Actions and reactions must be connected. This is the simple truth that often eludes some young writers. Many have fantastical ideas that run away with their thoughts to the point that it’s a challenge seeing how things are connected. Others race through their ideas so quickly that they forget to make connections clear for their readers, often assuming that certain things are obvious. The one thing that should be made absolutely clear to young writers is that nothing is simply obvious to readers. Remember, readers have their own ideas and thoughts which may be quite different from the writer’s. And that’s ok, but it’s important for writers to see that as a challenge to create clear and descriptive stories.
This is why understanding the link between cause and effect is worth sharing with your young writer. Every action has a cause. Every action has an effect. So have your young writer thinking about why characters do what they do. Ask questions such as, “How does this action affect the others in the story?” and “How does this action lead to the solution?” If there’s a ripple in a bucket of water, what caused it and what does the ripple mean? These are the things readers look for. What’s the significance of each action that’s happening in the story?
Short stories create a little challenge here because there isn’t a lot of time and space to develop all the details. But that’s ok. Young writers don’t need to develop a lot, they just need to connect the ideas.
One of the best exercises to help young writers make connections between events is to have them plot out stories. They don’t always need to write the full narrative, but seeing the connection between events during the planning stage can be very instructive. Have some fun making up funny ideas and connecting them with action toward a logical end. And get your young writers thinking!
