You are already a storyteller. You know how to tell stories. But telling a clear, compelling story can be difficult.

Why? There are a ton of different ways to tell a story. Let’s look at a few of the most popular approaches.

Storytelling Approach #1

There’s plotting — or outlining — which is often based on a specific methodology like the following: Save The Cat, Story Grid, Story Maps, The Snowflake Method, story beats, and many, many more. Plotting writers often swear by this approach and love that you know the ending before you write your book.

Storytelling Approach #2

There is also pantsing, which is essentially making up the story as it comes to you. In most cases, you don’t know what is coming next until you write it.

When I did the Finish Your Book Summit, I was surprised to learn that the majority of writers I interviewed were pantsers. Many, many prolific writers use this approach and there is even a book about this called Writing Into The Dark.

The Much Easier Way

But storytelling can be made EVEN simpler. How does three words sound? No, I’m not talking about beginning, middle and end. You already know those are a critical part of storytelling.

Drum roll please… here it is… no “and then.”

What??? Yep. No “and then.”

Of course, this also makes me think of this scene from this cheesy movie, Dude, Where’s My Car?

Okay, let me explain. Stories have to be interconnected to work. There has to be causation.

If there is not causation, you have one action scene or set piece leading to another like in many Michael Bay movies.

That’s not a story. Is it entertaining? Sure. But it’s not a story.

If at any point in your novel, screenplay, or even blog post you find yourself going “and then” you’ve got something that isn’t very good.

What you need is the following words: therefore, because, or but.

One of these words should fit right between each scene or chapter.

You could even say those three words guide decisions.

Luke Skywalker went with Obi-Wan because his uncle was killed, and there was nothing for him on Alderaan.

Where Things Get More Complicated

The word but is also really important because it shows that there is a complication. Let’s look at an example with Jaws.

Several people turned up dead and/or missing in Amity, therefore Sheriff Brody decided to close the beach.

But the mayor didn’t want to scare off any tourists, so he kept the beach open.

Therefore Sheriff Brody was on the lookout and unable to relax while he was at the beach. (Cue the buildup of major suspense.)

Here’s a brief 2-minute video where the creators of South Park explain this approach further. I hope you enjoy it.

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Jim Woods is a bestselling author, freelance writer, and writing coach. His work been featured in Fast Company, Life Hacker, Goinswriter, The Write Practice, and many other publications.