Help! Plot hole!!

[Serra K]

Alright guys, I wrote myself into what looks like a catch 22 plot hole, and rather than wallowing in my imaginary crisis I thought I'd reach out.

Does anyone have any plot holes they've overcome recently? Contradictions, catch 22s? Would love to hear about it, if only to find the faith I need to work this one out.

 

[Dorm Ant]

I have more of a woodworm problem.

Loads of tiny holes...

 

[Bloo✒️]

Carpenter bees here. 3/8th inch holes.

 

[RK Wallis]

All the time I find it pretty standard and like @RG Worsey says, loads of tiny holes.

What I do is type different ideas over and over until I find something that seems to work (only beta readers will say if I'm successful or not). BUT, I type because I need to see the words on the page, you may not. Try writing a list of at least 5 ideas for how to solve it. Pick the 5th. It'll be more original.

I'll overwrite ideas, I'll cut them back, I'll develop more story elsewhere, then go back to a plot hole, find it doesn't work, try again. It's rinse repeat for me.

 

[SarahC]

All the time. So many times.

I found that at the beginning I would try to find ways to solve the problem with as little rewriting as possible which I think sometimes creates more work/problems than it saves/solves.

My main advice would be don't be afraid of starting fresh with a blank page. So many times when I get stuck I realise I have to just hit the delete button and start again with a scene/chapter, or in my current case, the entire thing. (I don't actually delete, just put into a "spares and repairs" doc.)

Also you could try to write synopses of different plot solutions to see how it looks big-picture before jumping into a write?

 

[Serra K]

Great advice

//////I need to see the words on the page

I need words on the page 99% of the time, otherwise I forget. I'm in the process of writing down tweaks I could pull off within the current outline, but I'm letting myself be prepared to alter the 'big bones' of the story if need be...terrifying

 

[Serra K]

Also you could try to write synopses of different plot solutions to see how it looks big-picture before jumping into a write?

Yes, after I sleep on it I'm going to go back to my synopsis and figure out what's essential and what is malleable.

My main advice would be don't be afraid of starting fresh with a blank page.

I'm reflecting on this now. I keep telling myself it's a first draft, not set in stone

 

[Dorm Ant]

Carpenter bees here. 3/8th inch holes.

Woah. Do they, like, build, sand and varnish their own hives?

 

[Hannah F]

As I had sorcerers in my last book and mind-readers, I did fall into plot-holes where things wouldn't work because they could fix it or they would know. I had my destination plotted, so I just had to go back and work out a different way of getting there.

 

[Jake E]

I find, for me anyway, that plot holes show me I'm trying to keep hold of a darling that needs to go.

For example:
It was established from chapter one that my protagonist can teleport anywhere that he has been before with varying degrees of accuracy (dependant on familiarity with the place, distance from current position, and number of passengers.) So when I needed the characters to retrieve a maguffin and return, i wanted them to travel back through a battle field. However, my protagonist could just, you know, teleport them all back with minimal fuss.
Racked my brain for weeks trying to force it and close the plot hole. In the end, i just went with it. He teleported them back and instead of a battle i had a siege.

 

[Serra K]

As I had sorcerers in my last book and mind-readers, I did fall into plot-holes where things wouldn't work because they could fix it or they would know. I had my destination plotted, so I just had to go back and work out a different way of getting there.

Ha! It's those pesky magic systems, right? If you don't set firm limits and costs they end up getting away on you. My present plot hole is related to the magic system too!

 

[Bloo✒️]

Yes, after I sleep on it I'm going to go back to my synopsis and figure out what's essential and what is malleable.


I'm reflecting on this now. I keep telling myself it's a first draft, not set in stone

Yup...

 

[Serra K]

In the end, i just went with it. He teleported them back and instead of a battle i had a siege.

Great solution!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yeah, those plot holes are a pain, aren't they? I find that fixing them usually requires one of two things: a major re-write to change the rules of the game, or killing a darling (usually my darling is a scene that's been playing out in my head since I started writing, and by the time I get to it, I realise there's no way my perfect scene would happen (like @Jake E 's battlefield travel scene). More often than not, I kill my darling--if I think long enough about it, I can usually come up with something WAY better than my original idea.

 

[Jake E]

Yeah, those plot holes are a pain, aren't they? I find that fixing them usually requires one of two things: a major re-write to change the rules of the game, or killing a darling (usually my darling is a scene that's been playing out in my head since I started writing, and by the time I get to it, I realise there's no way my perfect scene would happen (like @Jake E 's battlefield travel scene). More often than not, I kill my darling--if I think long enough about it, I can usually come up with something WAY better than my original idea.

