Analysis of Causal Chain

 One of the weaknesses in my writing is the lack of a causal chain. There aren't all that many resources out there on causal chain, but it ties in strongly to plot, character, and beats. Since it's one of my weaknesses, I might not do such a great job describing what it is, but here goes.

Character action should unfold organically, with one decision leading to a consequence that prompts another decision, leading to another consequence, and so on and so forth, ideally squeezing the protagonist into a corner and leading to character growth. Patricia Wrede describes it as dominoes falling. In other words, the story should unfold as if there's no other way it could possibly happen. Sounds easy, right? *cue hysterical laughter*

My stories suffer from an acute lack of causal chain. Sometimes I think things are happening organically, but readers will tell me the plot seems manipulated. So I decided to delve a little more deeply into a novella I've enjoyed before, namely All Systems Red by Martha Wells. I remembered it being fast-paced, with a likable protagonist. A novella offers more opportunity to study causal chain than a short story would, but it's not a massive undertaking like breaking down a novel might be. Spoilers are about to happen, so if you haven't read the novella but plan to, go do so! I'll wait.

The interesting thing about All Systems Red is that the first domino is set up in Murderbot's backstory, before the events of this novella even begin. Murderbot has hacked their governor module, allowing them to make their own decisions, rather than having to do whatever their human crew tells them. And because Murderbot has hacked their module, they've downloaded and watched a gazillion hours worth of shows, picking up on all sorts of interesting ideas and learning more about human interactions. Murderbot also can't let anyone know they've hacked their module, otherwise they will most likely have that module yanked out and a functioning one put in. That little bit of backstory gets a lot of the plot going right off the bat. There's more backstory related to why Murderbot hacked their governor module, but the reader doesn't need to know this at the beginning of the story.

The story opens with Murderbot wanting to go back to the solitude of the habitat to watch shows, but they're out on an expedition with some crew members, providing help and protection as needed. The two crew members are in a crater when there's an explosion as a giant, heretofore unknown hostile beast leaps out of the ground. In the opening scene of the story, I counted five chains (not including the one that comes in the backstory, namely, the hacked governor module). Those chains are:

-Because there's an explosion in the crater where Dr. Bharadwaj and Dr. Volescu are working, Murderbot jumps in to help (immediate consequence where Murderbot puts their own self in danger).

-Because Murderbot jumps into a hostile beast's mouth to pull out Dr. Bharadwaj and shoot the creature, they lose part of their armor and a good chunk of their arm (immediate consequence leading to complications later in this scene, AND sets up consequences later when Murderbot has to wear regular clothes instead of armor, making them vulnerable both physically and emotionally during a conversation with the crew).

-Because Dr. Volescu is in shock and won't move, and because Murderbot is carrying an injured Dr. Bharadwaj, they remove their face shield to show their human face and talk to Dr. Volescu like they've seen in their shows, getting him to climb out of the crater to safety; a SecUnit with a functioning governor module would not normally do this (ongoing consequences; the crew sees Murderbot's face and realizes they are very much human-like, if not 100% organic, which leads to the crew trying to talk to Murderbot about their feelings... awkward!).

-Because Murderbot can't put Dr. Bharadwaj down due to injuries, they're invited into the ship cabin, which is normally for humans only, creating a lot of feelings of awkwardness for Murderbot who normally likes to remain unnoticed (immediate consequences, forcing Murderbot into a space they hadn't been in before, and forcing them to remain close to the crew).

-Because Murderbot doesn't have a functioning governor module, when Dr. Ratthi says he'll go out and grab the equipment left behind, they shout, "No!" although at the same time as the humans, so this isn't quite noticed by the crew, and they all take off just before a hostile bursts out of the ground for the ship (this isn't such a strong chain because there aren't any significant consequences since the crew doesn't really notice this unusual behavior, but it keeps Murderbot on edge; so maybe this isn't a chain after all, or maybe it's a beat that could have been strengthened by having a crew member actually notice this.)

In the second scene of the first chapter, there are only three chains. The second scene has less action and is more about Murderbot making repairs to their body and the crew starting to figure out what happened. Subsequent chapters and scenes have fewer chains, too, until the middle of the novella, and then later during the climax, where the tension rises and the stakes rise.

So, in moments of greater tension, there are more chains. And, a lot of the actions taken by Murderbot in this first scene lead to consequences throughout the novella in addition to having more immediate consequences. Murderbot's actions have consequences for both external and internal conflict. For instance, because Murderbot removed their face shield and talked Dr. Volescu out of the crater, the crew hones in on that when they watch video of the incident later, remarking how unusual it is. And, they've never seen Murderbot's face before. It's a real moment of vulnerability for Murderbot, and it leads to a lot of awkward discussions with the crew as they try to get to know their SecUnit better, which is the last thing Murderbot wants.

In moments with fewer chains, the story delves more into world building, moments of characterization, or exposition. Murderbot still makes choices in those instances, some of which lead to deepening relationships with the crew members, some which lead to how they plan to stay alive, giving the story the feeling that things are moving along even though there isn't much action.

I think it's much easier to set up a strong causal chain before writing the story, but analysis afterwards can certainly point out weak areas. I think it's also easy to fool one's self into thinking there's a causal chain when there isn't. Actions like those outlined above should have lingering consequences to make for stronger chains (and a stronger narrative). And, they should make things worse for the protagonist, like making a Murderbot feel uneasy about talking about their feelings.