A Guide to Writing

Hello! This chapter wasn't written by me, this was written by Kristen from Well-Storied, so all credit goes to her. (Her website will be placed in the external link and can be found in the previous chapter.)

As an author, nothing is worse than discovering that the novel you have lovingly labored over for months–or even years–isn't going over well with readers.

It's a terrifying thought, but it is one that all writers must consider as plausible.

The root of readers' dislike can come in many forms:

- Unlikable characters
- Poor character or plot development
- Offensive themes or remarks
- Unoriginality
- Poor writing

Among other causes, of course. But one of the most common elements that puts readers off of a novel are plot holes.

Chances are, you've probably heard of plot holes at some point in your writing life. But what exactly are they and why can they spell trouble for your novel? And how can you find and fix your own before your novel goes to print?

Don't remain in the dark, my friend! We'll go over all of this and more in today's post so that you can give your novel its best chance at success.

What are plot holes, you ask?

A plot hole is a missing element or obvious mistake that takes away from the plausibility and integrity of a plot. Examples of plot holes include:

- Illogical Events. Example: The all-powerful villain is easily defeated.
- Contradictions. Example: The hero is very loving in one scene, yet is unaccountably cruel in the next.
- Dropped Plot Lines or Characters. Example: The sidekick goes off in search of something, leaving the hero behind, and is never heard from again.
- Unexplained Changes in Character or Setting. Example: A character begins their day in the city and is inexplicably in the countryside by mid-morning.
- Continuity errors. Example: A character is said to have brown eyes in one scene and blue in the next.

At the end of the day, any element that leaves readers scratching their heads can be considered a plot hole, though the ones listed above are certainly the most major. But are plot holes always a bad thing? Is there any case where they might be acceptable?

Read on, lovely writer!

When plot holes are okay...

Though no writer likes to admit that plot holes exist in their novels, plot holes can be unavoidable - and even acceptable - on rare occasions. If you happen to find an inescapable plot hole in your novel, don't immediately fling your manuscript out the window.

Sometimes, readers are willing to overlook plot holes for the sake of the story. After all, fiction is fiction, and while it is best based in reality, a little imagination is hardly a stretch. Under the right circumstances, your plot holes might not give readers much pause.

Here are a few examples of when that would be the case:

- In Appropriate Genres. Within certain genres (e.g. fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc.) plot holes are quite common. And while some are major plot holes that leave readers rolling their eyes, others can be overlooked simply because they make the story possible.
- With Unreliable Narrators. An unreliable narrator is a POV character who can't be trusted to tell the story with accuracy. As such, readers won't always take what this narrator tells them as fact, opening up the window for them to ignore smaller plot holes.
- With A Novel Series. If you are writing a series of novels, you may find that you can explain a plot hole from one book in the next. Knowing that this is possible, readers may disregard plot holes in an early entry in the series in hopes that it will later be explained.