The Primary Dramatic Question

Popular storytelling advice says that your story should raise a question that must be answered in the mind of the audience. Often this is presented as a singular question that drives the story throughout the second act. Let's call this the primary dramatic question.

What does the primary dramatic question look like? In a love story, for example, a man and woman might meet and fall in love during Act I, but at the beginning of Act II, they break up. The primary dramatic question question throughout Act II will be, then: Will our man and woman ever get back together? Yes, other things will happen in the story. Our man and woman may pursue career goals, they may wrestle with personal demons, they may even meet other people. None of this should make the audience forget the primary dramatic question. If need be, the man and woman must be thrust together (mind out of the gutter, please) repeatedly, against their will, in order to remind the audience of the primary dramatic question.

The answer to the primary dramatic question is usually obvious. In our example above: Yes, they get back together. Otherwise, what's the point? This is the answer the audience is hoping for. In fact, the audience will be disappointed if it doesn't work out the way they want. Therefore, the job of the writer isn't so much to ask the question, but to create a sense of uncertainty about the answer. Once that uncertainty is set in place, the audience will hang on through the rest of the story just to make sure things will work out the way they want them to.


Think of the primary dramatic question as creating an itch. The answer is the scratch, but the postponement of that scratch is what keeps the audience engaged in the story. Conflict, in all its many forms, is what postpones that scratch and throws the dark shadow of uncertainty onto the answer of your primary dramatic question.

As a writer, it is important to identify the primary dramatic question your story asks. The point of the primary dramatic question isn't to stump the audience. A lot of writers make this mistake. They think they're being profound and intellectual by muddying the waters around the primary dramatic question. Maybe they think their writing is terrible unless it surprises them as they're writing it. Whatever the case, don't make the mistake of overcomplicating your story because you don't want the primary dramatic question to be obvious.

The primary dramatic question must be presented in a way that as many people as possible get it. You don't want to create a primary dramatic question that only those educated with a master's degree in literature from a prestigious university can understand or appreciate. Your primary dramatic question should be primal, it should trigger an emotional response. Will the protagonist find love? Will the family farm be saved from the dirty bankers? Will the family dog be saved from kidnappers? Will the evil powers trying to destroy a good way of life be stopped?

Odds are, you have a primary dramatic question even if you think you don't. However, if you truly don't, what you have is a character study, not a story.

If your story just isn't working, look hard at the primary dramatic question. Change it, strengthen it, and you'll likely find the key to overcoming whatever just isn't working.

-The Illiterate Writer