Connect a Goal, Problem, and Ending

Make story events connect through cause and effect.

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Learn the skill

Give a character a goal, add a problem that blocks it, and choose actions that respond to the problem. An ending should connect to what happened earlier.

Worked example

A character wants to deliver a letter, but a bridge is closed. Finding a safe alternate route addresses the problem and can lead to delivering the letter.

The Missing Page

Tara wants to read her finished comic to her club. Just before the meeting, she finds that the last page is missing. She remembers drafting it at the kitchen table and goes back to look. The page is underneath a sketchbook.

1. What is Tara's goal? Buy a new table. Read her finished comic to the club. Build a bridge.

2. What blocks her goal? The club dislikes comics. The kitchen has no chairs. The last page is missing.

3. Why does returning to the kitchen make sense? She remembers working on the page there. Every missing item is in a kitchen. She wants to change the subject.

4. Which ending best resolves this problem? A spaceship appears with no explanation. She retrieves the page and reads the complete comic. The story suddenly becomes about a mountain.

5. Which added event would strengthen the same cause-and-effect chain? She counts clouds for an unrelated reason. A new character wins a race elsewhere. She checks beneath the sketchbook where she had set her draft.

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