The Best Writing Advice Comes from the South Park Guys
How to avoid the slow, painful, “and then, and then, and then” death of your story
Does your story start strong and then peter out? I see this all the time with my students and clients and, yes, in my own work. Your story takes off with a bang and then… the writing becomes a slog. It feels like a chore. The writing is a bore. You might think you might be suffering from writer’s block, but what’s really happening is, well, nothing is happening. Your story’s momentum has stalled because nothing is causing anything to come next.
If your scenes are connected only by “and then,” you’ve got a string of moments, not a chain of events. Your story may read like, “She went for a run. Then she went shopping with a friend and they talked. Then she went home and did laundry.” Nothing’s wrong, exactly, but nothing is building. There’s no cause and effect. Without one beat motivating the next beat, without that kind of causality, halfway through your story, you will run out of gas.
Causality means that one scene drives into the next. A character’s choice triggers a consequence. A character’s action provokes a reaction. When each scene grows out of what came before, you stop feeling lost. You story gathers momentum and it pulls you through.
The South Park guys, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, explain this perfectly in a short video every writer should watch. They say if you can connect your scenes with “and then,” you’ve got a problem. Instead, link scenes with “therefore” or “but.” “She got the job, but it wasn’t what she expected.” “He confessed his love; therefore, she had to tell the truth.” Each “but” and “therefore” adds tension, consequence, and motion. It’s a simple test that works across genres because story is story.
Even in creative nonfiction, this matters. Life might unfold as a series of “and thens,” but narrative doesn’t. When we look back and shape personal experience into story, we create meaning through cause and effect. Ask yourself in your work, “Does this scene cause or complicate what happens next?” If not, can you make it? Find that thread of consequence that ties your moments together. That’s what builds momentum and keeps you and your readers engaged.
Look at your pages. Where can you swap your “and thens” with “buts” and “therefores”? That’s where your story comes alive.