What History Teaches Us About Writing
My daughter was taking a Cold War history course at university. She thought she had a handle on the subject, but was amazed not just at the complexity of world politics (which was expected) but the interconnectedness of events. Because this happened, then that country responded in this way. Because that country responded in this way, then that happened. Because that happened… and so on and so forth.
Two thoughts occurred to me as I listened to her: 1) we can never truly see ourselves in the moment—we don’t know how, precisely, our actions and decisions will affect the next thing; we’re in the middle of the action (at a political and a personal level) we don’t yet know the effect. 2) It’s our job as authors to know the effects of our characters’ actions and decisions.
The foundation of a good story is based on cause-and-effect. Because a character did this, then that happens. The action propels the story forward; we don’t want vague coincidences or things that just happen, conveniently, to our protagonists. It may often feel like our lives are random; not everything that happens to us has an obvious through line. But a discussion about a history class reminds me that, in fact, there is a thread—and it’s our job, as writers, to find it and follow it.
Given that our lives—and the world—often feel chaotic, isn’t it nice to find at least some continuity with our characters?