Finding & Fixing Plot Holes

Finding & Fixing Plot Holes

– A lot of the time, we know there are plot holes in our stories but it’s difficult to identify them, and even when we do, it seems impossible to fix them. I decided to make a list of the most common forms plot holes manifest in and some suggestions on how to resolve them. Happy writing!

Events That Make No Sense

If you have a villain with a reputation for being “all powerful”, it shouldn’t take 10 minutes of hand to hand combat to kill them and make everything go back to normal. If a character has been a warrior for a thousand years, defeating hundreds of powerful enemies, chances are that their young, naive little apprentice will have a very difficult time killing them or even catching them off guard. If an event in your story doesn’t make any sense, you have to add an element or two that make it more believable, like adding more obstacles in front of your protagonist that add to the suspension of disbelief.

Unexplained Changes

If your character is speaking to a colleague in New York and is described as being in Los Angeles 5 pages later, that has to be explained to the reader, or they’ll be more focused on looking for context than the actual story taking place. If your character suddenly has blue hair, you need to explain to your reader why they’ve dyed it. Context is important, people.

Continuity Errors

If your main character has freckles in the first half of your book and then no freckles in the second, that will confuse your reader. It’s an easy fix, so just make the final choice and revise wherever it’s inconsistent.

Forgotten Characters

If you introduce a side character, then they go off to grab something and never come back, either explain why or pick them back up and insert them where you meant to. If they’re just an extra, that’s fine, but make that clear to the reader by not going overboard on making them seem relevant. If they’re just there to shout “fire!”, don’t spend a paragraph explaining their appearance and backstory.

Contradicting Details

This is extremely common in Fantasy and Science Fiction, where the rules of the universe are different and difficult to keep up with. This is totally okay in your first draft, as you don’t usually have your whole world built before you begin writing, but once you’ve fleshed out that first draft, you have to review and establish the system of rules in your universe, then go back into your draft and apply them. If an event relies on a phenomenon that is impossible according to your world system, then either cut the scene, fix it so it follows the rules, or rewrite the events but under a different premise.

Unresolved Subplots

If two of your side characters have some romantic chemistry and it’s emphasized at one point then never revisited, your reader will be left confused and unsatisfied. It’s okay to leave these subplots unresolved if they’re going to be continued in future installments of a series, but in a standalone, you have to take the time to wrap them up in a nice little bow. This can usually be accomplished by tying the subplot’s resolution in with the overarching conflict resolution.

Lack of Relevant Information

If a beta-reader (someone who is essential to detecting subplots because they don’t know your story inside and out as you do) has questions about how something happened or what happened to such and such, you probably forgot to explain an element of your world or revisit a character in an event, which can easily be resolved by adding a paragraph or two that refer back to that event or character and add some information the reader needs to satiate their curiosity.

Un-synced Timeline

Your story happens in a set period of time. Events occur in a certain order. The past has a specific order of events as well. Make sure these events are on one consistent timeline and that you don’t mix up the order of events when explaining stuff in a story. Information comes to readers in bits and it’s easy, as a writer, to forget that certain things have happened that you’ve already explained, so my suggestion is to, while writing, keep track of every event that you retroactively describe and that occur in the timeframe of the story and record them, in their order, so you have a timeline of your own to fact check when editing.

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MY CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS (Check it out, it’s pretty cool. At least I think it is.)

"I'm not going nowhere. I'd rather be right here with you. It's a long way down when you're standing at the top of the world; yeah, you take me to the top of the world."- The Used, "Top of the World"

FINALLY! My Binary Star Hero fanfic is complete! I mean, it's been complete for a long time, but it's finally fully posted!

Honestly, I'm thinking about writing an epilogue/after story for it. And then... I *kinda* want to maybe write a villian Ray AU fic because I'm not ready to give up my soggy caffine-addicted grunge boi yet. I have a 600k+word Attack on Titan longfic that I'm using BSH to avoid writing... Save me, Ray!

It’s okay to ship ANY ship

Any of them. If you reblog this with “but what about-“ or “except-“ then you missed the fucking point.

"This, too, is a gift I'll cherish..."

Another scene from my BSH fanfic. This was supposed to be a quick doodle, but it turned into a digital shading nightmare 😅

