The Five Whys to Find Depth in Your Story
Sometimes you have to just ask why. And keep asking why.
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Enjoy a dose of my playwriting process,
writing confessions, and all the mess in between.
Ever heard of the Five Whys technique?
It comes from Toyota. Yes, the car Toyota. When something went wrong on the assembly line, engineers would ask why five times in a row to uncover the root cause. That means they dig past the surface to find the real reason something broke down.
So why is the Five Whys useful in playwriting?
First - Why use Five Whys?
Because sometimes characters, scenes, or even whole plays can feel very flat and monotonous. Like something’s happening but it is not quite impactful yet.
Second - Why do they feel flat?
Because we often stop at the first layer of motivation:
She’s angry because he was late to the date
He’s sad because his dog just died
Okay yeah. Sure, fair. But why?
Third - Why do we stop at the first layer?
Because it’s just easier. But quality playwriting is anything but easy. It’s fun. But not easy.
Surface-level emotions are just faster to write, it’s less complex, and it comes to us almost naturally. But when you’re in deep writing mode, that’s where the good stuff is.
Because without deeper interrogation, you end up writing shelf emotions instead of complex humans.
Fourth - But why does it need to go deeper?
Because depth creates connection.
When we see not just what someone is feeling, but why and why it matters to them, then the audience leans in, they’re invested, they’re connected.
Fifth - Why is it important to connect with audience?
Because we’re in the business of storytelling.
The purpose of plays is to tell a story. This story needs to entertain and/or resonate. We watch to understand, to escape, to relive, to reveal.
Let’s try this on for size:
She slammed the table and fell silent.
Why did she slam the table?
Because she’s angry.
Why is she angry?
Because he promised her he’d be at the date at 8 sharp.
Why does a broken promise affect her so badly?
Because it reminded her of how her dad used to forget to pick her up from school as a child and would leave her waiting at the bus stop alone and scared.
Why does this memory still haunt her?
Because she never brought it up as a problem to her father.
Why didn’t she say anything?
Because in her family, silence was survival.
BOOM!
Now you’re not just writing an angry woman on a date, you’re writing deep rooted emotional pain carried with her all these years.
Final Thoughts
So if you feel like your story feels too thin, stuck, empty, purposeless, don’t just cover it up with more dialogue, more emotions, or more action. Just simple ask Why?
And ask it five times.