I've eliminated entire plot twists because they just did not work. Despite sounding awesome in my mind.
Its rubbish and a but deflating, but best for the story in the long run

 

[Brayati]

On a different tack, the plot hole could become something more, either a point of foreshadowing (a lead-in to the way magic can change), or a misconception on the part of the character (the way they saw it wasn't the way it was in reality). It's only a hole until something comes along to make it meaningful, something with purpose. Like a lake.

 

[Vagabond Heart]

Oh welcome to my world - plot holes drive me completely mental.

I try to eliminate as many as possible when I’m in the planning stages, by asking lots of How and Why questions as I’m getting the bones down.

For instance, I have a character that walks out of a mirror into a room in an enchanted castle.
Questions have included:
How often can she do this? What happens to the mirror when she’s not there? Is it her magic, or the mirrors’, that makes this possible? If it only happens one day a month, why isn’t it possible other days of the month? Why does she need to use the mirror as transport between places, if she has magic anyway? Can anyone step through the mirror? Who created the mirror? What happens to the mirror at the end of the story? Where does she go when she steps back - what’s on the other side of the mirror?
And so on and so on. For pages.
Many of these facts won’t feature in the story, but they stop me having as many plot holes as I would have if they weren’t answered.

For the plot holes that sneak through (the little devils!), I just worry it like a dog with a bone, (writing and answering lots and lots of those questions) until I’ve found an answer.
Yes, it does often make me have to rewrite. But also yes, the rewritten version is frequently better than the original.

And now I’m aware that folks reading this have got an insight into how my brain works, and are shaking their heads, going, ‘sooo many things about VH make sense now. She just plain nuts’.

 

[RK Wallis]

Also you could try to write synopses of different plot solutions to see how it looks big-picture before jumping into a

I use this for major holes too It so helps.

For instance, I have a character that walks out of a mirror into a room

You should read Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, one of the protags walks through a mirror. It's brilliant.

I try to eliminate as many as possible when I’m in the planning stages, by asking lots of How and Why questions as I’m getting the bones down.

I find this essential, but they still sneak in, like you say, pesky buggars!

 

[Serra K]

Oh welcome to my world - plot holes drive me completely mental.

I try to eliminate as many as possible when I’m in the planning stages, by asking lots of How and Why questions as I’m getting the bones down.

For instance, I have a character that walks out of a mirror into a room in an enchanted castle.
Questions have included:
How often can she do this? What happens to the mirror when she’s not there? Is it her magic, or the mirrors’, that makes this possible? If it only happens one day a month, why isn’t it possible other days of the month? Why does she need to use the mirror as transport between places, if she has magic anyway? Can anyone step through the mirror? Who created the mirror? What happens to the mirror at the end of the story? Where does she go when she steps back - what’s on the other side of the mirror?
And so on and so on. For pages.
Many of these facts won’t feature in the story, but they stop me having as many plot holes as I would have if they weren’t answered.

For the plot holes that sneak through (the little devils!), I just worry it like a dog with a bone, (writing and answering lots and lots of those questions) until I’ve found an answer.
Yes, it does often make me have to rewrite. But also yes, the rewritten version is frequently better than the original.

And now I’m aware that folks reading this have got an insight into how my brain works, and are shaking their heads, going, ‘sooo many things about VH make sense now. She just plain nuts’.

Yes! My process is very similar. I use Milanote for everything developmental and in this app I have hundreds of thousands of words of backstory, questions, answers, possibilities. I write it all down so I can go back to it time and again, even if it seems like nonsense. As you say, not much of it goes into the book, but I least I know what's going on

I know how this plot hole came about now, after sleeping on it. One of the characters presented me with a plot twist the other day, so I started writing that into the book without realising how it would affect the bones. But I think I've found a solution, and I'll be obsessing over it for the rest of the day to make sure it's airtight.

 

[Jonny]

I find myself in one at the moment too. I am looking down the barrel of either a rewrite of one story strand, a MC character rules change or else digging for a plot device to make it somehow seem like it belongs.

It's been bothering me all week, but as I tested positive for Covid a few days back, my thinking processes are currently cloudy and my creative energy battery level is on the red.

 

[Pamela Jo]

I find myself in one at the moment too. I am looking down the barrel of either a rewrite of one story strand, a MC character rules change or else digging for a plot device to make it somehow seem like it belongs.

It's been bothering me all week, but as I tested positive for Covid a few days back, my thinking processes are currently cloudy and my creative energy battery level is on the red.

