---
name: explainer-structure-abt
description: Tell an explanation as a story with the And, But, Therefore structure, which the scientist and filmmaker Randy Olson recommends for narrative. Use when explaining how something happened or why something changed, when a draft is a flat list of events, or when planning the steps of a scrollytelling piece.
---

# And, But, Therefore

A story is a sequence of events where each one causes the next. The test: between your sentences, can you put "and then" (weak) or "but" and "therefore" (strong)? Randy Olson describes this as the ABT template in *Houston, We Have a Narrative*. If you have not chosen a format yet, start with the [explainer skill](https://skill.bloggo.blog/posts/explainer/).

## The three beats

1. **And.** Set up what is true and what is going on: the people, the thing, the situation. Several "and" sentences are fine.
2. **But.** The tension: a surprise, an obstacle, a contradiction. One clear "but" per story is enough, and it is the moment the reader leans in.
3. **Therefore.** What followed from the "but": what was done, what happened, what we learned. The ending is a consequence, not just the last event.

Long explainers repeat the pattern: each "therefore" opens a new "and", up to three or four rounds.

## Template

```
And:       <The starting state and the people or things in it.>
But:       <What did not fit, broke or surprised.>
Therefore: <What happened as a result, and what it shows.>
```

Example, for the story of a bridge:

- And: the town had one bridge, and it carried all the traffic to the market.
- But: after the flood of 1962 the bridge could no longer carry heavy loads.
- Therefore: the town built a second crossing downstream, and the market moved with it.

## How to write it

1. List the events, then link each pair with "and then", "but" or "therefore". Rewrite every "and then" into a real cause, or cut the event.
2. Pick the "but" that matters most. If every event is a "but", the story has no centre.
3. Start as close to the "but" as you can. Setup that does not feed the tension goes.
4. Make the "therefore" concrete: a decision, a number, a result. Then say what it shows for the reader's own case.
5. Tell it in the order of cause, not necessarily of the calendar. Flash back only when the reader would be lost otherwise.

## Pair it with a format

- [Scrollytelling](https://skill.bloggo.blog/posts/explainer-scrollytelling/) is the natural home: one beat per step, with the visual changing at each "but" and "therefore". Let the first step set the scene with an "and".
- Open with [Situation, Complication, Resolution](https://skill.bloggo.blog/posts/explainer-structure-scr/) when the reader needs the point before the story; it is the same idea in a shorter, more business-like form.
- Use [page furniture](https://skill.bloggo.blog/posts/explainer-page-furniture/) for a `timeline` of the dates behind the story, and a `takeaways` box at the end.
- To explain how a mechanism works rather than what happened, use [How it works](https://skill.bloggo.blog/posts/explainer-structure-how-it-works/).

## Mistakes

- Events in order with nothing causing the next ("and then... and then...").
- No real "but": the story is a description. If nothing went wrong or surprised anyone, it may be better as [How it works](https://skill.bloggo.blog/posts/explainer-structure-how-it-works/).
- A "therefore" that is just the final event. Ask what it shows.
- Inventing tension that the facts do not support. Keep the story true.