Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 6, Volume 6 | Page 31

BUILDING A BELIEVABLE CHAIN OF EVENTS (CONT’D)

Cause: One ball strikes another.
Effect: That ball rolls across the table.

AN

EVENT’S EFFECT ON A CHARACTER SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY EVIDENT TO

READERS. Even if the character is trying to ignore or repress a response, he’ll be

impacted somehow. He must be. If he isn’t, readers will lose trust in the story’s
believability.
Every action should be justified by the intersection of setting, context,
pursuit, and characterization. They all need to make sense. They all need to fit.

JANE SAYS:
Since 2001, I have spoken at
hundreds of venues, in-

If you have to explain why something just happened, you’re telling the story
backward.

cluding writing conferences,

FIXING CAUSALITY ISSUES

creative writing programs. I

Causality is closely r