Cause and Effect in Fiction, by Susan J. Letham Options

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Cause and Effect in Fiction
by Susan J. Letham

Writer's question: I was told I need to develop a stronger
sense of cause and effect in my fiction. Can you explain
cause and effect in simple terms?

Response: There are three main areas of cause and effect in
a story: character background and motivation, story logic,
and micro-level stimulus and response. An overview should
make the basic issues clear.

Overview of Cause and Effect

Before we go into specifics, take a look at a good example
of cause and effect in these lines by Madeleine L'engle*:

    For want of a nail the shoe was lost,
    For want of a shoe the horse was lost,
    For want of a horse the rider was lost,
    For want of a rider the message was lost,
    For want of the message the battle was lost,
    For want of the battle the war was lost,
    For want of the war the kingdom was lost,
    And all for the want of a horse shoe nail.

Fiction writers can learn a lot here. What the poem shows is
how one small event (cause) leads to another (effect) and
how each effect becomes a cause and leads to a more serious
effect than the one before. That's how the cause and effect
chain works at story-logic level.

Cause and Effect at Story Logic Level

When the cause and effect chain is missing links at story-
logic level, the story will have gaps. To a reader, the
story will seem to be made up of unrelated events. You, the
writer, may know what links between your story events are,
but the reader will be confused. That's disastrous in genre
fiction, where the reader expects linearity and logic.

Gaps occur at story-logic level for two main reasons:

Reason 1: The author has not plotted the story.

Few of us can successfully hold a plot, complete with twists
and sub-threads, in memory for the entire time it takes to
write a story, but there are always writers who insist on
trying. The result is gaps, missing links, and events in the
wrong order. The solution, of course, is to plot.

Reason 2: The author has failed to consider the reader.

The second reason for cause and effect breakdown at story
level takes place when writers forget readers' needs. It's
not enough for writers to know their stories--writers must
understand that they are telling their stories to people
with no previous knowledge of the events.

Telling a story is like giving how-to-get-there-from-here
directions to a stranger. You can't say, "Walk down the High
Street, turn into Clark Lane, walk up to Chalmer's, then..."
A stranger has no idea what or where these places are.

To meet the stranger's needs, you'd have to say: "Turn left
from here onto the High Street. Walk towards the clock tower
at the end of the street. Halfway between here and the clock
tower you'll come to Clark Lane. Turn right into Clark Lane,
cross to the left-hand side of the street, then walk up as
far as Chalmer's Grocery then..." You have to give your
stranger-reader detail and landmarks to work with.

Cause and Effect at Character Background Level

Everything your characters are and everything they do, they
are and do because... In that respect they are just like
you. That's why it's vital that you know your characters
before you sit down to write. By getting to know your
characters and the causes of their wants, needs, and
behaviors, you'll be able to let them speak and act in
appropriate ways.

Cause and Effect at Micro-Stimulus-Response Level

Each event in your story must follow from a known stimulus.
Characters shouldn't do things for which the reader has no
explanation--things that are known only to characters in
their minds.

Your POV character, especially, should have no secrets from
your readers. Readers have an unwritten right to unlimited
access to the mind of a POV character and the right to full
disclosure of the character's thoughts. Readers should know
and understand what the character knows and understands,
including the reasons for the character's actions.

Make your micro-stimulus and response visible

There's a pitfall waiting for the unwary here. Some writers
try to have either stimulus or response (or both) take place
inside a character's head. As a result, the character's
actions, if she acts at all, are unintelligible to the other
characters and to the reader. The writer begins to tell
rather than show the action.

Action needs to be be visible. The causes of the actions
must be visible, too. To be visible, they must be external
and relate to objects and events that characters and readers
can see in the scene.

When you show an action, a thought, or a reaction, imagine
you're doing so on a stage. Even if a character is alone,
have him do something. Use a character thought by all means,
but have the character verbalize the thought, take a step
forward, pick something up, or complete some other relevant
action. Let your motto be: show me!

Summary

While your story may be clear in your own mind as you write,
part of your job as a writer is to make the chain of cause
and effect in your story equally logical to your readers.

* Excerpt: "For want of a nail," from "A Wind in the Door"
  by Madeleine L'engle

© 2003 Susan J. Letham

Susan J. Letham is a British writer, creative writing tutor,
and owner of http://www.Inspired2Write.com . Sign up for
classes and competent 1-on-1 coaching. Pick up your no-cost
subscription to the monthly Inspired2Write Newsletter at:
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Permission to reprint this article granted to L Kanter by Susan Letham, 09 March 2004