5 Common Plot Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers a comprehensive guide to avoiding common plot pitfalls in novel writing. It identifies five key mistakes: convenient discoveries, vague timelines, narrative rabbit holes, lack of cohesion, and the snowball effect. The script provides practical advice on how to fix these issues, ensuring a compelling and believable plot that hooks readers from start to finish. The tips are aimed at enhancing the narrative flow and maintaining reader interest throughout the novel.
Takeaways
- 📚 A compelling and logical plot is crucial for engaging readers throughout a novel.
- 🔍 Avoiding 'convenient discoveries' helps maintain the story's believability; limit them to critical plot points.
- ⏳ Clarifying the timeline by indicating the passage of time at the start of chapters prevents reader confusion.
- 🚧 Steering clear of 'rabbit holes', or narrative diversions, ensures the story remains focused and engaging.
- 🔗 Ensuring 'cohesion' between different parts of the story prevents a disjointed reading experience.
- 🔄 Major plot shifts, like changing character perspectives or time jumps, should be introduced gradually to maintain reader interest.
- ❄️ The 'snowball effect', where revelations pile up towards the end, can overwhelm readers; space them out for clarity.
- 🔍 Revising with a 'fine-tooth comb' can help identify and enrich complex or challenging plot points.
- 📈 Use beta readers or editors to gain an outside perspective on potential plot issues that might not be apparent to the writer.
- 📝 After the climax, provide 'falling action' to show character evolution and reactions to the story's events.
Q & A
What are the five common plot mistakes mentioned in the script?
-The five common plot mistakes mentioned are: 1) Convenient discoveries, 2) Vague timeline, 3) Rabbit holes, 4) Lack of cohesion, and 5) The snowball effect.
How can writers fix the issue of convenient discoveries in their plots?
-Writers can fix convenient discoveries by limiting them to only the most critical moments and making the plot more complex or challenging where possible to maintain believability.
What is a vague timeline in a novel and how can it be fixed?
-A vague timeline occurs when it's unclear when events are taking place in relation to each other. It can be fixed by clearly signaling the passage of time at the start of chapters or sections, or using dates in chapter headings.
What are 'rabbit holes' in a novel and how should they be addressed?
-'Rabbit holes' refer to narrative diversions from the main storyline. They should be addressed by omitting them or having a third-party perspective, like a beta reader or editor, to identify and remove unnecessary diversions.
How can a lack of cohesion in a novel's plot be identified and resolved?
-A lack of cohesion is identified when the first part of the story significantly differs from the rest. It can be resolved by ensuring a cohesive plotline from beginning to end, possibly by interweaving storylines earlier in the novel.
What is the 'snowball effect' in a novel's plot and how can it be managed?
-The 'snowball effect' refers to a series of reveals or twists that build on each other rapidly, overwhelming the reader. It can be managed by spacing out these revelations and giving each its due time on the page.
Why is it important for a novel's plot to flow smoothly and effectively?
-A smoothly flowing and effective plot is critical to keep the reader engaged from beginning to end, ensuring their interest and maintaining the story's authenticity and believability.
How can a writer ensure their plot maintains reader interest throughout the novel?
-A writer can ensure reader interest by avoiding common plot mistakes, creating a cohesive storyline, and providing clear and engaging developments that logically progress from the beginning to the end of the novel.
What role can beta readers or professional editors play in identifying and fixing plot issues?
-Beta readers or professional editors can provide an objective third-party perspective to identify plot issues such as rabbit holes or lack of cohesion, helping the writer make necessary revisions for a stronger narrative.
How can a writer signal the passage of time in their novel to avoid confusion?
-A writer can signal the passage of time by using explicit language at the start of chapters or sections, or by incorporating dates or years in chapter headings if the timeline is crucial to the story.
What is the significance of having a clear and consistent timeline in a novel?
-A clear and consistent timeline is significant as it helps the reader follow the plot developments and understand the sequence of events, which is crucial for maintaining the story's coherence and the reader's engagement.
Outlines
📚 Common Plot Mistakes in Novel Writing
This paragraph discusses the importance of a solid and engaging plot in novels and introduces the five common plot mistakes that the author often encounters during novel editing. The author emphasizes the significance of a smooth and effective plot for maintaining reader interest and offers tips to fix these mistakes. The paragraph also encourages writers to subscribe for more novel writing and publishing advice.
🔍 Identifying and Fixing Plot Mistakes
The paragraph delves into the first plot mistake: 'convenient discoveries,' where characters find crucial information too easily, affecting the story's believability. The author suggests limiting such discoveries to critical plot points and making them more complex. The second mistake is a 'vague timeline,' which confuses readers about the sequence of events. Solutions include using clear language or dates in chapter headings to signal time progression. The paragraph aims to help writers identify and correct these issues to improve their novels' plot structure.
🐇 Avoiding 'Rabbit Holes' and Ensuring Cohesion
The second paragraph continues by discussing 'rabbit holes,' which are narrative diversions from the main storyline that can disrupt the flow and reader engagement. The author advises omitting unnecessary diversions to maintain focus. The next issue is 'lack of cohesion,' where the novel's first and second halves feel disconnected, potentially leading to reader disappointment. The author recommends restructuring the plot for a cohesive narrative or interweaving storylines from the beginning to prevent this. The paragraph aims to guide writers in creating a unified and engaging story.
