That Magical Question That Begins Grand Adventures: “What if?”

The storyteller’s best friend is “What If?”

What if your hairbrush actually was a previously unknown dinosaur that sleeps during the day, but walks around at night on one hundred bristly legs? What if ponytailers are as delicious as chocolate cake to hairbrush beasts? What if your dinosaur hairbrush burped on your head? What if?

When you ask, “What if?,” you’re on your way to building a story. It might be a comedy or scary or the portal into a strange world. The key to unlocking the door to adventure is the question, “What if?”

I love to visit schools to share the joy of writing with students. Kids have excellent imaginations. At an elementary school, I saw bear painted onto the gymnasium wall. That prompted me to ask, “What if a giant bear walked into that door?”

The kids called out other what ifs until we made up a tale about a giant bear who sang his way into the gymnasium, slam-dunked a basketball, and danced back out.

Why would a bear do that?

A-ha! Let’s meet What If’s famous cousins, Who, What, Where, Why, When, and How.

How did the bear learn to sing? Who taught it dance? Why? Where does the bear go next? What problems does the bear run into? How does he solve them?

Try this: What if the bear sings because a crazy scientists performed experiments on him? What if the bear had become a pop star? What if his last song stunk so badly that he ran away and hid in the tool shed behind the school? What if he heard kids playing basketball in the gym? What if when he came into the gym, all the kids screamed and ran away? What if he cried?

What if, what if, what if? What a great question!

Did you ever wonder if God asked, “What if?” when He created the universe?

Did God say, “What if I created a critter with a neck so long that it could eat tree leaves nineteen feet up?

“What if I made an animal with a six-foot-long nose that could be used like a hand?

“What if one of the creatures looked like it was built from leftover parts from all the others?”

I like to think that God asked “What if?” when He wrote our life stories: “What if Burton fails? What if he’s doomed without help?”

Of course, God, the Great Author, already knew that evil would mar his creation. That’s why He wrote a way for us to escape—He sent his son Jesus to make sure we could be adopted into His family.

God answered, “What if?”

Now it’s your turn to make up a story. Look at an object on your left. Study the person on your right. Now think of that thing and that person and ask yourself, “What if…”

It’s fun to figure out all the stories that our friend What If can tell!

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