The 5 Ps of Writing: Problem

Today, we release the second of our five special episodes of The Novelry on Writing to celebrate our groundbreaking writing prize, The Next Big Story. These bonus podcast episodes will help you make sure your entry stands out by exploring the five elements that make the story great. They are:

1. Person
2. Problem
3. Place
4. Plot
5. Prose

We hope you can enjoy these episodes while walking the dog, at the gym, driving to the grocery store, or wherever you can find the time. Remember, story ideas can come to you at any time and in any place. Be ready to grab hold of them when they do!

The Next Big Story offers a grand prize of $100,000 for just three pages from the beginning of a novel. Yes, really!

So, what should you focus on in those pages? Don’t worry, we’re here to help. This transcript from the second special episode of The Novelry on Writing podcast sees writing coaches Melanie Conklin and Amanda Reynolds delve into the secrets of Problem...

MELANIE CONKLIN: Hi, I’m Melanie Conklin. I’m the author of five books for young readers and a writing coach at The Novelry. And I’m here today with the lovely Amanda Reynolds.

AMANDA REYNOLDS: Hi Melanie. I’m Amanda Reynolds, and I am the author of six psychological thrillers and also very pleased to be an author coach at The Novelry. It’s great to be here today talking about problems.

What’s the problem?

MC: Your problem is what your character is facing in the story, right? It’s the challenge that they have to overcome and it’s the whole reason that we want to read your story. So it’s really important to pick a problem that’s nice and meaty, right, Amanda?

AR: Absolutely. If you are thinking about writing for the first time and you really don’t know where to start, because it’s hard to know where your story should begin, think about creating a HUGE great big obstacle for your main character and try and think of them as being really, really ill-suited to deal with that problem.

So, if you bring those two elements together—you’ve got the wrong person and you’ve got this huge problem that they need to deal with—you’ve already got quite a lot of conflict wrapped up in your idea.

MC: Absolutely. I love that. The way you phrase that is perfect. They’re ill-suited for the challenge that they’re facing. Because it’s not super interesting to read a story if someone has all the skills they need and can easily fix their problem. Well then, you’re not going to have a whole book about that, right?

But when we make that problem something that’s really big and that they’re ill-suited for, then they’re going to have a lot of challenges and it’s going to be so interesting to read that person’s story.

Think about creating a HUGE great big obstacle for your main character and try and think of them as being really, really ill-suited to deal with that problem. If you bring those two elements together—you’ve got the wrong person and you’ve got this huge problem that they need to deal with—you’ve already got quite a lot of conflict wrapped up in your idea.
—Amanda Reynolds

How big of a problem?

MC: Let’s expand a little on what we mean when we say ‘a big problem.’ It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re trying to save the whole world. Sometimes it means that the problem goes deeper than just what’s happening out in the world and what they’re trying to fix. Maybe the problem also affects them in their heart and emotionally.

AR: Yeah, absolutely. I always feel that ‘personal’ is very relatable. We all go through stuff in our lives and we all have problems to deal with. And when we read, it’s great to feel seen, to feel connected to that problem, even if it’s something we’ve never been through. There will be reactions of the characters and the way that they try and surmount these problems or have to deal with a big dilemma that we can kind of vicariously enjoy with them. But at the same time, in that safe way of reading the story.

When we’re beginning to develop a character who’s got to come up with a way of dealing with something, it’s always good to look inside ourselves without making it about ourselves. Think about the connections that we have with the person who’s listening or reading our story and think: what is it about our life that we can use? Our experience—not directly autobiographically, but the emotion that we go through, the way we care about people, how we’d do anything to protect the people we love. All those things that are very relatable and that we all experience in our lives.

And what happens if that were threatened? Or what happens if I have to come out of my comfort zone and really do something I wouldn’t normally do in order to protect someone I love, for instance?

MC: Yeah, I love that. We all know what it’s like to struggle, to struggle with a challenge and to have to try repeatedly to address that challenge. What makes it even harder is, say, if you’re in a fantasy story and you have magical powers that might allow you to save the world. What makes that problem even more important for the character is if, in saving the world, they’re also trying to save their little brother, you know?

So we give them that emotional connection to the problem, and we also make it really hard for them to solve it. Maybe they have magic and they’re trying to save their little brother, but they don’t know how to control their magic yet. And so then we have a great big challenge ahead of us. Because you’ve not only got to figure out how to save the sibling, you’ve also got to grow as a person and change as a character in order to address that problem.

