How to Use the Five Ws in Writing Tween Fiction

The 5 Ws are a newspaper writer's rule that will work for fiction writers.

Rate: (0 Ratings)

Many young students learn the basics of journalism from their teachers. After talking to the class about the assignment at hand, the teacher would turn around and jot 5 words on the blackboard: Who, Where, When, What, Why (and sometimes added an H for How). He told us that asking each question should elicit a factual answer necessary to write a complete news story. In news writing, this form of structure is sometimes called an inverted pyramid, to refer to decreased importance of information as it progresses. This rule can also work for the fiction writer to help sure each scene in their book works.

Flag Article

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Determine who is in the scene. Jot down the names on your paper, and a few words about who each person is.

Step2

Figure out where the scene is taking place? Is it in the school classroom, or maybe in the park, or on a downtown street?

Step3

Ask yourself when the scene is happening. Perhaps it’s a sunny day, or maybe a dark night.

Step4

Consider what is going on in the scene. Are the boys having an argument? Or maybe they are concentrating on a school project that is due the next day.

Step5

Decide why the characters are doing whatever they’re doing. Write down their motivation: anger, fright or curiosity.

Step6

Determine how the events in the scene occur? Answering the 5 Ws and 1 H for each scene in your story aids you in writing the scene so that it makes sense to the reader.