Character goals and story questions

[pandora9]

I'm wondering about the different approaches - both conceptual and practical - people take to their main character's main goal, and the story question this generates. Reading something of Jack Bickham's has brought up confusion for me, as I certain have not made things as explicit as he recommends. My WIP is contemporary/literary rather than genre based, and perhaps this is relevant here.

What are your thoughts/approach?

[sunandshadow]

The main character's goal doesn't necessarily generate the story question, it can be the other way around depending on whether you pick your themes/premise or develop your characters first.

[zornhau]

All IMHO:

Literary Ficiton is a genre, with it's own quirky rules and conventions - you just have to work out what they are.

It's important that you know your protag's goal and story question*, but depending on the genre conventions, you might choose to hide these from the reader.
*If, like me, you prefer to write in this way.

As for the process of coming up with them: personally I rattle between goal and question until I have something I like... a little like truing the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

[pandora9]

I guess I mean story question in the reader's mind: Will s/he .....? based on some 'must have or else ....' for the protagonist. A lot of people seem to be saying this needs to be clear (even if not made explicit) early on.

[zornhau]

I guess I mean story question in the reader's mind: Will s/he .....? based on some 'must have or else ....' for the protagonist. A lot of people seem to be saying this needs to be clear (even if not made explicit) early on.

Two thoughts here, very much in my humble and unpublished opinion.

First, the story question in the reader's mind is determined by how intimate a knowledge of the protag you allow them. So, if your protag is a cipher, the question in the reader's mind will be "WTF is going on here/is the protag up to?" Not advisable for a straight adventure yarn, but very effective in other genres. For a film example of this: "High Plains Drifter".

Second, the twist may be that the question itself is the wrong one:
Can Janice reconcile with her mother? No, their relationship was too abusive. However, Janice realises that what she really wants is revenge...
Or
Can Tom resist his crazy neighour and live a quiet life? Yes. However, the quiet life suddenly seems rather dull...
So, without having read your work, I think it's enough that it's clear that the protag thinks they have a meaningful goal at the start.