Monday, October 15, 2018

What Is The Underlying Problem?

About 10+ years ago, I was teaching a program called Future Problem Solving. This is fantastic program. Students work in small groups and study a scenario to eventually solve problems in a timed setting. One of the pieces that I always go back to is a first step the students go through. This is the identification of the underlying problem. I wanted to bring this up because it is something I see so many authors missing when it comes to editing and revising those projects.

For many authors, especially those who don't plot, they often find themselves sitting at a point in the story where things just unravel. It looks like there is no hope without completely throwing the entire story out and starting over. Obviously, this is not something any author would want to face. And yet, over and over again, I see authors doing this.

But they don't have to.

The best approach is to look at that story and determine exactly what the underlying problem is that has created your roadblock with your writing. The odds are, it is not a full blown plotting issue, but more likely a small issue that, if tweaked, can take care of the entire issue.

I remember working with an author on a project. Her editor came back with this huge issue of the hero and his motivations. The editor was looking for adjusting the plot that would have entirely re-written the story. The impact was not just fixing the hero, it was also forcing the author to change the heroine, the conflict and, if I remember right, the setting of the story.

This is just too much work. I am personally someone who, if I can find a quick solution, I will take it. In this case, we looked at the underlying problem, and the issue was not the plot, it was the motivation of the character. Our solution? We added one paragraph where the hero had his first love die due to a simple disease. He simply did not want to have a relationship because the pain he went through is something he did not want to go through again.

In this case, the underlying problem is what we tweaked.

So, if you are facing issues with your story, take the time to really study the plot. Go for the underlying problem and you may find that you don't struggle as much as you have in the past with editing.

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