A to Z: Holes in the plot

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



Nothing ruins a good story like plot Holes.  You're busy writing a scene and thinking ahead to the next and the next after that. Perhaps you're consulting a carefully planned outline, or you're going off a rough idea in your head. Maybe, like I often am, you're pulling words from the ether, wondering where the hell your story is headed. In any of those cases, it's easy to get ahead of yourself and miss resolving or explaining something along the way.

As a certified pantser, my preferred method of combating plot holes is two-fold. I don't have an outline to start with, but after the first draft, it's time to make one. Going through each scene from chapter one to the end and writing down what happens, how it's resolved and the motivations of your characters along the way is a great way to make sure you've filled in those holes before the story moves on to other eyes.

Even then, you've probably still missed a few things.

It's hard to believe that is possible, knowing the story you've spent months/years with like your best friend, but yeah, it happens. Why? Because you've spent too much time with your best story friend to see the flaws.

Step two of the plot hole filling process: shipping your best story friend off to a pair of fresh eyeballs who are bold enough to tell you what is missing. Meaning, probably not your mom or your actual best friend. This is something that would be caught in a developmental edit, but if you're hoping for a publisher, it would be in your favor to catch this stuff before your story goes into submissions or it may never make it into an editor's hands.

What's the biggest plot hole you've discovered either in your own work or a book you've read?

A to Z: Good Guys

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



We covered the bad guys, but what about the Good Guys? And yes, I'm going to acknowledge that we've met our requirement for G and go forward calling them protagonists to save what little sanity I have.

You know your protagonist well. They've been speaking in your head for months/years. You know they're favorite color, that they have a secret craving for salty foods, and prefer comfortable clothes over fashion. But you may not have noticed that they shrug all the time and say half their dialogue with a smile. That they have paragraphs of dialogue lines and everyone else is relegated to three word responses. We seem to know every detail of what they are wearing but everyone else is just a talking head. You may be showing a smidge of favoritism to your protagonist and may need to take a pass or two to spread the love to your other characters.

On the other end of the spectrum, you may know your protagonist so well, that you're not taking the time to share some of those endearing facts with the rest of us. This can make your protagonist hard to like as they ram their way through the plot "because I'm telling you they're super awesome!". We need to be shown what kind of person they are throughout the story, especially in the opening chapters where we should be getting attached to them.

Some things that make a protagonist relatable - a.k.a things you can do to make readers not hate your protagonist (because I don't know about you, but I've read a few books where I'm cheering for the antagonist to win by chapter three).

• Give them a flaw or three
• Let them doubt themselves now and then
• Let them make mistakes
• On occasion, have them say what's on their mind rather than just think what they should say.
• Make sure they are taking an active role in accomplishing their goal rather than relying on others
• Give them one thing they are good at, even if its just being in the wrong place at the wrong time
• Don't be afraid to make them a bit quirky, funny, odd, sad...anything that makes them feel real.

What is your favorite character quirk or thing that you like to know about a protagonist?

A to Z: Check Your Facts

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



Checking your Facts is yet another step of the editing process. Beyond doing research, if your story requires it, I'm talking about making sure one and one equal two all the way through your novel. This pass is best to do after you've had some time away from your piece so you can visit it with fresh eyes.

Six guys walk into the bar, but only five are involved in the brawl you write once they get inside.

Her name is Sara at the beginning of the novel, but Sarah by the end.

It was morning when they left the city. Eight hours have passed on our adventures and now we're sitting down to a tasty lunch and no one is overly hungry.

A space ship attaches to another and attacks. It is defeated. The war goes on. Are we flying around with that thing still attached?

Your character was grievously injured, but in the next scene they are fine. It's a miracle!

Your character sleeps naked. They get up suddenly from bed to deal with a situation, and no one says anything...or maybe you should give them a second to get dressed.

There are a myriad of these little details throughout a story that need to be looked over. Does everyone's hair/skin/eyes remain the same color? Do they magically change clothes during scenes? Did that important thing in the pocket of their coat, suddenly appear in the pocket of their pants when they needed it?

Is your spiffy technology accessed by a hand print on a panel in scene six or scan like in scene twenty-two?

Sometimes (very often) we get engrossed in writing and forget to keep track of these things. Which is why it's important to pay attention to them during your editing passes. Take notes. I have a notebook for just such a purpose while I'm editing, jotting down any names, facts and numbers that seem important as I read so that I can verify them throughout.

Now that you've seen some of my goofs, what's the biggest/funniest thing you've overlooked while writing?

I'd love to visit your blog and see what you're up to with the A to Z Challenge. Please be sure to leave a link with your comment.

A to Z: Extra Words

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



Extra words, one of the many steps to the editing process. Sometimes it's trimming them, sometimes its adding them. Let's look at both.

In the case of a restricted work count, you may need to do some trimming to conform to guidelines. This happens most often with short stories...or novels that have inflated to 300K for no good reason. Don't laugh. It's a true story. Let's just say I'm really good at cutting words at this point in life.

You may have crutch words that can simply be cut because they serve no real purpose. Some common words to take a judgmental look at:
very
just
that
up/down - as in sitting down (sat), standing up (stood), etc.

Perhaps, upon reading your story for the twentieth pass, you come to the sudden realization that Chuck's enduring habit of hunching his shoulders when he's uncertain has gotten out of control and when you do a search for the word "hunch" it pops up thirty nine times. You might want to cut a few of those. Also a true story, though from a story I was reading for someone else.

As you skim over your words, you may begin to notice a few words or phrases that pop up and become distracting because you had them on the mind when writing and used them way more than necessary. Each story tends to have a couple of these. For example, I recently discovered that in one of my books, no one could just simply get out of a chair. They jumped out of them. Because: action!

What about adding words? Sometimes the story is sparse, and you may need to beef up description so you don't have talking heads in a void or your setting is all of two words, like "a bar". This is one of my problems. I got so used to cutting words, that sometimes I go too far and I have to rely on critique partners to tell me where my bare bones are exposed.

What words have you overused?

I'd love to visit your blog and see what you're up to with the A to Z Challenge. Please be sure to leave a link with your comment.

A to Z: Developmental Edits & April IWSG

2017 THEME: Editing Fiction (Because that's what I'm in the middle of doing.)

What is the Blogging from A to Z challenge and where can I find more participants? Right here.



A Developmental edit is likely the first type of edit you'll get back from your editor if you're going through a publisher. This edit will focus on the broader areas of plot, character, motivations and making sure everything is adequately described. That last one being where most of the comments come in on my stuff.

This is by far my favorite stage of editing, both on the giving and receiving end. This is the time to address all those questions you have in your head as you read. Why is the character doing this? What does this room actually look like? How can this thing happen when X and Y don't line up?

As the writer, you think you have this all covered. Everything makes sense to you. You can see the setting clearly in your head. You know the characters like your best friends. Your critique partners have probably read this story a couple times. Their eyes may have caught some of these issues on the first pass, but there are always more. More areas where the story can be fleshed out, or, in some cases, trimmed up.

For me, the dev edit is where the magic happens. When all the little story holes get pretty plugs, those bits that niggled at you, that maybe you weren't quite sure if they worked, get solidified and clarified and you either can confirm that new eyeballs see what is in your head, or fix it so that they can. This is where all your notes and discarded scenes get their last chance and maybe making it into the story. Sometimes I cut something in my own edits, seeing that it's slowing the story down or just doesn't fit in, but those new eyes ask a question that relates to what I removed. I still have that information. I just need to find the right place and way to work it back in.

Do you dread getting edits back on your work or enjoy the process?

Hey, it's also the first Wednesday of the month! You know what that means...

it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post.

This month's question is: Have you taken advantage of the annual A to Z Challenge in terms of marketing, networking, publicity for your book? What were the results?

Other than providing a links to my published books, which are right over there along the left if you're interested <=== , no, I haven't really gone that route. Not that I wouldn't do that, because all the increased traffic is a wonderful boost, but the timing just hasn't worked out for me. I was happy enough to mesh the beta reading period for The Last God and A to Z, leaving me not entangled in edits while trying to engage in all the commenting and visiting that A to Z is about.

Since we are on the topic, if anyone is interested in doing letting me do a guest post on your blog to help promote either of my new books when they are ready to release in the upcoming months, please let me know in the comments (or my email is on the contact page) and we'll connect. The Last God is a sci-fi romance and Trust is science fiction. Conversely if you have anything new (that falls under speculative fiction) coming out soon, I welcome guest posts here as well.

I hope you're enjoying A to Z, and for those of you promoting your books this month, may you have many sales!

I'd love to visit your blog and see what you're up to with the A to Z Challenge. Please be sure to leave a link with your comment.