Plot holes

[RK Wallis]

Stick with me, there is a moral to my story.

I've been listening to Spinning Silver every morning since it was released (Before Spinning Silver, I listened to Uprooted over and over. I have also tried The Night Circus, but I keep returning to Spinning Silver - the narrator has such a lovely voice).

One thing I've noticed are the countless tiny plot holes in Spinning Silver, plot holes I never noticed on one or two reads. IMHO, they are inevitable beasts and authors need to accept that. The trick is to tell a story that is so captivating, readers won't even notice the plot holes because they're enjoying the story so much. That is a tough ask. That's hard, if not harder, than writing a story without plot holes.

The moral - embrace those little plot holes (that idea does make me nervous)

What do you do about them?

 

[Rich.]

The trick is to tell a story that is so captivating, readers won't even notice the plot holes because they're enjoying the story so much.

I think that's the nub of it. The telling of the tale is as (more) important than the structure of it. Plot is logic. It's rarely where a story's emotion is found, and it's emotion that we remember, that moves us and makes a story stick in our minds long after we've closed the book (by which I mean our own emotional response, not the characters' emotions).

The logical satisfaction of slotting in the last puzzle piece can never match the emotional response to the picture you've made (unless it's a boring picture).

 

[Leonora]

I've just been stopped in my tracks by a yawning chasm of a plot hole. Lots of gardening and dog-walks ensue, but I'm not sure there's a way around it.

 

[Rich.]

I've just been stopped in my tracks by a yawning chasm of a plot hole. Lots of gardening and dog-walks ensue, but I'm not sure there's a way around it.

Put it in the Writing Groups? A bit of group-mind therapy?

 

[RK Wallis]

I've just been stopped in my tracks by a yawning chasm of a plot hole. Lots of gardening and dog-walks ensue, but I'm not sure there's a way around it.

Eek, that's scary, I hope the gardening and dog walks help. If not, try sorting out by writing a synopsis? If it doesn't kill the writing process for you...

 

[RK Wallis]

I think that's the nub of it. The telling of the tale is as (more) important than the structure of it. Plot is logic. It's rarely where a story's emotion is found, and it's emotion that we remember, that moves us and makes a story stick in our minds long after we've closed the book (by which I mean our own emotional response, not the characters' emotions).

The logical satisfaction of slotting in the last puzzle piece can never match the emotional response to the picture you've made (unless it's a boring picture).

Yes, finding those emotional pressure points isn't easy!

 

[Hannah Faoileán]

There are massive plot holes and impossibilities in many of the Sherlock Holmes stories, but the stories are so engaging most readers don't care.

 

[gbhunt]

I believe someone like Ian Fleming (indeed it probably was Ian Fleming) said that if there's enough action, people don't have time to think about the plot holes. Doesn't work well for every genre, though.

 

[Ancora Imparo]

Depends how big the hole is. I know that sounds daft – but if I'm walking along a road and there are a few wee dents and dinks, or even stones along the way, I don't mind so long as the road is taking me somewhere I want to go and I'm enjoying the view. But if there's a great big crack across the centre of the road and no one can be arsed to deal with it and mend it – well, I don't go down that road again.

I agree with Rich's point. But I think we need balance between forging a strong emotional connection with the reader and respecting them enough to try and make sure our stories make sense throughout, and that means paying attention to those pain-in-the-arse plot points that we took such care to seed along the way. Editors should pick up plot holes and, if there's time, they should be dealt with. Yes, I forgive writers for them, because it's almost impossible to keep everything in your head and tie it all up. But if it happened all the time, or if there were just too many in one book, I wouldn't read that writer again.

 

[Leonora]

My struggle has been with making sure my plot is plausible, in relation to quite specific legal and social conventions in the 18th century. Part of me thinks no one else will know, but I will, and the holey self-doubt will eat into everything.