Teacher Thursday with a fix.

Last week, Steven introduced the issue of causality in your novel. Scroll back to the last blog post if you need a little reminder.  Today, let’s talk about fixing those issues.

Sometimes writers wonder, DOES EVERYTHING IN A STORY HAVE TO BE CONNECTED?

Unless your novel centers on the absurdity of life, every subsequent event (after the initiating one) should follow naturally and logically, otherwise, the story won’t be cohesive.

QUICK FIX: Analyze every scene, as well as every paragraph, to weed out cause-and-effect problems. Pinpoint the connections between events. Does each action have an appropriate consequence? Does the emotional resonance of a scene fit incongruently from the actions within that scene?

Start by

FINE-TUNING YOUR MANUSCRIPT. ASK YOURSELF:

  • Do realizations or insights occur after the event that caused them (as would naturally happen), or do I have things in the wrong order?
  • Does this scene move from cause to effect? If not, why not? Can I tweak the story to show the natural flow of events rather than stop after they’ve happened to explain why they did?
  • Does context dictate that I reverse the order to effect to cause?Rendering the story this way will force readers to ask, “Why?” Do I want them to do so at this moment in the book? Would lack of clarity about the character’s intention help readers engage with the story at this point? If it won’t, how can I recast it?
  • What will I do to ensure that each ball rolls naturally away from the one that just hit it, both in action sequences and in dialogue?

 

Let us know how these lessons are helping your writing.

Have questions for Steven James? He’ll be answering all of these and more while workshopping with you at our retreat and seminar in Ecuador next April.

Apply today.

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