progression isn't just random, every event

must force the next one to happen, this link

is what creates real tension and basically

drives the plot forward .

Tool 1 : but ; therefore

Imagine a student plays games all

night instead of studying (that is our initial cause) therefore they oversleep and

miss their big final exam, because they

missed it they rush to the prof office to

beg for a retake but getting there they

find a note saying the professor has resigned,

therefore the student now has to hunt

down the dean to save their semester.

In this you can see there is no “and then”

instead we use "but" or “therefore”

Tool 2 : The protagonist burning objective :

for a screenplay to progress the main character's goal cannot be a casual interest, it must be a "burning objective" If the protagonist isn't sweating to achieve a goal then the audience is sleeping. This tool tells us the "why" behind every scene .

Example : Compare a character "looking

for a job" to a character "finding

One million Naira" by midnight

to save their family home" Every scene

must move them closer to that money or push them further away.

Tool 3 : High stakes as a catalyst :

High stakes are the "heat" that makes

causality feel necessary rather than optional.

If the consequences of failure are low, the

protagonist can simply walk away and

the story can stop. So the stakes must be

high. So if you are writing a story the stakes

must make your character keep moving forward.

Tool 4 - The action-reaction chain :

Think of this tool whereas one thing leads to another, When Character “A” causes

Character “B” to react in a certain way.

An action happens and the Character

reacts, The reaction creates a brand

new action. It has to link, if you

remove one link the whole story

technically falls apart, its just like table

tennis or Ping pong as most people like

to call it.

Tool 5 - The point of no return :

The character basically can't go back at this

point, or the character therefore shouldn't

be able to go back, this could basically

be the end of the characters world.

This is where the causality absolutely

becomes irreversable for the protagonist,

but this is often called the mid point

Every action the character takes now

is a direct consequences of the action they made earlier.

I'm gonna use the movie wizard of

oz as an example, When Dorothy

steps her foot in the yellow brick road

that serves as a point of no return.

Mastering these five tools

"The but and therefore rule, burning objectives,

highstakes, action-reaction chains

and the point of no return” then you've

gotten your self a full screenplay that

would keep your audience glued. As you

look at your current draft do not ask if your

scenes follow each other, Instead ask your self :

Does your story move forward because of

your character's choices and their consequences or are they just passengers on a train of "and thens"? If you can't justify the "therefore" then you haven't gotten your story.

"Therefore" you haven’t found your story yet.