I write contemporary YA, and my plots always tend to be too episodic. People tell me that even though my characters are interesting and the writing itself is good, the plot isn't cause/effect enough. I think it's easier to have cause/effect in fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, etc... because those tend to be more plot driven, but any advice on how to construct a more causal storyline for contemporary? Even in the contemp YA I read, they seem to be pretty episodic. (Not as bad as mine though) Thanks! (:
I think what you could do is take the conflict from each episode, stack them together, and then weave them like a tapestry.
Think about real life. Generally, people have a lot of problems going on at the same time that rarely have things in common. So like your character can be facing an expulsion from school, while at the same time, someone in the family discovers they have cancer, or their friend finds themselves in an abusive relationship, also they have to go to a rally because they just elected a terrible leader for their government. And usually you can’t really solve each problem at a time, because sometimes something really urgent has to wait because of setting/world rules (you can’t submit that petition because the government offices aren’t open on weekends, and can only be submitted on a certain day, at a certain hour.) On the other hand, something that’s not really important can be done right away (calling your uncle to wish them the best, set up a fundme page for them, etc). And others are whole process which will have to be done one step at time based on a specific timeline like the process of expulsion, there’ll be meeting, hearing, etc. But then also, you may have to revisit conflicts again later on in the story (family getting together to wish uncle luck, later going with them to appointments, etc)
So instead of having just one problem at a time, your character is facing three all at once. They don’t have much do with each other, except the character who is going through all of this. People in real life don’t often get the luxury of facing only one problem at once. But, they can take each problem one step at a time, which is fine.
Even with an episodic type of story, you generally have some sort of a conflict… I mean that’s generally what a plot is… even if it’s something small, like you don’t have ingredients for a pie, and now you have to go to the store. So there’s your cause and effect, character making pie, OH NO conflict! I don’t have any potatoes!! Woe is me! But wait, I can solve this issue by hoping into my car and going to the store to get some. RESOLUTION: go to the store and get some potatoes. And they dine happily ever after. *audience cheers*
Now introduce some other problems: Do they really want potatoes in their pie? Oh no! Flat tire! What’s up with this traffic, did someone die? Why is mom calling me, what uncle Richie has cancer? Damn, I just rear-ended that person because I was upset and now they have a bloody nose and are going to sue me.Â
Just make a tapestry, don’t make it easy on your characters and just dump a season’s worth of problems on their head at once.
