The Effect of a Cause

On Character, World, and Plot

This is a guest post by RM Archer in collaboration with NoQuWriCo for their Preptober series.

I've been asked to write on "cause and effect" in this post, so I've decided to play on words and discuss "cause" in the sense of "purpose": the values that drive the actions of your story.

This type of "cause" is the deepest source you can tap into when developing the "effect" that should take place in your outline or story. It's also the most fundamentally human element of your writing, because your cause for writing should equally compel your process.

I'll explore cause in four different areas: character, world, plot, and story.

Character

This is the most obvious area in which to think of a "cause." Every character has one: those values that fundamentally drive them, even if they don't realize it. Even your so-called "rebel without a cause" still has driving interests, even if they boil down to self-preservation or ego.

Think about what is important to your character, and especially what's important enough to them that it drives their actions. There might be people they would do anything for, truths they would give anything to defend, responsibilities they hold as their highest priority.

If you want to dig even deeper, think about the cause behind the cause. What made this person, truth, or responsibility so important to them? Were they raised with these values, or did they come into them on their own? What happened in your character's past—childhood or not—that cemented these values as their driving force?

With cause(s) in hand, you can put every action in your outline/story through the filter of what's important to your character. Is their behavior consistent? Is there conflict when their values are violated—whether internally or externally? Are they actively pursuing what's important to them?

Looking for direction toward finding your character's values and causes? Check out these Character Voice Questions!

World

If you've been following me for a while, you knew this had to come up. (If you're new, consider this your introduction to one of the core causes behind my worldbuilding content!) The cultures and communities of your setting have overarching causes of their own.

Every culture—on any scale—has an underlying set of values (worldview) that holds it together. Maybe they value piety, or life lived in community, or individual liberty, or artistry as the highest form of human expression. Whatever it is, this is going to shape how your setting looks and operates as well as how the general community acts toward your characters—which can be a great source of conflict if the cause underlying the setting doesn't match your character's cause.

If you're delving deep into your worldbuilding, you can take "cause" a step further and ask what was behind the creation of the world (or country, or town, or household) in which your story takes place. What was the setting founded on? What drove its creation? This may be the same as its present cause, or it may be wildly different—and either can greatly inform the way that your setting is now!

If your setting isn't as active a force around your characters as it should be, or simply needs a greater sense of life, dig into what makes it what it is. How do the values underlying this setting shape its visual design, its layout, its behavior toward those both inside and outside?

Plot

The "cause" of your plot is the core question-and-answer of your plot, which operates on two levels: the theme and the core conflict.

Your core conflict might be "Will she be able to escape her execution?", and this will drive the events of the entire story as the character works to escape that execution. Your core theme might be "Will she learn to accept help?", and the events of the story need to also drive toward answering that question, as the character is forced into situations in which she must choose whether to accept help or go it alone.

If a section of your story doesn't quite seem to fit, ask yourself whether it ties back to these two "causes." Is the section driving toward an answer to the core plot question? Is it challenging the character in accordance with the thematic question? These "causes" can help shape the correct "effect" to keep the story moving smoothly.

This set of Plotting Prompts is all about using cause and effect, and your characters' motivations, to keep your outline or draft moving in the right direction!

Story

I am using this term as distinct from "plot," because I'm using it to encompass everything about your book—including plot—and here I want to get at your cause for writing this particular book.

Your cause will not only affect the way you shape your story, but also your perseverance and writing process.

Why are you writing this story? What drew you to this book? What questions do you want to answer? What gap do you want to fill? What emotions do you want to convey? When you know the answers to these questions (I recommend writing them down), you can filter your storytelling decisions against this purpose. If something isn't fitting in the outline or draft, maybe it's failing to fit one of the previous "causes"... or maybe there's a deeper mismatch with your fundamental purpose for the story.

Having these answers also gives you something to revisit when the words aren't flowing, when you're discouraged, when you feel like you've been working forever and still have so far to go. The work is hard, but something about this book made it worth the effort. What was it? What is driving you to push through?

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If you'd like, comment to share a bit about your protagonist's cause and the cause behind your NoQu project! Excited about your setting and/or plot causes? Feel free to talk about those too!

RM Archer is an editor, the author of Calligraphy Guild, The Mirror Hunter Chronicles, a Short Story Collection, and Lost Girl, and a mother of two. Her website, rmarcher.com is full of valuable resources for writers. She loves sharing about the craft of writing and helping writers to reach their fullest potential.