The importance of logic in writing
Not enough people realize the fundamental issue of logical consistency within storytelling. With any story that is incredible that even you yourself love, there is a line of logic that connects the elements that you like. That connect that which is excellent. Even the most iconic lines in anything have logic connected to it that makes it so.
In Star Wars, "I am a Jedi, like my father before me." Is not potent because of vibes or vacuous ideas of truth or soul, it has a logic. Luke Skywalker is a heroic figure who has to wrestle with his inner darkness that pulls him towards quick effective ways to get what he wants, but they are down the path of darkness. Of evil. And his father had been faced with this precise issue and had fallen to it. Despite this, Luke has faith in his fathers goodness. In his ability to return to the light. So this line is referencing the great hero his father once was before he fell to the darkness. And it also reveals his ability to falter, yet his firmness in his choice to the light.
In Pride and Prejudice, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." An iconic line of all literature, that again has a logic that flows throughout the entire book. The conflict consists primarily of Elizabeth and Darcy struggling with their preconceptions of one another and their own pride. WOAH PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (I don't give a single fuck what people think about Pride and Prejudice. It is a masterpiece.) And this conflict is seemingly contradictory to this line, except it is to accentuate the perspective of Elizabeth. She could easily have simply gotten married to Darcy and lived with wealth comfortably for the rest of her days. But instead she stood behind her beliefs and principles, because Darcy had shown himself to be contemptable. However her standing true to herself and holding Darcy accountable brings the entire story together, as Darcy then swallows his pride and goes out of his way to fix the harm he had done to a dear friend and an innocent woman. A classic piece of feminist literature, showing the power women have and must use to advocate for themselves so they may have a good life. That a woman should not be beholden to the approval of men simply because a wealthy man would be in want of a wife. The line outlining this universally acknowledged truth regarding gender dynamics is thus directly confronted and challenged, for us to find at the end a story of truth, pride and prejudice.
Then even in stories that suck, the best lines will have a line of logic that people love it for. Let's go with a horrific show for many reasons, a prime one being logical consistency (That's a bit of a sly move as any flaw in a movie can be formatted into logic). In Obi-Wan Kenobi the show, the final confrontation with Obi-Wan and Darth Vader, Vader says "I am not your failure, Obi-Wan. You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker. I did." A line that has numerous flaws. One being that this is not the character of Vader nor Anakin, rather speaking from a perspective of some fan who does not understand the characters, using vague terminology of killing Anakin, without establishing his separation from that identity beyond 'ohh he's evil now so he's not anakin good guy he's vader bad guyyyy' which is weak as hell. Then it has no source for this dialogue, "I am not your failure" speaking as though he knows Obi-Wan's thoughts rather than speaking on his own perspective. Do you remember their last fight on Mustafar? Do you remember all the things they talked about, about democracy, the empire, the dark side and the light. Their relationship of brothers being reduced to one of enemies. With "I loved you" hitting hard. That is also with a slough of issues throughout the movie.
Yet this line of dialogue still maintains some relevance that stands as the reason people love it. It refers to an understanding of guilt and responsibility that Obi-Wan has, that of course he would have. He was his mentor and family, and he was not there to recognize the signs of Palpatine seducing him to the dark side. He was not there to pull him back when he was on the brink. So then for Vader to specifically go for the jugular, trying to taunt Obi-Wan into making a mistake by saying he himself murdered the man Obi-Wan cared so dearly for, it follows. The tragedy of Anakin turning into Vader being accentuated and put in the face of an audience, with cinematic lighting, and the mask cracked, acting as a bridge between the humanity of Anakin and the evil of Darth. There still is A line of reasoning and logic there, even if you have to ignore some of the most horrendous writing known to man to see it.
This leads to the conclusion of the entire affair. Logic is essential in storytelling. Without it, you can just as easily say "Sad man was really sad and killed himself" and that would be meaningful, yet it isn't because there is not the logic lying within to make it so. The tissue to connect it to something that resonates with an audience.
Then comes the difficult part. How to make a story that is logically consistent. Well that simply comes down to drafting, redrafting and redrafting again, with a keen sight for ensuring all you are attempting to do is founded and earned. Premise to conclusion, set up to pay off. Same ideas, different words.
It is worthwhile holding a logical standard that can be verbalized as such. The logical through-line of a story is immensely simple to understand and explain to people to make better stories and better standards, but you must care about it and you must practice. But it will all be worth it once we arrive into a golden age of storytelling, where society only gives validation and monetization to stories which have merit worthy of us as a human civilization. The civilization built on the shoulders of giants. We owe it to ourselves, our ancestors and generations to come. Have a high standard in storytelling.
