How to Write a Good Fanfic

7.0 - Importance of Cause and Effect

Today we talk about cause and effect.

A good AU will use sound and logical cause and effect, but a good writer will utilize sound logical cause and effect regardless of whether they are going AU or not. One of the misassumptions I have seen with writers comes down to the idea that "there should logically exist a world where cause and effect is thrown out the window so that means I can do anything in my AU", however, this completely misses the fact that this is a specific AU type which would also fall into the crackfic genre. It is one of the most difficult AU types to pull off, yet most of the time the writer tries saying this is the type of AU they are writing and thus should be allowed to do whatever they want it is in fact not the type of AU they are writing.

A good example of cause and effect is this. Recently I came across a summary where Character A was blackmailing Character B. The result was Character B falling in love with Character A. The first thought which popped into my head when reading the summary was the fact the relationship wasn't at all healthy, but the writer was likely promoting an unhealthy relationship as healthy. There are a few writers who believe "all ships are valid", but this is not true. I discuss this in 9.0 – Myth: All Ships are Valid.

Is it logical for someone to fall in love with someone blackmailing them? If there is any romantic or sexual context to the blackmail the answer is no. That is actually an indicator that the relationship is toxic, and someone is falling in love with an abuser, but presenting this otherwise is in fact acting as if this kind of behavior isn't abusive.

Of course, if someone were to say blackmail someone into doing their homework because they catch the nerdy kid experimenting in the science room and making a mistake which could get them in trouble this could possibly lead to a romance, but the blackmail would need to stop and there needs to be a moment where the blackmail refuses to use what they know to save themselves and that is why the person falls in love – the blackmailer gets redeemed.

What does romantic or sexual context include?"

- Making someone be in a romantic relationship with you. (This shouldn't be confused with being in a relationship which is fake because it is mutually benefitable)

- Blackmail which involves sexual and/or romantic context.

For example, the plot I found involved Character A blackmailing Character B into doing their homework so they wouldn't out Character B as gay. There is no getting around the fact the relationship is toxic, yet should Character B forget the toxic beginnings? Why is Character B falling for Character A? Doesn't this mean they're falling for the person based on their looks and not their personality? That's not love.

Oh, but Character A can change, and...

You still want Character B to forget the toxic beginnings of their relationship, but the cause and effect doesn't work.

Cause and effect can be difficult for some writers as they don't understand what would be a logical cause and effect for something. A non-ship example lies in when I see people rejecting someone for no good reason other than the writer wanting to cause angst and friction. The cause in this case is in fact missing, but other times – such as how a character reacts to a traumatic event – has an effect which is not the logical result of the cause.

The writer may be thinking, "but the reader should just suspend their disbelief because I want them to..."

Says Mark Twain on this one, "the personages of a tale should confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone: or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausably set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable."

It's the writer's job to make sure cause and effect are logical and believable.