Concept
Cause and effect
You might say: therefore and but, causality
Each event happens because of the one before. Forster says plot emphasises causality.
- What it does
- Makes events feel surprising and inevitable at the same time.
- Ask
- Can I join these scenes with “therefore” or “but” instead of “and then”?
- Trouble
- Scenes could swap places and nothing would change.
Connections
- See also: Try-fail cycle
Sources
- E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel, ch. V, The Plot, pp. 129–130
A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality.
Use it on your project
teardown-apply: hold "Cause and effect" (causality) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/fiction-writing/ against my project
Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.
An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal