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Connecting Cause and Effect

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!

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Building Conflict

Conflict is an important part of stories. Without conflict, stories are plain and don’t contain the excitement required to engage readers. But conflict isn’t always about fighting and can come in different forms. Conflict is anything that prevents characters from accomplishing their goals. So, it could be anything from a villain to procrastination.

The 6 common types of conflict are:

Person vs Selfthe internal struggle against feelings and desires
Person vs Persona fight against another human
Person vs Naturea battle with the elements such as storms, earthquakes
Person vs Technologywhen technology creates a problem, like robots becoming evil
Person vs Supernaturalfighting ghosts and otherworldly entities
Person vs Societygoing against tradition

Whichever type of conflict is incorporated into the story, one critical consideration is that conflict has to get worse before things get better. For stories to be interesting, even short stories, characters should face more than one challenge in the pursuit of their goals.

On average, once the complication sets the conflict in motion, there should be two increases in intensity before the climax. That gives characters something to struggle against and readers something to root for so that the emotional investment would be strong. And when the climax comes, solutions are found, and goals accomplished, the relief will be satisfying.

Get your young writer thinking about conflict and how it increases before problems are solved. Help them see the connection between reactions and events. Show them how to realistically make challenges intense without making them impossible. One fun way to do this is to look at movies and television shows to see how other writers do it. Reading comics and other short stories works well too. And, of course, practice writing often to get it right.

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Start

Knowing where to start is a challenge all writers face. Young writers, especially, often go straight to the excitement and underestimate the value of the beginning. Introductions are important because they generate interest in readers and give them context, all the while building anticipation about what’s to come.

To help your young writer create effective introductions, ask them to think about the introduction as having five parts. First, they must hook the reader with an enticing first line. Then, they must transition to who the story is about. Then, they must move on to explain what the situation is. Then, they must tell readers where all this is happening. Finally, they must hint at impending trouble.

That order works well in most situations, but the list can be reordered to suit how the writer wants to develop the story. The only things that don’t change are the location of the hook and that all the elements mentioned must come in the introduction. Practicing first lines and introductions is important because, as the saying goes, you never get a second chance at a first impression.

So, don’t leave young writers guessing about what to do. Show your young writer that there are different strategies for hooking the readers’ attention and allow them to practice. Remind them to include description from the onset, especially when introducing characters and setting. And above all, encourage them to build excitement along the way.

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How to Include Imagery in Every Paragraph

One of the strategies writers use to help readers immerse themselves in a story is descriptive language. We’ve discussed that before, and how focusing on imagery helps, but the question still remains: How can you include imagery in every paragraph? If you’ve been following these posts so far, by now you already have your answer.

But let me explain further, just to be absolutely clear. Descriptive language is used to explain how the characters interact with the setting and overcome their challenges to accomplish their goals. Since a little bit of that is explained in each paragraph, then it should be natural for descriptive language to be used in each paragraph.

Get young writers to think about how they describe actions and reactions as the story unfolds. Remind them to always ask themselves this question: Have I helped my readers imagine the situation? Here are some follow-up questions:

1. Where can I add visual imagery? (sight)

2. Where can I add auditory imagery? (sound)

3. Where can I add tactile imagery? (touch)

4. Where can I add olfactory imagery? (smell)

5. Where can I add gustatory imagery? (taste)

6. Where can I add kinesthetic imagery? (movement)

7. Where can I add organic imagery – sensations?

8. Where can I add organic imagery – emotions?

It’s not necessary to include all eight (8) mentioned above because that would make the story heavy on description and troublesome to read. Aim for about three (3) types of imagery in each paragraph as the setting, characters, and action are explained.

There is no formula to say which ones should be in which paragraph, so writers must think about what’s happening in the story to decide which type of imagery to use. Young writers need to practice this in order to get it right, so get them writing!

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Organic Imagery

Organic Imagery is perhaps the most puzzling of all the types of imagery because feelings and emotions are completely subjective. Writers are tasked with explaining sensations that are often only in the minds of the characters.

The trick with creating awesome organic imagery is to think about constructing a visual and tangible equivalent to these otherwise intangible experiences. So, get young writers asking “What does it look like on the outside?”If someone is angry, what do they look like? Furrowed brows? Narrowed eyes? Heavy breathing that causes the chest to heave up and down? Clenched fists? Pursed lips?

Young writers should also think about showing emotions and sensations through behaviour. Continuing with the example of the angry individual, what do they do? Slam doors? Stomp off? Become violent?

Then there’s an often neglected component of describing feelings and sensations – internal experiences. This is the most subjective part, but it adds a beautiful depth to the description that makes it worthwhile. When describing what happens on the inside, writers will often have to make use of comparisons to get the point across. So they should use similies and metaphors, but they should also describe the actual sensation. Again, following our angry person, perhaps they can be described as having the anger boiling within them and then spilling out. Or even rising up their necks into their face, causing the physical reactions described earlier.

A combination of these three strategies would yield the best results. “I had never seen him so angry. The anger seemed to boil in him until he looked like he was going to explode with rage. He balled up his fists and charged behind the other boy. His jaw was tense, eyes narrowed, and the hunch in his shoulders told me he was ready to fight. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. The other children on the playground began gathering around, shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Just as with all other types of imagery and descriptive language, observing what people do and say in situations helps to build a foundation upon which writers can draw from.

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