❄️ Managing the 'Snowball Effect' in Plot Climaxes
The final paragraph addresses the 'snowball effect,' where multiple plot revelations pile up towards the end of the novel, overwhelming the reader. The author illustrates how too many twists can make the climax feel unearned and the plot out of control. To fix this, the author suggests spacing out revelations to give readers time to process each one, ensuring a satisfying and believable conclusion. The paragraph concludes with advice on providing some falling action to show character evolution post-climax, aiming to help writers craft a more effective and enjoyable ending.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Plot
💡Convenient Discoveries
💡Timeline
💡Rabbit Holes
💡Cohesion
💡Snowball Effect
💡Believability
💡Climax
💡Falling Action
💡Beta Reader
Highlights
Ensuring an engaging plot is crucial for hooking readers in a novel.
Five common plot mistakes in novels are identified with tips to fix them.
Convenient discoveries, such as finding a long-lost letter, can be too coincidental.
Limit convenient discoveries to maintain the story's believability.
To enrich the plot, make convenient discoveries more complex or challenging.
A vague timeline can confuse readers and disrupt the flow of the story.
Use clear time markers at the start of chapters or sections to fix timeline issues.
Inconsistent chapter headings with dates can mislead readers about the timeline.
Rabbit holes, or divergent storylines, can distract from the main plot.
Omitting or revising rabbit holes can improve narrative flow.
Lack of cohesion between the first and second halves of a novel can disengage readers.
Interweaving storylines from the start can create cohesion throughout the novel.
The snowball effect, where revelations pile up, can overwhelm readers.
Spacing out revelations and providing reflection time can enhance the climax.
Including falling action after the climax helps provide closure for the reader.
Editing for plot mistakes can strengthen a manuscript's overall quality.
Engaging with the writing community can provide further insights and support.
Transcripts
a major component of writing a good
novel
is ensuring you have an interesting
solid engaging
plot that makes sense and really hooks
the reader
but that said plotting a novel can be
really challenging so today i'm going to
walk you through
the five most common plot mistakes that
i see
whenever i am editing novels and offer
you some tips on how to fix them because
ensuring that your plot flows smoothly
and effectively
is going to be extremely critical to
ensure that you
are keeping your reader interested from
the very beginning to the end
if you are working on a book consider
subscribing to my channel i offer a lot
of tips on how to
write novels especially as well as
publishing advice if you are hoping to
eventually bring your book into the
world
so let's dive right in with the first
plot mistake that i often see it is
convenient
discoveries so what i mean by this is
a character finding a long lost letter
or
a newspaper clipping that has a really
interesting tidbit of information that
pertains to their story
or maybe they stumble across a diary of
someone
that is important to them and it reveals
you know all kinds of juicy secrets
this could also be a character
conveniently running into someone
on the street and then the events of the
novel ensue from there
or someone randomly showing up at the
door at the exact perfect time
we see these types of convenient
discoveries in thrillers especially
just because there are often you know
different dominoes that have to fall in
thrillers in order for
the main point of suspense to unravel
however
all novels will have some of these
convenient elements in them and i want
to say
that having elements of convenience in
your plot is going to be a necessity
on some level i'm not saying that you
have to eliminate every element of
convenience or
every little convenient discovery that
you find in your manuscript what it's
about is
limiting those convenient discoveries so
that you can help maintain the
believability of your story because what
happens is
if you have too many of these you know
random sightings or you have too many of
these
really exciting things that the
characters just happen to stumble across
that's going to start to chip away at
your reader feeling like this is really
authentic and believable you just want
to make sure that you only limit them to
the moments that are extremely critical
to the plot and you cannot have them
happen in any other way
so what you're going to do to fix these
convenient discoveries
is go through your novel with a
fine-tooth comb
and determine where you can make a
convenient discovery
actually more complex or more
challenging what this is going to do
is it could actually enrich the plot
even further and make you explore an
avenue that maybe you haven't
and will add depth to the story and on
top of that it is going to
ultimately make the story more
believable because you're going to be
relying less and less on those chance
circumstances
the second plotting mistake i want to
talk about is a
vague timeline this happens when it's
really unclear when events in the novel
are taking place in relation to each
other
or it's unclear how much time has passed
between two subsequent scenes
this ultimately makes it really
difficult to follow the developments in
the plot
and the reader can just get mixed up in
their head and not really understand
how things are unfolding on the timeline
so
how you're going to fix this is at the
start of every single chapter or section
break
if you don't have delineated chapters
try to incorporate language that signals
the passing of time to the reader
so one example would be it had been
three months since i got the job so then
we know okay
we saw the character get that job you
know however many pages earlier
and we know that this scene happening
now is taking place three months after
that
and in some cases especially if time
plays a really important role in the
novel
and you need the reader to be able to
keep track of it or if the novel takes
place over a really significant amount
of time like
you know years or decades it can also be
really effective to use dates
and or years in the chapter headings
themselves again if you are using
chapters
what this would look like is you would
have chapter one and then right under it
it would say 1912.
