𝖶𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖳𝗂𝗉𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖫𝗈𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐂𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

In reality, if I heard of four friends who were all only children then I'd think it a funny coincidence. In fiction, a group of friends that's full only children is either a clear plot-related choice, a joke, or lazy writing. Reality is full of coincidences, weird conveniences, and other oddities that when replicated in fiction often come across as poor writing. Why? Because the reader knows that the story was constructed by another person who had control over everything. The conveniences of real life become lazy writing, the coincidences a lack of creativity, the random events forced storytelling-- the same things that someone would accept in reality become unrealistic in a story.

Typically, the "reality" that causes issues is the kind that takes away necessary tension or conflict from the plot, makes the story seem too linear, or fails to feel like it naturally falls into place.

Those things typically show up in the form of:

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞
A convenience that diffuses tension or stops the character from having to solve conflict themselves is usually a bad one. This is especially true for anything plot-related or a major part of the story.

Little conveniences are often fine. Things like a character easily finding their keys after they misplaced them the night before, running into someone they meant to talk to (usually if the paths could naturally cross), badly stubbing a toe and not breaking it, etc. Little conveniences work in stories when they help make the character more human or the setting more natural. However, it's possible to overdo that by putting too much focus on all those little things that seem to just fall into place. A writer is often better off not frequently framing little conveniences as conveniences and rather just letting the story move on with them being implied. The character that didn't break their toe doesn't need an explanation of how lucky they are-- drawing attention to conveniences makes the audience less likely to accept them.

So how do you handle them?
• 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬. Maybe the door to that office was left unlocked... but the drawer still needs a key. Too many little obstacles can distract from the point of scenes but if everything is too easy then it's just boring. Sometimes finding the balance involves playing around with a scene.
• 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Conveniently finding lost keys with minimal effort is more acceptable when it doesn't affect the plot. There was no promise of tension so the reader isn't let down when it isn't there. Intelligent characters, when not handled well, can make their stories seem convenient because they can use the setting and events so effectively that it seems like everything was perfectly in place. Make sure that the plot and obstacles provide enough of a struggle for the protagonist (and/or other characters).

𝐂𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬
As said for conveniences, the coincidences that make things too easy for the characters are typically harming a story, however small (especially) non-plot based ones are fine.

Bigger coincidences are best used for a single initial point of setup where the result, rather than the coincidence itself, is the focus. Something like three friends all unknowingly attending the same concert that sets off the plot. When working with a coincidental starting point, it helps to have realistic background as to how it could have happened. You wouldn't need to explain how every character got there and how they all found each other, but it does have to be believable that they all would have shown up without telling the others. 

Coincidences are going to pop up in stories from time to time, with or without writer's intent. So, how do you handle them?

• 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 (𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲) 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. If a coincidence causes tension and conflict, then the fact that it's a coincidence is more easily forgiven because the result is interesting and the characters don't look like author's pets. Because it's easy to go too far, the best coincidences to use are the ones that are easily relatable. Stuff like going to work early to avoid meeting someone in the elevator... only to find out they also got there early. "Bad luck" type of coincidences tend to work well.
• 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. Frame an event as a coincidence, only for it to be learned later that someone was pulling the strings all along or the event makes sense with additional info. Just keep in mind that there's still a period of time where the reader just sees the plain coincidence at surface level, so it still needs to be done well or you risk disappointing the reader. Even temporarily, it's not beneficial.

𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

Things just happen sometimes. However, occurrences are never truly random; they all have a chain of cause and effect. It just so happens that the specific point at which they interact with the story looks random because the cause-effect chain wasn't seen. Anything can happen is a story, but it's the writer's prerogative to make sure that even "random" things make sense to include.

So, how do you handle them?

• 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. Let nothing be completely unpredictable and drop hints that something big is going to happen. It's better to hear "I should have seen that coming" rather than "I never would have seen that coming".
• 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞-𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬. What can seem like a random event was actually set up much earlier and the effects are felt at a later time. The key to this is that the reader needs to be able to look back at the setup and understand the causality, similar to a plot twist.
• 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭. The randomness of events is usually dictated by what can be reasonably expected to happen. Genre can be a big factor-- a car suddenly veering off the street to hit the protagonist is a lot more random in a romance story than an action story. Some plots naturally touch on certain types of occurrences more than others.

𝐜𝐫; 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐝