Story Nerds: The Causal Chain
In celebration of our first Story Nerds , I’m revisiting one of my favorite subjects: the causal chain. Remember, narrative structure is a sequence of cause and effect. Stories are formed by an interlinked sequence: Event A causes Event B (and so on). One event, one decision, one reaction triggers the next one, and the next one. To reinforce both action (external) and emotional (internal) plot movements, build tension, and create strong drama, a writer needs to be mindful of the story’s causal chain. Weak plots tend to follow a “This happens, then this happens, and then this happens” formula. Such a plot is reduced to a series of unrelated scenes. A stronger method for mapping a plot is using the formula, Therefore + But . In this way, the plot unfolds logically, and every scene also becomes relevant. In other words, the power in any plot beat is not the beat itself. It’s how the character got there. To strengthen your narrative structure, you...