Oh Jonny! I'm just hearing about more and more people who are testing positive. I have a feeling Ive had Omicron a few times. Seems to affect my digestion more than anything else. Hope the blinking SOB goes easy on you. I'm voting for looking for something that makes it fit. Everytime I've done that the plot gets kicked up a level even if I do have to change a few of the characters.

 

[Serra K]

I tested positive for Covid a few days back

Oh no, get better soon!

a rewrite of one story strand, a MC character rules change or else digging for a plot device to make it somehow seem like it belongs.

Hopefully the Muse provides you with a solution soon

 

[RK Wallis]

I tested positive for Covid a few days back,

Take care and keep hydrated xx r

 

[izi 出久]

I find myself relying too heavily on plot devices. Then I fix them. Then I have to go back and fix everything else. Yeehaw. I do have one plot hole that I've found (I think of them like edge cases in the code; most of the time you won't notice them, but when some troll selects a future date for their birthday, BOOM). I'm moving on because I know the result MUST be the same, but I mull it over when I'm smoking sometimes.

Don't stress about it too much. If your brain's stuck in the blender trying to fix it, just decide how it needs to end and move on. Give yourself some time. It'll come to you

I'm not religious, but clearly have an overabundance of faith.

 

[izi 出久]

It's been bothering me all week, but as I tested positive for Covid a few days back, my thinking processes are currently cloudy and my creative energy battery level is on the red.

All the work I did when sick with Covid (paid and story-wise) had to be redone. I know this is old... Sorry, I missed it. Hope you are feeling better.

 

[Serra K]

Great news, plot hole has been resolved and I can now move on with my life.

On a different tack, the plot hole could become something more, either a point of foreshadowing (a lead-in to the way magic can change), or a misconception on the part of the character (the way they saw it wasn't the way it was in reality). It's only a hole until something comes along to make it meaningful, something with purpose. Like a lake.

'The way they saw it wasn't the way it was in reality'. This simple fact allowed for an entirely fresh take on one character's story and solved a host of other devicey plotty hiccups.



The colony's empathy got me out of this one. Cheers.

 

[Pamela Jo]

I find myself relying too heavily on plot devices. Then I fix them. Then I have to go back and fix everything else. Yeehaw. I do have one plot hole that I've found (I think of them like edge cases in the code; most of the time you won't notice them, but when some troll selects a future date for their birthday, BOOM). I'm moving on because I know the result MUST be the same, but I mull it over when I'm smoking sometimes.

Don't stress about it too much. If your brain's stuck in the blender trying to fix it, just decide how it needs to end and move on. Give yourself some time. It'll come to you

I'm not religious, but clearly have an overabundance of faith.

Call it betting on yourself. It's all any of us can do anyway. I'm not sure I understand what a plot device is. You seem to disdain it's lowly use. Like what f'instance is a bad plot device in your opinion? Are the worms in Dune a plot device? This is just me trying to sort my internal button box.
Confirmed my son and his partner tested positive for Covid. And it's her Bday today. I'd promised a Southern feast. Fried chicken, wilted lettuce salad, deviled eggs, tomato pie and her favourite , redneck vinegar pie. She may have been born in the burbs of Milano , but the girl has the stomach and appetite of a country girl. I guess I'll have to postpone. But in something that makes no sense if she gets a certificate that she's had it and recovered she doesn't need to get tested for 6 mos. Since they've shoved those sticks up her nose til her sinus's bled when she was doing stunts on Vikings that is a mercy. I'm surprised people aren't getting omicron just to get that cert...

 

[Serra K]

Like what f'instance is a bad plot device in your opinion?

I'm going to ruin my own day and suggest that perhaps the eagles who showed up when all seemed lost might have thought to fly the fellowship to Mordor from the get-go.
This is only a question one would ask when watching Peter Jackson's trilogy and is resolved by reading the books, but to anyone who hasn't read, this may be a problem.

 

[Pamela Jo]

I'm going to ruin my own day and suggest that perhaps the eagles who showed up when all seemed lost might have thought to fly the fellowship to Mordor from the get-go.
This is only a question one would ask when watching Peter Jackson's trilogy and is resolved by reading the books, but to anyone who hasn't read, this may be a problem.

I have seen this discussed many times. Tolkien did caulk that hole, butJackson just flew straight through it. OK that's sorted the round, blue buttons. Does Rowling use plot devices? It seems like everything I can think of has a precedent and it's own logic.

 

[izi 出久]

You seem to disdain it's lowly use. Like what f'instance is a bad plot device in your opinion?

Oops, should have specified a contrived plot device. One that I thought I'd led up to, but then just randomly happens. So then I have to go back and add details and such so that it doesn't make the reader (I'm this sort of reader) grimace and think how convenient.