By Royal McGraw

Royal McGraw has written professionally for film, television, comics, and games for over 20 years. He led development on the mobile smash hit Choices: Stories You Play and currently serves as CEO of Candlelight Games.

Welcome! This is the 11th installment of a multi-part series intended to provide you with quick and actionable adjustments that you can make to your own writing process to improve your storytelling.

In the previous Candle Craft, we concluded a brief diversion to cover how to write Good Choices, how to use Tactics & Strategy to improve your interactive narratives, and when to deploy Okay Choices.

Those topics were grounded and actionable. Today, we’re going to visit another grounded topic: how to plot compelling scenes and narratives using the “But, Therefore” method.

But, Therefore

The “But, Therefore” storytelling method was popularized by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park. After studying hundreds of films and television episodes, they discovered a simple truth: boring stories are built on “and then,” while great stories are built on “but” and “therefore”.

“And then” creates a list of disconnected events in sequence. “But” and “Therefore” create cause, effect, and conflict — the heartbeat of a good story.

If story is change, “But Therefore” is how we make change happen within a scene.

Comparing “And Then” to “But Therefore”

"Wake up Neo” in *The Matrix*, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski

Let’s look at a modified example from The Matrix to see how “And Then” storytelling makes for lackluster scenework.

SETUP
Neo is asleep at his desk, exhausted from his double life as a corporate coder by day and hacker by night.
AND THEN
A buyer shows up at the door. Neo and the buyer complete a transaction.
AND THEN
Neo goes to a party.

And just like that… we made The Matrix very boring!

But honestly, this is an easy mode to slip into. Many writers use lists or index cards to organize their scenes, in effect making a checklist of things that should happen in the order they should happen. When’s the last time you had fun reading a checklist?

“But Therefore” replaces chronology with conflict and causality, two things proven to keep readers engaged.

Now let’s look at how The Wachowski siblings actually constructed these two scenes to create a propulsive sequence.

SETUP
Neo is sleeping at his desk, exhausted from his double life as a corporate coder by day and hacker by night. He awakens to a cryptic computer message on his malfunctioning computer: “The Matrix has you… Follow the white rabbit.”
Neo tries to fix his malfunctioning computer
BUT
There is an insistent knock at the door to his apartment. When he glances toward the door, the computer seems to fix itself
THEREFORE
Neo answers the door.
NEXT SETUP
At the door is a buyer, Choi, and his entourage. They complete a financial transaction, and Choi invites Neo to come out to a party.
Neo is reluctant. He has work in the morning at his corporate job.
BUT
A member of the entourage has a tattoo with a white rabbit. Neo remembers the message that flashed on his computer. This might be a way for him to get the answers he desperately wants.
THEREFORE
Neo goes with them to the party.

In this real example, every “but” increases tension, and every “therefore” restores momentum. This rhythm of resistance and resolution is what keeps us hooked.

Elements of “But Therefore”

There are three parts to every scene that uses the “But Therefore” storytelling method. We saw them at work in the example above, but let’s break them apart and take a closer look at how they function.

This first part is the “Setup”. The Setup establishes the character we will follow and what they want. In Improv Comedy terms, this shows us the

Who we are following
What they want
Where the scene takes place

The second part is the “But”. This is the obstacle or dramatic conflict that blocks the character from achieving their initial goal.

The final part of the scene is the “Therefore”. Because the character is blocked from achieving their goal by the obstacle, they are then forced to do something else.

Whether it succeeds or fails, this new tactic results in a new Setup and launches us directly into the next scene.

Putting “But Therefore” Into Practice

Now that you can spot “But Therefore” in action, it’s time to apply it. Grab an outline from a project you’re working on and test it scene by scene. Chances are there are at least a few scenes that do not use “But Therefore”, and at least a few others that could use some sharpening up.

Now try taking a flat scene from your own script. Add a single “but”. What happens next? How does your character react to the obstacle? I promise that you’ll feel the energy shift immediately.

And remember, don’t get discouraged if you hit an “And then”. Most outlines require many drafts to sparkle. The script for The Matrix took no fewer than 14 drafts and 5 ½ years to complete!

TIP #7: Use “But Therefore” to replace passive sequencing with active cause and effect.

Each “but” adds tension; each “therefore” creates forward motion.

Moving Forward

Once your scenes move logically from one to the next, the next challenge is ensuring they all feel like parts of the same living body — connected by a single, tell-tale heartbeat. Up Next: Unity of Effect.

Candle Craft 11: But Therefore