3 Ways To Gap Those Plot Holes
Plot holes. Just one of the Author’s many enemies while writing.
I’m what the writing world calls a Pantser; I don’t outline my novels. I just sit down and let my imagination run wild, writing by the seat of my pants. I might have a faint idea- a step J and Q out of an entire alphabet of possibilities, but once I sit down and begin typing, I am just as surprised as the readers would be.
Unfortunately, common challenges from being a Pantser include writer’s block, a lack of story structure, and even the dreaded plot hole problem.
Plot Holes are gaps or inconsistencies that go against the flow of logic in the story’s plot. They can be illogical or impossible events, and contradict earlier events in the storyline. They can be as small as inconsistencies with your character’s eye or hair color changing from one chapter to another, or as huge as an event that couldn’t possibly take place due to something else that has happened earlier in the storyline.
And, boy, did I ever uncover a doozy of a this-can’t-take-place-due-to-an-earlier-event plot hole while editing.
I’ve been advised, by several published authors, to work backwards in order to fill your Plot Holes. Make sure anything leading directly to your Plot Holes is eliminated or changed as early in the story as possible.
Here’s what you can do if you, like me, are finding parts of your story that just don’t make sense.
3 Ways To Gap Those Plot Holes
1. Add a new scene or delete a scene completely.
You’re definitely going to want to ask some major questions and see how much of the story the new or deleted scene will affect and change. Getting to know your story inside and out is important, and makes adding or deleting scenes simpler.
2. Add or change something to a previous scene.
You might need to add some setup or foreshadowing earlier in the story that leads up to later events. Provide extra context. Or perhaps you can get away with replacing a detail with something else entirely for your scene to make sense. This is where examining cause/effect and action/reaction structure carefully comes into play while editing.
3. Turn the plot hole into a plot twist.
You might need to provide more explanation, or even have a character explain away a detail in order to make it work.
I’m definitely going to have a lot of changes to do, as my edits will have a ripple effect on the rest of my novel.
Do you have any tips to gap plot holes? Let me know in the comments!
Raine