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Q&A How can I make an in-universe random event feel like it was really random instead of just RNJesus' will?

What Chris said, but with the concomitant point that solutions must be merited. They don't have to be probable. Little in most stories is truly probable. Stories basically run on coincidences. Thei...

posted 6y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-03T20:41:58Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38069
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:33:34Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38069
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:33:34Z (almost 5 years ago)
What Chris said, but with the concomitant point that solutions must be merited. They don't have to be probable. Little in most stories is truly probable. Stories basically run on coincidences. Their logic is moral.  
Misfortune is often merited by a moral flaw, but is can also exist to create some moral dilemma. Good fortune, on the other hand, must always be metited by moral action. If the lion refuses to eat Androcles, it must be because Androcles took a thorn out from its paw earlier.

(There is also a role for apparent good fortune, which need not be merited if it leads to a new moral dilemma.)

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-08-03T14:35:15Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 9