Resources For Describing Emotion

Emotions

Without Making Your Character Feel Too Self Aware

Showing Emotion Without Telling About It

Emotions Associated With Body Language

Telling Readers What The Character Doesn’t Want To Show

Hiding Emotions

Expressing Cardinal Emotions: Masculine vs. Feminine

Writing Extreme Emotion Without Melodrama

Specific Emotions

Conveying Shock

Conveying Embarrassment

Conveying Disappointment

Conveying Love/Attraction

Conveying Annoyance

Conveying Relief

Conveying Uncertainty

Conveying Impatience

Conveying Shame

Conveying Resentment

Conveying Panic

Conveying Guilt

Conveying Desperation

Conveying Sarcasm & Verbal Disrespect

Conveying Confusion

Conveying Stubbornness

Conveying Frustration

Conveying Indifference

Conveying Indignation

Conveying Confidence & Pride

Conveying Smugness

Conveying Enthusiasm

Conveying Curiosity

Conveying Hopefulness

Conveying Unease

Conveying Reluctance

Conveying Worry

Conveying Humility & Meekness

Conveying Happiness & Joy

Conveying Amusement

Conveying Disgust

Conveying Resignation

Conveying Jealousy

Conveying Anticipation

Conveying Contentment

Conveying Defeat

Conveying Excitement

Conveying Fear

Conveying Hatred

Conveying Hurt

Conveying Being Overwhelmed

Conveying Sadness & Grief

Conveying Satisfaction

Conveying Somberness

Conveying Sympathy & Empathy

Conveying Wariness

Conveying Defensiveness

Conveying Desire

Conveying Doubt

Conveying Energy

Conveying Exhaustion

Conveying Hunger

Conveying Loneliness

Conveying Physical Pain

Emotional Wounds

A Role Model Who Disappoints

A Sibling’s Betrayal

A Speech Impediment

Becoming a Caregiver at an Early Age

Being Bullied

Being Fired or Laid Off

Being Held Captive

Being Mugged

Being Publicly Humiliated

Being Raised by Neglectful Parents

Being Raised by Overprotective Parents

Being So Beautiful It’s All People See

Being the Victim of a Vicious Rumor

Being Stalked

Being Trapped in a Collapsed Building

Being Unfairly Blamed For The Death of Another

Childhood Sexual Abuse (by a family member or known person)

Discovering One’s Parent is a Monster

Discovering One’s Sibling was Abused

Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth

Failing At School

Failing To Do The Right Thing

Financial Ruin Due To A Spouse’s Irresponsibility

Finding Out One’s Child Was Abused

Finding Out One Was Adopted

Getting Lost In a Natural Environment

Growing Up In A Cult

Growing Up in a Dangerous Neighborhood

Growing Up In Foster Care

Growing Up In The Public Eye

Growing Up In The Shadow of a Successful Sibling

Growing Up with a Sibling Who Has a Chronic Disability or Illness

Having Parents Who Favored One Child Over Another

Having To Kill Another Person To Survive

Infertility

Infidelity (emotional or physical)

Losing a Limb

Losing a Loved One To A Random Act of Violence

Making a Very Public Mistake

Overly Critical or Strict Parents

Physical Disfigurement

Rejection By One’s Peers

Telling The Truth But Not Being Believed

The Death of a Child On One’s Watch

Victimization via Identity Theft

Watching A Loved One Die

Wrongful Imprisonment

Spending Time In Jail

Suffering From a Learning Disability

Motivation

Achieving Spiritual Enlightenment

Avoiding Certain Death

Avoiding Financial Ruin

Beating a Diagnosis or Condition

Being Acknowledged and Appreciated by Family

Being a Leader of Others

Being the Best At Something

Caring for an Aging Parent

Carrying on a Legacy

Catching The Bad Guy or Girl

Coming To Grips With Mental Illness

Discovering One’s True Self

Escaping a Dangerous Life one Doesn’t Want

Escaping a Killer

Escaping a Widespread Disaster

Escaping Confinement

Escaping Homelessness

Escaping Invaders

Finding Friendship or Companionship

Finding a Lifelong Partner

Having a Child

Helping a Loved One See They Are Hurting Themselves and Others

Obtaining Shelter From The Elements

Overcoming Abuse and Learning To Trust

Overcoming Addiction

Protecting One’s Home or Property

Pursuing Justice For Oneself or Others

Realizing a Dream

Reconciling with an Estranged Family Member

Rescuing a Loved One From a Captor

Restoring A Name or Reputation

Righting a Deep Wrong

Seeking Out One’s Biological Roots

Stopping an Event From Happening

Trying Again When One Has Previously Failed

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The cover art for my Binary Star Hero fanfic. I swear to god, trying to get this out of my head and on paper took longer than the whole damn fic. Thank god for Gimp- I COULD NOT do this in Krita no matter how hard I tried.

This piece is inspired by one of my favorite pieces of yandere media out there- more people need to watch it~

Chapters: 1/13 Fandom: Binary Star Hero (Visual Novel) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Ray | Binary Star (Binary Star Hero)/Original Character(s) Characters: Ray | Binary Star (Binary Star Hero), Original Female Character(s), Original Characters, Luke | Blaze (Binary Star Hero) Additional Tags: Yandere, Stalking, Obsessive Behavior, Unhealthy Relationships, Suicidal Thoughts, Romance, Eventual Smut, Dry Humping, Mutual Masturbation Summary:

Syzygy (noun): the nearly straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies (such as the sun, moon, and earth during a solar or lunar eclipse) in a gravitational system.

(Every eclipse is a syzygy but not every syzygy is an eclipse. It could refer to, for example… the planets aligning. Or the alignment of something else…)

Ray’s plan is simple- talk to the woman he’s been stalking for three years and make her fall in love with him. What does it matter if it seems the universe itself is trying to stop him; signs are for lesser beings. She didn’t recoil from the pull of his ability, that’s the only sign he cares about. They were fated to align. Nothing will come between them.

He won’t allow it.