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Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), renowned writer and poet, came up with his “serving men” which are an inspiration to all writers. Part of his poem on the subject reads:-
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
Do check out the full version via the link to The Kipling Society.
I would add in the question of “what if” as a useful addition to these six. How can all writers benefit from these questions? Let’s take a look.
Structures for Your Writing
First and foremost, answering these questions gives you an excellent framework for any piece of writing and I do mean any. I share a couple of examples below, one of which is fiction, the other non-fiction.
Non-Fiction
What
Want to write an article on an aspect of creative writing.
Why
To be instructive and encouraging to other writers.
When
For a Chandler’s Ford Today post – this one! To be scheduled at an appropriate time.
How
By taking part of Rudyard Kipling’s serving men poem and showing by example how each line helps creates a structure for any writing.
Where
For Chandler’s Ford Today in the form of an online article, which can be shared by me later on my website etc.
Who
To be written by Allison Symes
And if I add in my question:-
What If
I can expand the basic idea here and show in more depth the purposes of having a structure to writing and this one is a good place to start.
Fiction
What
An unexplained object lands in the middle of a park.
Why
It has been left there for humans to find (to remind them they’re not the only beings in the universe).
When
To be done in early spring, those behind this know humans more likely to be out in the park, pick April 1st.
How
Object was dropped from what we would think of as a drone.
Where
In a Hampshire park.
Who
Dropped by alien. Need to work out who would find the object, what it is, and does anyone believe the finder? They did find it on April Fool’s Day.
And if I add in my question:-
What If
The finder is considered the most boring person in the area. Is the least likely person to make something up. Does that get others to believe them? Or does the date of April 1st prevent others from believing the finder’s story? What do they do?
Having a Framework
So you see from the above, I have a framework in place. I now need to “fill in the gaps”. Though in writing this post I am filling in the gaps for the non-fiction bit! The idea, especially for the fiction, is to get the thinking out process started. There are still things I need to work out before I write up the first draft of my story based on the fiction outline above but what I have got here is a useful start.
The nice thing with the serving men here is you can use this as a structure repeatedly. If you find there is a specific question you need to know, in my case it would be character main trait, you could add that into the questions you ask yourself as you work out a potential story idea.
For a non-fiction piece, a question I would ask myself and which I would add into this framework is how does this benefit the reader? (There’s a strong case for arguing this is a good question to ask for fiction as well. The reader should benefit by being entertained!).
In this case, I hope this post shows the usefulness of Kipling’s idea here in working out what you need to know before writing anything. Whether it is fiction or non-fiction, there needs to be a purpose behind your writing – this is why the why question here is vital.
Having a structure like this means it is less likely you will box yourself in. I remember doing this a couple of times much earlier in my writing life. It’s no surprise the two times I did this, I abandoned the two stories I’d been trying to write.
I’ve found it a good principle to work out what I need to know, and using Kipling’s serving men is a great place to start, but I don’t plan out everything. I want to know I’ve got my structure (writing fails without it). I also want to know I’ve got enough manouevre room to let my imagination get to work.
Outlining By Another Name
Yes, I would see Kipling’s serving men as an outline by another name but even if you really dislike the thought of planning out anything, remember you can answer Kipling’s questions as briefly or in as detailed a manner as suits you best. You can also use them at the end of your first draft to go back through your story or article to check you can answer these questions.
A structure like this gives your writing a sound foundation. I’ve always found a good outline to be a good preventative against the dreaded curse of the saggy middle in stories and, as mentioned above, against finding yourself running out of steam precisely because you haven’t worked certain things out first.
I’ve found, since writing seriously for publication, when I’m reading works by other authors, I am looking out for how they’ve answered the questions outlined by Kipling. In a great story, these questions will be answered well.
But even before that I would’ve been taking in what works in a story (and what doesn’t) as I read it. A lifetime of reading reasonably widely has shown me what to expect from a story. Even before I knew what the Rule of Three was (and is), I knew from my reading of and listening to fairytales something would happen twice and then on the third occasion, there would be a different outcome, leading usually to the traditional happy ever after ending. I also expected the unkind to get their just deserts in such stories, usually on the third occasion of something happening.
With my writing hat on, and needing to come up with ideas all the time for my fiction and non-fiction work, I need ways into triggering those ideas. Kipling’s serving men have stood the test of time and will continue to do so.
Conclusion
I need to know how to start on any piece of writing, what the point of my story or article will be (and in the case of fiction who my lead character will be), and a rough idea of the ending. This means as other ideas occur to me while writing my first draft, and this often happens, I can jot them down and see how/if they would fit in.
Sometimes they prove to be better than my original idea but I believe the process of writing something down triggers that creativity which makes you come up with the better idea. Without that kick start, there is nothing to fire up the imagination.
I know I can’t edit a blank page. I also know I need to have something written down which I can then improve. Using Kipling’s serving men is a fabulous way to start any piece of writing and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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