.
What steps do they need to takein order to accomplish their
goal?
What just happened in the storylike right before this?
What just happened?
And because of that, what wouldyour character do next?
Then what happens when yourcharacter does that thing?
(10:47):
How do they feel about theresults and how does it impact
their pursuit of their goal?
And because of that, what wouldyour character do next?
You can ask this question atliterally any point in your
writing or revising process.
I can't think of any time whenit would be counterproductive to
ask this, but there are twotimes when it's especially
useful and one in particularthat I want to call out for you
(11:11):
since we're all about editinghere on your next draft.
The first point when it'sespecially helpful is when
you're in the discovery phase.
In other words, when you'rewriting your first draft and
discovering what happens in thestory, if you're feeling stuck
or blocked, or you're not surewhat comes next, ask, what would
my character do next and followthem?
(11:32):
Getting the first draft down onthe page is not my area of
expertise, so I won't elaborateon that.
Feel free to tuck this tip inyour back pocket and give it a
try the next time you're workingon a first draft.
But the space where I am anexpert and where I have seen
this work magic time and timeagain is this second point when
you're editing a later draft andyou're getting lost in over
(11:55):
analysis.
I see this all the time.
Like I said, right at the start,all the story theory is
fabulously helpful and can trulytransform your story once it all
clicks for you.
But at the same time, it's adouble-edged sword.
Spend too much time putting yourstory through layers of analysis
and you'll end up disconnectedfrom your characters.
(12:17):
You'll be thinking in abstractterms about story theory to the
point that you forget toconsider your emotional
connections to your characters.
I will never say to ditch storytheory and leave the analysis
behind.
I love it so much.
It's so helpful.
The trick is simply to recognizewhen it's taken you as far as it
can right now, and when you needto pivot to a different tactic
(12:40):
in order to make fresh progress.
And a great clue that it's timeto pivot is when you're feeling
overwhelmed by over analysis,spinning out and lost among all
your spreadsheets and storysystems.
Why does this question work sowell?
Why is it precisely what youneed when you're caught up in
analysis?
(13:00):
I can point to two reasons.
First, as you've probablyguessed, it pulls you out of
theory and analysis and intoempathy with your character.
When you spent a lot of timestudying and applying story
theory, you start thinking aboutyour story in terms of the
structural beats found invarious systems.
(13:21):
You ask questions like.
What should my second pinchpoint be?
And is my theme stated and did Iinclude the refusal of the call?
Again?
Questions like these can bereally helpful, but when they
stop making things more clearfor you and start making things
more stressful, it's time to putdown the analysis and try
(13:41):
empathy.
Instead, asking, what would mycharacter do next?
Forces you to step into yourcharacter's shoes.
Not just that.
It requires you to step intotheir mind and their heart.
It asks you to imagine yourselfin their place, experiencing
their burdens and stressors, andtraumas and worries and
(14:01):
concerns, and successes, andjoys and hopes and dreams, and
beliefs, and expectations andfears.
Now, you are not simply thinkingabout the story in abstract
analytical terms.
Now you are feeling your waythrough your character's life,
seeing the world through theireyes, and allowing the things
that drive them to also driveyou.
(14:24):
And the second reason that thisquestion is so effective is
because it moves you out ofthinking about what happens to
your character and insteadreconnects you to your
character's agency so that theiractions can drive the story.
When you're this far in therevision process and this deep
in analysis, you are thinkinghard about where each story
(14:45):
structure element should be andwhat each story beat should do.
You also have a lot of existingstory material, a lot of events
that already happen on the page,and it's really easy to feel
really attached to those and tothink in terms of how you can
make each one fit.
So when you go to edit, you'reasking questions like.
(15:07):
Should this subplot come in atthe end of act one or the
beginning of act two, or, I needthis plot point to happen, but
it's not working after themidpoint.
So should I move it to beforethe midpoint?
Well, now that doesn't makesense because of this.
When you approach the story fromthis direction, it is really
easy to slip into making thingshappen to your characters.
(15:30):
Why does this plot point happenhere or there?
Not because it's the onlylogical thing that the
characters would do next.
But because the author needed itto, maybe you need it there
because you're trying toretrofit old material, or maybe
you need it there because you'retrying to manufacture events to
fit story theory.
Either way, this approach isdisconnected from your
(15:51):
protagonist's agency, and it'sreally easy to slip into
creating a series of events thathappen to them.
