Curiosity

The writer's superpower

In the early days of my career as a journalist, I learned that a good news story should answer the “5 W’s and H.” That is, to present the facts of a story, preferably in the lead (first paragraph), you’d quickly and clearly present Who? Why? What? Where? When? and How?

In something as mundane as a report on a city council vote on parking meters, you might write:

At a contentious council meeting (where) featuring loud objections (what) from residents (who), the Springfield City Council (who) voted six to one (what and how) on Monday (when) to raise the fees on parking meters by $1 per hour (what), effective immediately (when). The lone dissenting vote (what) was from Councilwoman Jane Doe (who), who is said to have her eye on a run for Mayor next year. (what and why) The other council members said the increase was necessary to pay for parking enforcement. (why)

Packing as much info into a few sentences provided an interesting challenge—especially since I worked for a newspaper styled after USA Today, with most news stories kept to about 8-10 paragraphs. I learned to be concise and cut to the chase. Long before scrolling was a thing, our paper was teaching people how to skim.

Thankfully, I now write pieces and books much longer than ten paragraphs. But I still need to explore those basic questions. I still need to ask a lot of questions.

Writing provides a sort of vindication for those of us who spent our childhoods either asking questions (extroverts) or pondering them in our heads (introverts).

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Questions are the jumping off point for interesting stories, and a writer’s first job (or privilege) is to ask them. To get curious about people and their stories. To spelunk into ideas, exploring them like caves.

The 5W’s and H provided a funnel of sort, a filter. But most reporters were already asking those questions, because reporters are writers, and writers are curious.

As a writer, curiosity is your superpower. It’s your motivating force. Because writing is a form of discovery. And what are we discovering? The things we’re curious about. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, to write is to investigate and learn, to explore.

Even memoir requires a writer to get curious: what happened to me, and how did that impact me? What truths did my struggles teach me? What part of my story is so personal that it’s universal?

Writers begin with curiosity. They ask questions, investigate, wonder. They read, research, dig a little deeper into a story, or follow what might seem like a side trail. In other words, they allow themselves to become just a little bit childlike. They embrace wonder.

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They write about things that interest them—and interest is born of curiosity. However, you can’t stop there.

Good writers follow their curiosity, eager to learn more about what intrigues them, from World War II history to effective business leadership principles. But strong, effective writing also considers the reader: who are they, and what are they curious about?

I’ve quoted AJ Harper before: “A book is not about something, a book is for someone.”

Powerful writing is for someone who is asking the same questions as the writer. It considers the reader’s curiosity, their felt needs and problems. It considers the reader’s needs. In other words, good writers get curious about their readers’ curiosity.

Strong writing explores the intersection of the writer’s curiosity, and the reader’s quest for answers and information.

If you want to improve your writing, lean in, and fan the flame of your curiosity. This takes some work, actually, because many of us learned along the way to stop asking so many questions, to just accept “truths” presented to us.

Unfortunately, this was especially true in many religious contexts, which is ironic because Jesus was forever asking questions.

We’ve been trained—in the church, the business world, even the broader culture, to think that questions are automatically divisive. But often, questions lead us to truth. We have to retrain ourselves to ask Who? What? Where? And so forth. And especially, Why?

What questions wake you up at night? What stories intrigue you? What do you wish you knew more about? What do you think simply has to change? What story has to be told?

Then, think about your reader. Who is asking these same questions? Who is curious about the same things you are?

I’ve written more than a dozen books, and most came from my own questions about life—about nurturing my spiritual life while caring for small children, about how to slow down the pace of my life, about how to really listen to God and other people, about how to practice Sabbath with my family.

What are you curious about? How does curiosity inform your writing? Please leave a comment, share or like!