MICE Quotient
A threading tool from Orson Scott Card's widely taught craft framework: every story thread is one of four types, and each type has its own start/end rule. Use it to braid subplots and to diagnose why a thread feels unresolved.
The Four Thread Types
- Milieu: The character visits a strange place or situation. Starts when the character enters the milieu, ends when they exit it.
- Inquiry (Idea): A question demands an answer. Starts when the question is posed, ends when it is answered.
- Character: The character wrestles with an inner dissatisfaction. Starts when the dissatisfaction appears, ends when the inner change resolves.
- Event: A disruption hits the status quo. Starts when the disruption lands, ends when it is resolved.
Thread Rules
- Open threads close in order. A thread opened inside another thread should close before the outer one does. A milieu thread opened inside an event thread ends when the character leaves the place, not when the event resolves.
- Nested threads nest inside each other. A question asked during a visit (inquiry inside milieu), a wound reopened by a disruption (character inside event). Sketch the nesting to see which threads are still open.
- Unclosed threads are promises. A thread that opens and never closes by its rule is a broken promise, not an open ending. During revision, list every open thread and check its closing beat exists.
- Most stories braid all four. The main plot is usually event or inquiry; the protagonist's arc is character; set pieces are milieu. A story that is only event has no interiority; a story that is only character has no engine.
Arc Frontmatter
Arc files may carry an optional mice-threads: frontmatter list naming which threads the arc carries, for example:
mice-threads:
- event
- characterThe field is agent-facing. story validate and story continuity do not read it, so closing rules are a manual audit. Use a block list. A flow sequence such as [event, character] is stored as one string.