By contrast, when you set allthat analysis aside and instead
approach the story with.
What would my character do next?
You immediately tap right backinto your character's agency and
(16:11):
you put them back in thedriver's seat of the story.
Now you're building out storyevents organically with a clear
cause and defect trajectory, allspilling directly from your
character's actions.
No more shoehorning in thethings that you think should
happen, but that don't quitefit.
Just a cascade of dominoes allknocked down by your character.
(16:34):
Your character is in thiscircumstance and they want this,
so they do this, which causesthis to happen, so they do this
next, et cetera.
In order for all this to work,though, there is one thing that
is absolutely imperative.
Embrace this and you'll uncovermagic.
Every time you ask the question,skip this, or try to skate by
(16:59):
with just a shallow skim.
And you'll keep slamming intothe same wall.
Here's the key.
You must get emotionally in tunewith your character.
This question requires that youexperience deep empathy with
them.
You must fully settle yourselfinto their shoes and minds and
(17:20):
heart.
You must imagine what they'rethinking, what they're feeling,
what they're believing, whatthey're understanding, and what
they're missing.
The more you can do this, themore nuanced understanding you
can bring to them.
The more fully you can know,this character, this person, as
a full, complete, complex,sometimes contradictory human
(17:41):
being, the more powerful thisquestion becomes.
This is also why this questionmight be even more powerful in
the revision process than whenyou're discovering the story in
the first draft.
Because the true work ofrevision is to deeply understand
your character and the point ofthe story you want to tell.
It's not really about prettyingup the words on the page.
(18:03):
it's about thinking deeply aboutwhat you want your story to be
and who your character truly is.
And since you've already spentan entire first draft or more
drafts getting to know yourcharacter and you're spending
the revision process, getting toknow them so much more deeply,
you have so much moreinformation about them and more
(18:26):
access to empathy for them thanyou did in that first draft,
which means that when you ask,what would my character do next?
Now your answers can be muchmore nuanced, complex, and
aligned with your character andyour story.
But all that can only happen tothe degree that you settle
yourself into your character'smind and heart.
(18:48):
So do not skate by here.
Don't rush to quick answers ormake surface level judgments.
Sit with your character.
Spend some time with them.
Imagine them in all their hopesand dreams and beliefs and
obstacles and emotional mess.
And from that place, askyourself what they would do
(19:09):
next.
Since you've stuck with me thisfar, I have a bonus for you.
This question works for beyondjust your protagonist.
It's a great question to askyour antagonist and your side
characters too.
Everyone has a goal.
Everyone has reasons why theyexpect that pursuing that goal
(19:29):
will lead to some benefit forthemselves or other people.
And when they encounter stimulialong the way, whether that
comes in the form of obstaclesor assistance, they will react
or respond in some way thataligns with their goal and all
the things that they think andfeel, and believe, and
understand and misunderstand,which is a complicated way of
(19:50):
saying.
You can put yourself in theshoes of any character in your
story.
Think about what they want.
Think about the context thatcame before now, and think about
how they feel about what'shappening right now.
And when you tap into thatempathy ask, what will they do
next?
It's just one question and it'sdeceptively simple.
(20:13):
And yet it has an almost magicalpower to pull you out of the
overanalyzing overwhelm andreconnect you with the heart of
your characters and your story.
So by all means, pull out allyour favorite story analysis
tools and put your story throughits structural paces.
But when all that story theorystops leading you to answers and
(20:35):
starts spinning you out, pause,set it all aside.
Take a deep breath.
Picture your protagonist in allthe vivid detail that you can
step into their shoes and morethan that into their heart and
mind.
Let your empathy for them swellup until you can't help but weep
(20:57):
at the things that make themcry.
Think of everything they've gonethrough before this moment.
All the things they mostdesperately want and hope for,
and all the obstacles they seestanding in their way and ask
what would they do next?
If you'd like to dig deeper intothe kinds of character
(21:17):
developments that will help youanswer that question, I
recommend checking out episode53, how to Flesh out Flat
Characters with just fourquestions.
You can find it by going toalice sud though.com/ 53.
Or going to the link in the shownotes, and if you need a little
reminder to post up next to yourcomputer so you can glance up
(21:38):
and see it whenever you need,and pull yourself out of the
overanalyzing overwhelm and backinto connection with your
characters, Then be sure to grabthe free download that I put
together for this episode.
