Loading hub content…
Learn · Narrative Problems
Plot craft
Your chapters connect merely by chronological time sequence instead of strict causal necessity.
Scenes connect via sequential time rather than causal links, making the story feel like a list of random events instead of a single escalating narrative.
Apply the "therefore or but" test to your scene outline to force a strict chain of cause and effect
Ensure every scene goal ends in a partial failure, an unexpected complication, or a costly victory
Tie the introduction of new settings directly to a crisis triggered by a prior choice
BeforeThey fought the tavern guards, and then they traveled to the capital city, and then they met the spy.
AfterThey fought the tavern guards, which exposed their hidden identity to the local magistrate. Because they were exposed, they fled to the capital city to hide, forcing them to hire a treacherous spy for protection when the main gates were closed.
Episodic plotting occurs when chapters are strung together like beads on a wire, connected only by the fact that they happen to the same character in chronological order. This structural failure typically happens when an author builds an outline around a travel itinerary or a collection of interesting set-pieces rather than a tight chain of consequences.
If removing a middle chapter has zero structural impact on the final climax, the narrative lacks momentum. Each scene must finish with trailing complications that directly dictate the starting choices of the next, ensuring an unassailable progression.