American fiction writer, Eudora Welty, saw clearly that to write a good story the writer had to be in control of not 1 but 2 sets of logic:
Outer logic–the chain of events and their consequences.
Inner logic, a private, character-based structure of forces that she called “the logic of the heart.”
Here’s an example: let’s say your main character is a young woman in medieval Catholic France, who gets caught dabbling in the occult. She’s arrested as a witch and put on trial before an n ecclesiastical court. She ends up convicted of and burned at the stake.
What I just wrote summarizes the outer logic of the story–and one that, to modern readers, might appear heartless and mechanical in its cruelty.
So let’s deepen it with a twist: suppose powerful members of the court are sympathetic with her and arrange to give her a few breaks–YET SHE PASSES THEM UP, knowing full well she is sealing her fate?
Why would anybody in her right mind do that? In terms of outer logic, it makes no sense. It must be an error by the writer.
But wait. Let’s let’s do some work on the level of your story’s inner logic…
Who is this tragic young woman? What made her who and what she is? And how is the story affected by the logic of her heart?
Let’s say that by nature she’s pathologically romantic. An orphan, raised by mean old nuns, she is drawn to rebellious sensuality in all forms, and when she’s caught in some “blasphemous” activity, she stubbornly refuses to repudiate it or make an official admission of guilt. The threat of death, far from inspiring fear, fills her with excitement. If she is killed, not only will it be vindication the she, like Christ, was too “right” for this earth. It will also allow her to achieve what she believes is her destiny–martyrdom.
All of a sudden the story’s twisted outer logic begins to make better sense. By exploring and developing the logic of the heart, we found a fascinating, if disturbing, justification for her behavior: she is by nature defiant, as well as darkly attracted to martydom.
Okay, I picked an “operatic” example, but be sure to look for the logic of the heart in even the simplest boy-meets-girl puppy-love story. Neglect it your peril: the danger is that you may end up with nothing more than a bare chain of events no deeper than a news summary.
Develop the logic of the heart and you’ll deliver fiction readers what they came for : meaning.
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