Go to alice sudler.com/ 79.
Fill out the form on that pageand I'll send these questions
straight to your email in a nicepretty doc that's easy to print
(21:59):
and pin up in your space.
I've seen these questions helpso many writers unlock so many
epiphanies ideas that were justsitting there right underneath
the surface waiting to be found,and these were just the right
questions to surface them.
I hope they do the same for you.
Happy editing.
if you are, like many of thewriters I work with, you are
(00:02):
pretty savvy about storystructure.
You know, your story grid, yourSave the Cat, your hero's
journey.
You've probably analyzed yourstory six ways to Sunday, and
you've got the spreadsheets andoutlines and diagrams and graphs
to prove it.
And all that analysis hasleveled up your story
significantly.
You've solved major structuralproblems by applying your
(00:25):
extensive knowledge of storytheory.
but I bet there are still someissues nagging at you Issues
that you still can't crack nomatter how many times you map
every act and arc in your storyon a spreadsheet.
In fact, if you're stillspreadsheeting your story by
this point.
You're probably starting to spinout a little bit.
(00:45):
You've analyzed and analyzed andanalyzed again, and now all that
story structure that wassupposed to make, revising your
story clear and straightforwardhas turned against you, leaving
you overwhelmed and lost.
What if you could break throughall that overwhelm and find your
footing in your story again?
What if you could snap out ofanalysis, paralysis and
(01:07):
reconnect with your charactersand the inspiration that
compelled you to write in thefirst place?
What if you could do all that byasking just one deceptively
simple question.
You can, I promise.
And in this episode, I'll showyou how.
(02:12):
Welcome to your next draft.
In this episode, I'm going toshare one of my favorite
questions to ask when you'refeeling stuck or overwhelmed.
But before we get to that, Iwant to let you know that I've
created a free download to gowith this episode.
I've taken the question plus afew bonus questions that I'll
also share in a minute, And I'veput them into a sheet that you
can download and print.
(02:34):
It's not a worksheet.
I don't want you to treat thislike something that you need to
fill out in some formal way forevery scene.
Instead, this is a little promptto reconnect you with your story
and your characters.
Anytime you're feelingoverwhelmed or lost.
So print it out and post it upin your writing space somewhere
that you can glance up and seeit.
And whenever you're spinning outan analysis or stuck in story
(02:57):
theory, look up and see thesereally simple questions.
Turn them over in your mind andimagine how you might answer
them.
And see what that unlocks inyour editing.
You can get this freedownloadable reminder by going
to alice sudler.com/ 79.
And of course that link is inthe show notes as well.
(03:17):
And when you grab that download,you'll also join my email
newsletter where I'll send youbonus editing tips on all the
weeks that there's not a newpodcast episode.
So go to alice sudo.com/ 79 andgrab that download.
And now let's get to thequestion.
I love story structure.
(03:38):
If you listen to much of thispodcast, you've probably picked
up on that.
I have a number of episodesbreaking down my favorite story
structure, the six elements ofstory.
And when writers come to me withstories that they've analyzed
through the lens of thatstructure or any of the dozens
of other story structures outthere, I get really excited.
I love to know how you arethinking about the shape of your
(03:59):
story, how you've crafted eachbuilding block and stacked them
together into the best frameworkyou can design.
That's really helpful for me toknow as an editor, so that if
we.
Take this architecture metaphoreven further.
I can inspect the foundationthat you've built, make sure
that it's rock solid and cansupport your story, and then
continue building on everythingthat you've already established.
(04:22):
But for you as the writer,there's a point when all of this
structural thinking actuallybecomes counterproductive.
Often when writers decide toreach out to me, it's because
they feel lost in all theanalysis.
They're spinning out in abstractstory theory, thinking about
turning points and midpoint andpinch points.
(04:43):
Story theory has a lot ofpoints, doesn't it?
And as a result, they'reactually disconnected from their
characters and their story.
They don't often realize justhow disconnected they are until
I ask this one.
Deceptively simple butincredibly powerful question.
But they are, they aredisconnected.
(05:04):
So in this episode, I'm going toshare that question with you so
you can ask it anytime thatyou're spiraling in all your
spreadsheets or getting stuck inanalysis paralysis.
I'll explain when and how to useit, and most importantly, I'll
explain why it works and why aquestion that's so simple.