So it’s really that interaction that we have between who the character is and the problem they’re facing that makes the story so gripping for our readers.

Should the problem occur right at the start?

MC: People often ask, ‘How soon should I introduce that problem?’ And my opinion is: sooner than later. I always really like it if, when the book opens, the character is already in the problem and they are already facing a challenge. Something has changed in their world that they’re already not okay with and that they’re not adjusting well to. And then your inciting moment comes along and kicks off their journey to face that problem.

So, I always like to have that problem already simmering in the background. Is that what you do in your books as well, Amanda?

AR: Absolutely. In my books, it’s not necessarily magical powers. It’s much more that danger or that threat or that problem that you might face at home. So, my characters are already in their situation, they’re already in their world, and something happens that really unsettles that world, that changes it. Exactly as you said—that moment right at the beginning, as quickly as possible.

Don’t have loads of setup. Let the reader catch up. Get straight into that moment of: Oh my goodness, what on earth is going on here? How is this person going to ever live their life from this point forward?

And that doesn’t mean that it’s something really dramatic. It doesn’t have to be a bomb going off. It could be picking up a phone and finding a message. You know, picking up somebody else’s phone and finding a message even more, you know?

It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering; it just has to be that moment beyond which nothing is ever going to be exactly as it was. And how is your main character going to deal with that? Because without conflict, without change, without a problem, there isn’t really a compelling story that’s going to hook your readers in.

How soon should I introduce that problem? My opinion is: sooner than later. I always really like it if, when the book opens, the character is already in the problem and they are already facing a challenge. Something has changed in their world that they’re already not okay with and that they’re not adjusting well to. And then your inciting moment comes along and kicks off their journey to face that problem.
—Melanie Conklin

How does this problem affect this character?

MC: I know from my stories, which are more realistic fiction, my characters are usually facing a problem that is physical and external, but they are also really battling with an emotional challenge.

For example, in my debut novel Counting Thyme, the main character’s family has just relocated from California all the way across the country to New York City. And they’re there for her little brother’s cancer treatment. So it’s very important and they have every reason to be there, but for Thyme, as the older sibling, she’s had to give up her entire life in order to go and have this treatment for her brother.

The opening of the story, they’re already in New York City. They have already arrived and it’s hitting her how foreign the place feels, how alone she feels. All of those things that build your life have just been taken away from her. And so that’s a really big challenge, especially as an 11-year-old. How do you address that? She desperately wants to go back home, but she also really wants her little brother to get better. So she’s in a very tight spot.

And that’s what we want to do, right? We want to make that challenge for your character really heavy. You don’t always have to have a life on the line, but usually you have some kind of a threat to your existence, and it may just be your social life. It doesn’t always have to be a body on the first page. However, it is really fun when we do have a body early in the story!

It just has to be that moment beyond which nothing is ever going to be exactly as it was. And how is your main character going to deal with that? Because without conflict, without change, without a problem, there isn’t really a compelling story that’s going to hook your readers in.
—Amanda Reynolds

AR: It doesn’t always have to be a body on the first page! I mean, who hasn’t been a teen who’s hankered for something different? You know, even if it’s just being able to be on your own for a while, you know? That’s so relatable.

In my books, I try to take the ordinary situation that we’re all familiar with, and in that domestic setting, think: how can I push this into an extraordinary place? Because the other thing we have to think about is that we can give our main characters a really terrible problem. We can think of something dreadful, but we have to also think about making this story believable and plausible.

We have to walk a line between pushing our readers to go with us on this really dramatic and interesting and extraordinary story, but at the same time, thinking about that authenticity that we want to give our characters. Thinking about: Yeah, that could happen. If I were in that set of circumstances, if I found myself in that terrible place that the main character’s in, maybe—just maybe—I would do the questionable things that they’ve decided to do. I can sort of get why they did that, even if I wouldn’t do it myself.

And it’s that balance, isn’t it, Melanie? Between exciting and interesting and different and a great read, and ‘Yeah, that’s relatable. I do believe it, it hasn’t stretched my credulity too far. I can still go with that story. I still believe in the problem and the reactions of the character.’

What if...?

MC: For sure. My favorite phrase that I like to use when I’m thinking about the problem for my story is: what if?

Just like you said, you take a scenario that’s pretty plausible and you say: what if this happened? So my stories always start with that ‘what if?’ Which is literally the problem—the problem that happens to you in your world. So that can be really helpful for writers if they’re trying to define what their problem is, right?

