A Question about The Question
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Anton Chekhov
15 min read
The entire article revolves around Chekhov's philosophy of storytelling and his approach to posing questions rather than answering them. Understanding Chekhov's life, literary career, and influence on modern short fiction would provide essential context for readers interested in the craft discussions Saunders is having.
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Gooseberries (short story)
10 min read
Saunders extensively analyzes this specific Chekhov story as his primary example of how a story can pose a problem about happiness without resolving it. The Wikipedia article provides the full context of the story's plot, themes, and place in Chekhov's 'Little Trilogy' that would enrich understanding of Saunders' analysis.
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Young Goodman Brown
12 min read
The questioner references this Nathaniel Hawthorne story as an example of fiction that explores moral extremes and judgment. Understanding this classic American allegory about Puritan guilt and the nature of evil would help readers grasp the type of thematic questioning being discussed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it.
For anyone interested, here’s a link to my talk at the National Book Awards last week…(This is just “my” portion of the program, not the whole ceremony, as I posted last Sunday.)
Also, here’s a link from The Believer, to an interview I did with my pal Ben Marcus back in (gulp) 2004. Interesting to read this twenty-year old interview and find some things I’m still saying and some I’m not, or am saying differently…
Now, on to our question of the week…
Q.
Hello George, I want to ask about the question you’ve often referred to as shaping a story -- the question to be posed in the right way, as Chekov put it, rather than to be answered.
You sometimes mention the question that’s in your head as you draft a story. I don’t recall one exactly, but some examples might be, why is there such unfairness in the world, or, in the case of Young Goodman Brown, what happens when we judge people at extremes. (And I’m not quite sure those are such good examples.)
I have learned about concepts like the big and small stories within the story, the heart of the story, etc. but you are the first of my many instructors, teachers, or, as I might put it, aimiable coaches to suggest to me the importance of the ‘Chekhov question’ if I might call it that.
I don’t think I’ve ever started a story with the C question in mind, and I find it difficult to identify one even in a second or third draft. Would you be willing to describe where the question becomes clear to you in your own stories? What helps you give shape to the question? And, do you think that the clearer the C question to the writer, the stronger the story? This is what I suspect.
Thank you so much for Story Club and for your generosity and kindness.
A.
Yes, thank you – I believe the quote you’re referring to goes something like: “A work of art doesn’t have to solve a problem, it just has to formulate it correctly.”
So, we might note, first, that Chekhov is not actually advocating having a question. I think what he’s saying is
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