It's almost a no brainer, hasthe power to unlock everything.
(05:27):
Let's dive in.
The question that unlockseverything is this.
What would your character donext?
It's so simple, right?
It almost feels too easy, tooobvious to be helpful, but I
promise you this question is agame changer.
stories after all, are aboutcharacters doing things.
(05:50):
About a protagonist pursuing agoal through conflict and coming
out changed on the other side.
And I think we generally startimagining new stories with this
kind of bottom up thinking,envisioning who that protagonist
is, what conflict is standing intheir way, what goal they're
chasing and what they're goingto do to get it.
(06:11):
But when we switch fromdiscovering the story to
analyzing the story, we shiftinto top down thinking rather
than studying the protagonistand determining what they'll do
next.
We focus on archetypical storybeats.
In other words, we focus on thetheoretical things that should
happen in the story rather thanthe things that organically do
(06:33):
happen.
My constant drumbeat throughoutthis episode is this.
The top-down analysis of story,structure and theory is
fantastically helpful until itstops leading you to answers and
starts spinning you out.
There are a few symptoms ofspinning out that you can watch
(06:54):
for if you are overwhelmed,either by story analysis or by
your story in general.
You might be spinning out Ifyou've come up with a couple
options for structural changesto make in your story, or maybe
you've come up with a coupledozen options, but you can't
tell which ones best fit yourstory and which ones are getting
you off track, you might bespinning out.
(07:18):
If you're spending more timestudying story theory to figure
out whether you got each termand piece of story structure
right, rather than evaluatingyour story to see whether it
works, then you might bespinning out if you've chosen to
make a structural change to yourstory to better fit story
theory, and yet your story stillisn't working once you make the
(07:41):
change.
The change doesn't seem to fitin practice, even though in
theory it's exactly what yourstory needs.
You might be spinning out In allthose cases, you need something
to pull you out of the abstractanalysis and reconnect you with
your protagonist.
To get out of the top downthinking and back into bottom up
(08:01):
thinking that's organicallydriven by your unique story and
characters, and that's exactlywhat this question does.
What would your character donext?
Let's break this question down.
In order to know what yourcharacter will do next, you
first need to know what theirgoal is.
(08:21):
What do they want?
Literally, what are they tryingto achieve in this story?
Once you know what their goalis, you can work out what they
have to do in order to get it.
Broadly speaking, what steps dothey need to take in order to
accomplish their goal?
And now let's ask anotherquestion to add in the context
in which they're pursuing theirgoal.
(08:43):
What just happened in the story,and now that we know all of
this, the goal they're pursuing,the steps they need to take to
achieve it, and the things thatjust happened right before this
moment in the story.
Now we can return to theoriginal question.
What would your character donext?
This is the magic moment, thequestion that jogs you back into
(09:05):
connection with your story andreveals the next things that
happen in it.
And once you've answered that,you can keep the magic going
with two more questions.
What happens when your characterdoes that thing?
In other words, what's theresult of their actions?
Did they experience the effectsthat they expected, or did
something happen that theydidn't see coming?
(09:26):
How do they feel now?
Are they closer to their goal orfarther away from it?
And then as a result of allthat, you can ask again, what
would your character do next?
And the cycle repeats for aslong as you need.
Now, when I use this processwith writers in my one-on-one
coaching, I don't start withthis full walkthrough of
(09:46):
questions.
I start with just one.
What would your character donext?
Usually, this leads to a reallygreat answer.
It almost always takes sometime.
The writer might sit back andthink for a few seconds or a few
minutes, but the question itselfis all they need to get there,
and that's what I recommend foryou too.
(10:07):
Whenever you feel stuck, comeback to this one question.
What would your character donext?
If that alone doesn't unlockthings, though, that's okay.
Sometimes that one questionisn't enough on its own.
If that's the case, walkyourself through the longer
process.
What's your character's goal?
What do they want?
(10:27):
Whether that's in this story asa whole or in this act or in
this scene.
What steps do they need to takein order to accomplish their
goal?
What just happened in the storylike right before this?
What just happened?
And because of that, what wouldyour character do next?
Then what happens when yourcharacter does that thing?
(10:47):
How do they feel about theresults and how does it impact
their pursuit of their goal?
And because of that, what wouldyour character do next?
You can ask this question atliterally any point in your
writing or revising process.
