What is the "therefore, but" rule, and how do I use it?

While labelling anything a “rule” will make it seem formulaic, the “therefore, but” rule is ironically the exception to that rule. It’s actually the best advice you can take to heart if you want to stop your writing from being formulaic or predictable. 

It’s less about plot direction, and more about plot construction, to ensure that every element of your plot makes logical sense and flows. It lets your characters experience the story, instead of reading like a list of events that happen to them without giving them any agency.

What is the "therefore, but" rule?

The “therefore, but” rule comes from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It’s basically about creating stories with cause and effect. The premise is simple:

Write out the beats of your story in order. If the link between any of them is “and then,” your story will feel flat. Instead, make sure that every beat can be joined with either “therefore” or “but.”

"Therefore" means that the first beat causes the next one. A character does something, and the consequence follows. "But" means something gets in the way, like an obstacle, a complication, a reversal. Either way, each beat grows out of the one before it, instead of just being the next event in a sequence.

Here's how that looks in practice: 

1  A woman inherits a house
   and then
2  She finds a locked door in the hall
   and then
3  She meets a neighbour
   and then
4  She goes down to the cellar

You could shuffle those events into almost any order, and nothing would change. Now, try it again using “therefore, but.”

1  A woman inherits a house
   therefore
2  She moves in to sell it quickly
   but
3  There's a locked door in the hall and no key
   therefore
4  She asks the neighbour
   but
5  The neighbour insists the house never had a door there
   therefore
6  She goes down to the cellar to search

The events didn’t change, but the cause and motivation for each action did. The first is a list, the second is the beginnings of a story, where each scene feeds into the next. 

Why does it work?

Causality is what makes readers invest in a plot. We turn pages because a decision has a consequence, and that consequence creates a new problem for the character to deal with. 

But this applies to you as a writer as well. It’s all well and good to know your plot beats, but you’ll have a much easier time of writing if you already have an idea of how they flow together, with both an event, a cause, and its aftermath. 

“Therefore, but,” works because it creates a chain of events. Only using “therefore” creates a frictionless chain with no stakes. Only using “but,” creates a chain of obstacles that removes the agency of your characters because things happen to them without them having to choose. "Therefore" gives you momentum, and "but" gives you tension. Because a plot needs a rhythm of both push and pull to be effective.

Won't it make my story formulaic?

No! The opposite, in fact. Using the “therefore, but” rule forces you to actually think about your plot and how it moves, develops, and takes shape. It will help you determine if your scenes feel connected. 

Unlike other plot templates (I honestly wouldn't even call it a template), the “therefore, but” rule doesn’t tell you what happens. It takes what you’ve already thought of, and tries to force you to think about how and why it happens.