Making It All Work

Stories fail when structure wanders, characters don’t change, or scenes don’t connect.

The Snowflake Method builds your framework. Character Transformation drives change. But/Therefore/Meanwhile creates momentum.

Together, they create stories readers can’t escape.

Here’s how to integrate them.

Step 1: The Hook

Two sentences, 18 words max each:

• First sentence: What challenges your protagonist’s lie
• Second sentence: The question they must answer

Example: “A faithless barista discovers her prayers power the city’s magical grid. Can she believe in what betrayed her?”

Everything grows from this.

Step 2: The Core

Five sentences using THEREFORE/BUT:

1. Character believes lie
2. THEREFORE acts on lie
3. BUT reality punishes lie
4. THEREFORE doubles down
5. BUT only truth saves them

Each sentence causes the next. No “and then.” Ever.

Step 3: Character Foundations

For each major character:

1. Wound: What broke them?
2. Lie: What they believe
3. Mask: Who they pretend to be
4. Want: What they think fixes them
5. Need: What actually fixes them
6. Engine: How their lie creates conflict

Build a conflict grid. Make lies clash.

Step 4: Seven Paragraphs

Expand using THEREFORE/BUT:

1. Character living lie
2. THEREFORE → Lie creates problem
3. BUT → Problem challenges lie
4. THEREFORE → Try harder with lie
5. BUT → Lie fails
6. THEREFORE → Must face truth
7. BUT → Truth demands sacrifice

Every paragraph causes the next.

Step 5: Character Pages

Four sections per character:

• Lie Works (25%): False identity succeeds
• Lie Fails (25%): Wound triggered
• Crisis (25%): Complete failure
• Choice (25%): Truth or lie

Show how lies compound problems.

Step 6: Four-Page Treatment

Act 1: Lies create crisis Act 2A: Lies seem to solve problems Act 2B: All lies fail Act 3: Truth enables victory

Connect everything with THEREFORE/BUT/MEANWHILE.

Step 7: Scene Architecture

Every scene needs:

• Goal: External event
• Lie Challenge: Which lie gets pressured
• Truth Glimpse: What emerges
• Connection: How it causes next scene

No scene exists alone.

Three Tests

Elimination Test: Can you cut any scene without breaking the story? If yes, cut it.

Because Test: Can you explain your plot using only “because” and “but”? If not, fix connections.

Transformation Test: Does every event challenge a lie? If not, you’re writing events, not story.

Common Failures

Wandering Middle: Scenes connected by “and then” Fix: Make every scene cause the next

Flat Characters: No lie-to-truth journey Fix: Give them wounds that matter

Boring Conflict: Lies don’t oppose Fix: Make lies mutually exclusive

Unearned Ending: Truth comes easy Fix: Make lies fail three times first

The Bottom Line

Story is transformation under pressure.

Build that transformation scene by scene. Connect by causation. Drive with characters fighting lies that kill them.

Do this right. Readers can’t stop.

That’s what story is: watching someone discover who they really are.

Now write.

The Snowflake Method was created by Randy Ingermanson. The But/Therefore/Meanwhile principle was popularized by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The Character Transformation Framework draws from universal storytelling principles explored by many narrative theorists. This unified approach shows how these concepts work together as one integrated system.