I can't think of any time whenit would be counterproductive to
ask this, but there are twotimes when it's especially
useful and one in particularthat I want to call out for you
(11:11):
since we're all about editinghere on your next draft.
The first point when it'sespecially helpful is when
you're in the discovery phase.
In other words, when you'rewriting your first draft and
discovering what happens in thestory, if you're feeling stuck
or blocked, or you're not surewhat comes next, ask, what would
my character do next and followthem?
(11:32):
Getting the first draft down onthe page is not my area of
expertise, so I won't elaborateon that.
Feel free to tuck this tip inyour back pocket and give it a
try the next time you're workingon a first draft.
But the space where I am anexpert and where I have seen
this work magic time and timeagain is this second point when
you're editing a later draft andyou're getting lost in over
(11:55):
analysis.
I see this all the time.
Like I said, right at the start,all the story theory is
fabulously helpful and can trulytransform your story once it all
clicks for you.
But at the same time, it's adouble-edged sword.
Spend too much time putting yourstory through layers of analysis
and you'll end up disconnectedfrom your characters.
(12:17):
You'll be thinking in abstractterms about story theory to the
point that you forget toconsider your emotional
connections to your characters.
I will never say to ditch storytheory and leave the analysis
behind.
I love it so much.
It's so helpful.
The trick is simply to recognizewhen it's taken you as far as it
can right now, and when you needto pivot to a different tactic
(12:40):
in order to make fresh progress.
And a great clue that it's timeto pivot is when you're feeling
overwhelmed by over analysis,spinning out and lost among all
your spreadsheets and storysystems.
Why does this question work sowell?
Why is it precisely what youneed when you're caught up in
analysis?
(13:00):
I can point to two reasons.
First, as you've probablyguessed, it pulls you out of
theory and analysis and intoempathy with your character.
When you spent a lot of timestudying and applying story
theory, you start thinking aboutyour story in terms of the
structural beats found invarious systems.
(13:21):
You ask questions like.
What should my second pinchpoint be?
And is my theme stated and did Iinclude the refusal of the call?
Again?
Questions like these can bereally helpful, but when they
stop making things more clearfor you and start making things
more stressful, it's time to putdown the analysis and try
(13:41):
empathy.
Instead, asking, what would mycharacter do next?
Forces you to step into yourcharacter's shoes.
Not just that.
It requires you to step intotheir mind and their heart.
It asks you to imagine yourselfin their place, experiencing
their burdens and stressors, andtraumas and worries and
(14:01):
concerns, and successes, andjoys and hopes and dreams, and
beliefs, and expectations andfears.
Now, you are not simply thinkingabout the story in abstract
analytical terms.
Now you are feeling your waythrough your character's life,
seeing the world through theireyes, and allowing the things
that drive them to also driveyou.
(14:24):
And the second reason that thisquestion is so effective is
because it moves you out ofthinking about what happens to
your character and insteadreconnects you to your
character's agency so that theiractions can drive the story.
When you're this far in therevision process and this deep
in analysis, you are thinkinghard about where each story
(14:45):
structure element should be andwhat each story beat should do.
You also have a lot of existingstory material, a lot of events
that already happen on the page,and it's really easy to feel
really attached to those and tothink in terms of how you can
make each one fit.
So when you go to edit, you'reasking questions like.
(15:07):
Should this subplot come in atthe end of act one or the
beginning of act two, or, I needthis plot point to happen, but
it's not working after themidpoint.
So should I move it to beforethe midpoint?
Well, now that doesn't makesense because of this.
When you approach the story fromthis direction, it is really
easy to slip into making thingshappen to your characters.
(15:30):
Why does this plot point happenhere or there?
Not because it's the onlylogical thing that the
characters would do next.
But because the author needed itto, maybe you need it there
because you're trying toretrofit old material, or maybe
you need it there because you'retrying to manufacture events to
fit story theory.
Either way, this approach isdisconnected from your
(15:51):
protagonist's agency, and it'sreally easy to slip into
creating a series of events thathappen to them.
By contrast, when you set allthat analysis aside and instead
approach the story with.
What would my character do next?
You immediately tap right backinto your character's agency and
(16:11):
you put them back in thedriver's seat of the story.
Now you're building out storyevents organically with a clear
cause and defect trajectory, allspilling directly from your
character's actions.
No more shoehorning in thethings that you think should
happen, but that don't quitefit.