AR: Yeah. So powerful. I think I’ve pretty much done that for all of my books. My last one that I wrote, Her Husband’s Lie, I thought: ‘What if the person that you feel that you really should trust the most, not just in your personal life but in a wider sense, who would that be and how terrible would it be if they were no longer possibly trustworthy?’

And I thought, who do we really trust? We trust a really high-up consultant. And who do we women really trust? We trust a gynecologist. So I made my suspicious main character a man that we women all put our trust in.

Try and look for that huge sort of dramatic irony—this should be the person that we really, really trust, you know? They’re a pillar of society, they’re a husband, a father, a trusted, longstanding consultant... But hang on a minute: what if they’re also a murderer, say, possibly?

So when you can give these sorts of juxtapositions, of somebody who should be trusted and actually isn’t, that can be a really interesting way to also create problems and your protagonist, your antagonist, the person who’s going to come in and mix everything up and really make those problems even worse.

You take a scenario that’s pretty plausible and you say: what if this happened? So my stories always start with that ‘what if?’ Which is literally the problem. That can be really helpful for writers if they’re trying to define what their problem is.
—Melanie Conklin

The layers of conflict

MC: I love the way you just put that, and I like how you’re describing that we don’t just adjust the problem or the plot that our character is facing. We also adjust the character. Because sometimes, you realize that with just a little tweak to your character, you can amplify that conflict because there are different layers to conflict that we can explore.

• There is man versus man, which we’re very accustomed to. That’s the antagonist you were just mentioning. So your main character has an enemy.
• There’s also man versus nature, which is when the setting is contributing to the antagonism against your character. There’s a storm that’s washed out the bridges so they’re trapped on the island where there’s the serial killer, you know? Nature’s working against them, too.
• And then there’s also man versus self, because we’re our own worst problems most of the time! [Both laughing]

So we really like to dig into that and adjust that character, adjust the details about them and their personality so that it makes the conflict as strong and gripping for your reader as possible. Because the whole point of all of this is to keep people reading the books, right?

AR: Absolutely. That’s our job at the end of the day: to make the reader want to read on. And if you are writing just a few pages, you’ve got to really hook people in in those first few pages. You’ve got to make them think right from the start: I’m really interested in the problem, I’m interested in the place, I’m interested in the person. There’s so much that it’s got to do.

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What’s the worst thing that could happen?

AR: At the same time, one of my top tips for problem would be: think about the problem in relation to your character. Think about what would be the worst thing for that person in that place at that time. And be quite brave in that.

As human beings, we like to solve problems. As soon as we put a problem in the way, we think: How can we fix that? How can we make that better? But really, what we’re going to keep doing is throwing more rocks. We’re going to make it harder and harder and harder. And that sort of goes against the grain.

Sometimes, as writers—I don’t know if you’ve been in this position, but I have a lot of times—I don’t know how I’m going to solve it. I’m just going to make it as difficult as possible, and then I’m going to have to work out how the main character is going to overcome all of these problems that I’ve given them.

MC: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me today to talk about problems. Remember, writers: come in early with that problem, make it big, and make it affect every part of your character’s life, and you’ll have a story that really hooks your readers.

AR: Thank you. Absolutely. Been lovely talking to you.

Don’t forget to enter The Next Big Story

You could bring your wildest writing dreams to life by entering our prize competition to find The Next Big Story.

All you need to do is submit the first three pages (no more than 1,500 words) of a work of fiction for an entry fee of $15. Eight shortlisted entries—chosen by our judging panel, which includes Tayari Jones, Emma Roberts, Julia Quinn, and Yann Martel—will win the full support of The Novelry with access to The Finished Novel Course. Plus, one winner will take home a life-changing $100,000 (£75,000 for U.K. entrants)! Find out more at the prize page. Entries close on July 31!

Closing words

[Louise Dean] Thank you for joining us today. We are so pleased to have you along for the writing journey, and we hope to see you on another episode of The Novelry on Writing. From first draft to finished manuscript, at The Novelry you’ll enjoy one-to-one coaching from bestselling authors, live writing classes with award-winning authors and literary agents, and you’ll work with a publishing editor all the way for submission to literary agentstoward a publishing deal.

All writers learn from other writers, even the greats. Write your novel in good company. Join us at The Novelry.

We’ll show you how to start, coax your story into shape, and cheer you on to type The End.

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