# What
The second big question about a story is "what". There's a lot to encompass here. We know a bit about who the story is about and for, but, well, what happens?
## What happens?
### One sentence
This is an essential question that I like to break into 3 parts. First, and arguably most difficult is, "What is the 1-sentence version of your story?" Before you take the plunge and try to answer this about what you're writing or about to write, lets play a game. Think of a movie you love and try to summarize it in one sentence. How about one of your favorite books? Try this a few times or even with a friend before you turn your focus to your own work.
When you do so, do you find it difficult because you don't know enough of the story? Do you struggle to summarize because of some need to perfect the sentence? Think back on the films and books of the game and try to focus on how flexible you could be with those descriptions and still make it work. Then, try to give yourself the room to be vague or imperfect. Get that sentence out and write it down. Stare at it for a minute or two. Does it "feel" right? If not, give it some time and try again.
### What happened next?
The second way I like to think about the "What happens?" question is to put it in the context of telling a friend. If you called up your best friend and started explaining the events that take place in your story how would you do it? Would you get mired in the details right away or try to paint a beautiful scene? Not yet. In inter-personal storytelling we have a natural tendency toward keeping alive the feeling of the narrative with tension to keep the listener asking "what hapened next?". Try this with yourself in the mirror, or with your pet. Try telling, not showing. Yes, this is the opposite of how you'll eventually write, but we'll get to that later. For now, see how far along you can narrate the events about to take place. If you're in an initial outline, or pantsing, don't worry about telling the whole thing or getting too granular. Maybe tell it at a high level or focus on the beginning scenes.
Your goal here is to try and internalize that sense of drama and avoid stagnation on unimportant aspects. In fiction, especially world-building fiction, there's a lot of time spent dreaming up your reality and all the rules, groups, places, and things. In science fiction and fantasy there is a trope known as the info-dump that tends to happen as a result. That is where the author presents all the basics of this universe and its rules to the reader in a blob, often through exposition or through a proxy character that is new to the setting. If you suspect you'll be doing that, see if you can put it into a narrative of its own with tension enough to get a reader asking "what happened next". If not, perhaps there's a way to defer some of that information for another time when it's less intrusive on the story and won't slow your pacing.
### What's different?
The third part of the "What happens?" question is a way to short-circuit bad writing before it can start. We know that good characters grow and change through a story, but so does the world they inhabit. Something happened, after all. What was the impact of that something.
Think about your world at the very beginning of your story and the characters in it. You might want to write a tiny bit of that sensation down, or at least try to visualize it strongly.
Now, think about the very end of your story, after the resolution and the last page is closed. What is the world like now? What has changed?
If you want to go a step further you can try to do this exercise at key moments in the story. If you're following a 3 act structure you can do a sketch at each act. Or perhaps you want to focus in on the moment of climax and highest tension. Knowing these key "frames" of the story will help you work toward them, even if you don't have details on how it'll get there just yet.
## What do you want the readers to feel?
The "what" question can also apply to the reader. What do you want them to feel? Should they laugh? Do you want them to be lost in an immersive world? Do you want them to feel empowered? What sort of mixture do you want to stir up inside them?
## Is there a theme?
Along with the reader's feelings, is there a greater depth to the story? Is this an allegory or is there an overriding theme? Or is this a fly-by-your-pants action thrill-ride that's just there for the popcorn? Like everything else we've covered there's no right or wrong answer.
## Is there a moral?
Finally, what is the moral, or is there one. Should we learn something?
That's a lot of things to consider especially if you're not planning everything from the start. Don't feel the need to answer every question, but try to give them each a moment of thought. Perhaps you don't sense a moral now, but considering it may lead you somewhere down the road.