Just a cascade of dominoes allknocked down by your character.
(16:34):
Your character is in thiscircumstance and they want this,
so they do this, which causesthis to happen, so they do this
next, et cetera.
In order for all this to work,though, there is one thing that
is absolutely imperative.
Embrace this and you'll uncovermagic.
Every time you ask the question,skip this, or try to skate by
(16:59):
with just a shallow skim.
And you'll keep slamming intothe same wall.
Here's the key.
You must get emotionally in tunewith your character.
This question requires that youexperience deep empathy with
them.
You must fully settle yourselfinto their shoes and minds and
(17:20):
heart.
You must imagine what they'rethinking, what they're feeling,
what they're believing, whatthey're understanding, and what
they're missing.
The more you can do this, themore nuanced understanding you
can bring to them.
The more fully you can know,this character, this person, as
a full, complete, complex,sometimes contradictory human
(17:41):
being, the more powerful thisquestion becomes.
This is also why this questionmight be even more powerful in
the revision process than whenyou're discovering the story in
the first draft.
Because the true work ofrevision is to deeply understand
your character and the point ofthe story you want to tell.
It's not really about prettyingup the words on the page.
(18:03):
it's about thinking deeply aboutwhat you want your story to be
and who your character truly is.
And since you've already spentan entire first draft or more
drafts getting to know yourcharacter and you're spending
the revision process, getting toknow them so much more deeply,
you have so much moreinformation about them and more
(18:26):
access to empathy for them thanyou did in that first draft,
which means that when you ask,what would my character do next?
Now your answers can be muchmore nuanced, complex, and
aligned with your character andyour story.
But all that can only happen tothe degree that you settle
yourself into your character'smind and heart.
(18:48):
So do not skate by here.
Don't rush to quick answers ormake surface level judgments.
Sit with your character.
Spend some time with them.
Imagine them in all their hopesand dreams and beliefs and
obstacles and emotional mess.
And from that place, askyourself what they would do
(19:09):
next.
Since you've stuck with me thisfar, I have a bonus for you.
This question works for beyondjust your protagonist.
It's a great question to askyour antagonist and your side
characters too.
Everyone has a goal.
Everyone has reasons why theyexpect that pursuing that goal
(19:29):
will lead to some benefit forthemselves or other people.
And when they encounter stimulialong the way, whether that
comes in the form of obstaclesor assistance, they will react
or respond in some way thataligns with their goal and all
the things that they think andfeel, and believe, and
understand and misunderstand,which is a complicated way of
(19:50):
saying.
You can put yourself in theshoes of any character in your
story.
Think about what they want.
Think about the context thatcame before now, and think about
how they feel about what'shappening right now.
And when you tap into thatempathy ask, what will they do
next?
It's just one question and it'sdeceptively simple.
(20:13):
And yet it has an almost magicalpower to pull you out of the
overanalyzing overwhelm andreconnect you with the heart of
your characters and your story.
So by all means, pull out allyour favorite story analysis
tools and put your story throughits structural paces.
But when all that story theorystops leading you to answers and
(20:35):
starts spinning you out, pause,set it all aside.
Take a deep breath.
Picture your protagonist in allthe vivid detail that you can
step into their shoes and morethan that into their heart and
mind.
Let your empathy for them swellup until you can't help but weep
(20:57):
at the things that make themcry.
Think of everything they've gonethrough before this moment.
All the things they mostdesperately want and hope for,
and all the obstacles they seestanding in their way and ask
what would they do next?
If you'd like to dig deeper intothe kinds of character
(21:17):
developments that will help youanswer that question, I
recommend checking out episode53, how to Flesh out Flat
Characters with just fourquestions.
You can find it by going toalice sud though.com/ 53.
Or going to the link in the shownotes, and if you need a little
reminder to post up next to yourcomputer so you can glance up
(21:38):
and see it whenever you need,and pull yourself out of the
overanalyzing overwhelm and backinto connection with your
characters, Then be sure to grabthe free download that I put
together for this episode.
Go to alice sudler.com/ 79.
Fill out the form on that pageand I'll send these questions
straight to your email in a nicepretty doc that's easy to print
(21:59):
and pin up in your space.
I've seen these questions helpso many writers unlock so many
epiphanies ideas that were justsitting there right underneath
the surface waiting to be found,and these were just the right
questions to surface them.
I hope they do the same for you.
Happy editing.
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