Stories that move forward smoothly keep the reader reading! Cause and effect writing
keep the pace. So which below is better writing?

1. Terrified, he ran to the police station. He knew that a crime was about to happen.
2. A crime was about to happen. Terrified, he ran to the police station.

Which is cause and effect? In the first sentence, you’ve put the effect first and the cause second. He ran ( the effect) because of the crime ( the cause ).

In the second sentence, we have the cause first: the crime.  and the effect follows: he ran to the police station.

Why is this important? It seems minuscule, but if you look at the result, you’ve done an abomination: You’ve taken the reader outside of the story and made them have to think. You’ve broken the reading stream… Lets say the reader only read the first sentence, “Terrified, he ran to the police station.” He’d stop and perhaps scratch his head, ponder if he’d missed something–then when he’d read the second sentence he’d think, “Oh, that’s why”.

Cause and effect writing help carry the story. You owe it to your readers to keep them engaged in every way possible.