Today on the Go Teen Writers Book Club, we’re discussing Causality, chapter thirteen of Story Trumps Structure by Steven James.

Chapter Recap:
The topic of causality, at first, seemed new to me, but once I started reading, it was all too familiar. I wrote a couple blog posts on this topic in the past, and I’ve linked to them below. While this is a topic that best fits during the rewrite stage, if you practice this now, you’ll eventually get the hang of it, which will cause you to write tighter first drafts that require less editing later on.

What Steven James calls causality (cause and effect), my first editor Jeff Gerke simply said: “Fiction happens in order.” And that means: something happens, then the characters react to it. Everything that happens in a story (should) logically follow the event that preceded it.

Mr. James takes this further by giving several reasons why this is so important. If you write these types of things backwards, if you start with your effect (or reaction), then move to cause (the action that causes the reaction), you will confuse readers, they will stumble, it will kill the pace of your story, it will make things unbelievable, and/or it will make your writing weak.

All that to say, if you find sentences in your writing that have the effect/reaction first, then the cause/action, you can simply switch them around. Let’s look at an example:

I shivered (effect/reaction) when a cold breeze (cause/action) rose up on the trail.

A cold breeze (cause/action) rose up on the trail, and I shivered (effect/reaction).

See the difference?

There are exceptions, of course. Sometimes you want to put the effect/reaction first. Mr. James suggests the following exceptions:

1. At scene or chapter breaks. Sometimes you want to end a scene or chapter with a cliffhanger, so you break the action/reaction rule to hook your reader into turning the page.

2. When an action causes multiple or simultaneous reactions, you can list them in whichever order most pleases you.

3. If you are writing a mystery, usually your detective will announce that he or she has solved the case before they give their long list of evidence. It’s just more exciting that way.

4. Similar is the situation where a character shares important information that everyone has been wanting to know. The character would most likely rush into the room and yell, “I found Murphy!” and then explain how. In this situation, following the action/reaction rule isn’t as compelling. Imagine your character rushing in and saying, “I was walking downtown, and I got thirsty, so I went into 7-11 to grab a Diet Coke. When I was there, I saw Murphy in line at the little post office there. We all thought he was missing! Turns out he’s been out of town for several weeks, visiting his mom in the hospital.” In a case like this, it’s more logical that the character would speak emotionally and start out with a dramatic announcement, then start with an explanation as to how he came to discover it.

Tip of the week:

Mr. James gives a quick tip for finding some of the instances when you might have put the effect/reaction before the cause/action. He suggests you do a search for the word “because.” Oftentimes “because” finds itself in the middle of a backwards sentence.

I stayed home from school because I didn’t feel good.

In a sentence like this, Mr. James says you can 1) flip the sentence around and 2) substitute “so” for “because.”

I didn’t feel good, so I stayed home from school.

Go Teen Writers Archived Articles to Help You Go Deeper
I wrote two posts about this topic. They are listed in order below. If you want to learn more about this and see some hands-on examples, check out these posts. They will be a help to you.

Post #1. Does Your Fiction Happen in Order?
Post #2. Are Your Actions and Reactions Logical?

Questions:
• Rewrite one the following: I snuck out of the house because my parents wouldn’t let me go to the slumber party.
• Or find a sentence in your WIP and share your rewrite below.
• Any questions?