we immediately know that this chapter is
taking place in 1912
and what that will do is then eliminate
the need for you to use that language
that i gave the example of to delineate
the passage of time you won't have to
then start the paragraph with
it was 1912 and so and so did this
because the reader already is going to
know it's 1912 because you included it
right in the chapter heading however if
you do go this route i caution you to
make sure you are consistent with it and
you
always always have the chapter heading
with the year or the date attached to it
because once you establish that as
something you're going to provide to the
reader the reader's going to rely on it
so if you have it in chapter 1 it says
1912
and then you go to chapter 2 the reader
needs to know is that also in 1912 or
are we now in 1914 for instance so just
be super consistent and reliable with it
if you do go that route
the next plotting mistake i want to talk
about is
one i see in probably every single novel
it's what i call rabbit holes this is
when the narrative
diverges from the main storyline to
discuss something else
for some amount of time it could be just
for one paragraph or
maybe in the worst cases several pages
or even a chapter
where it just isn't consistent with the
main storyline and it doesn't seem
significant or related
this could look like diving into a
secondary character's backstory
but that backstory doesn't actually
relate back to the main storyline in a
significant way
or it could look like you diverging to
provide a bunch of historical or
background context if it's a historical
fiction novel for example
this might be super interesting to you
and maybe you want to dive in
and tell the reader everything about the
year 1912 and what was going on in the
world at that time
but to the reader that could really just
feel distracting and feel like a
divergence from the storyline that
they're trying to follow
this might also appear as some type of
flashback that one of the characters is
having
or a dream sequence that actually
doesn't illuminate anything
significant to the main events of the
plot
the way to fix these is very
straightforward in most cases
it's going to be to omit them and i know
how difficult it can be to kill your
darlings so
you might need to employ a beta reader
or a professional editor
to help you identify those areas that
are going down rabbit holes
because to you they likely don't feel
like rabbit holes you wrote them for a
reason
but seeing it from that third party
perspective will help you identify them
and then you'll see once you cut them
out the narrative is going to flow much
more smoothly and swiftly the next plot
mistake i want to walk you through
is lack of cohesion what i mean by this
is that the first part of the story
maybe the first third or the first half
looks nothing like the rest of the book
so this could happen
if for instance you introduce a second
character perspective
one third or halfway through the novel
or if you potentially jump
really far ahead in time periods so
maybe the first
half of the novel takes place when the
protagonist is in high school
and then the second half you flip
forward to when they are actually an
adult
why this becomes an issue and why it
feels like a lack of cohesion
is because remember your reader is going
to become
invested in whatever you present to them
in those very first pages
so they're going to dive into this
character story
dive into what's going on in the
beginning part of the novel
and then they're gonna feel a little bit
cheated if the novel actually takes an
entirely different direction
that they didn't see coming when they
first were getting immersed in the story
in its beginnings
so fixing this can be a tough one
because it is often going to require
some major restructuring
so think about your novel and think
about what the first half looks like
what the focus areas are
and then think about what the second
half is and make sure that there is a
cohesive
crescendo of a plot line there make sure
that they don't feel like
two separate novels because that can be
an issue as well
you may end up realizing that you have
to actually lean
into one part of the story and omit the
other one entirely or save it for a
sequel maybe
or alternatively you might have to
cleverly switch between the storylines
earlier in the novel so let me give you
an example say
that the first half of your novel is
from
one character's perspective and the
second half of the novel
is from their sister's perspective what
you're going to do
is instead of having it be this
character and then their sister
it might make sense to from the very
beginning of the novel have that
main character and then the sister and
then the main character and the sister
and have their story lines interweave
and mingle in that way
what that's going to do is from the very
beginning when they are
diving into the book the reader is
already gonna know oh okay this is about
this character and their sister
both of them rather than in the original
plot structure you get the reader
extremely invested in
that first character and they're going
to think they're the only protagonist
so whenever the novel switches to
talking about the sister and showing her
point of view
they're going to be like i don't really
care about the sister i just read a
hundred pages from this other
character's perspective what happened to
them so try to think about it from the
reader's perspective what are they going
to be most interested in
what are you talking about in your first
50 pages and make sure that there
is a cohesiveness from beginning to end
so you don't disrupt the reader's
experience in that way
the last plotting mistake that i often
see
in writer's manuscripts is what i call
the snowball effect
what i mean here is reveals usually in
the like last third or last quarter of
the novel
that build on one another and get bigger
and bigger and bigger like a snowball
until they are just completely out of
control and the reader can really no
longer follow
what's actually happening what's
happening here is that you as the writer
are
trying to make a really awesome plot
climax right
you're trying to show the reader all of
these twists and turns and all of these
revelations
and make this really really exciting
read that you know
we've been building up to for the
entirety of the novel up to that point
however the way you're coming at it is
almost too strong
and you're not giving each of the
revelations their own breathing room
for the reader to really understand and
reflect on the implications
so it just results in the reader getting
overwhelmed and then feeling like those
revelations weren't really earned
it might be easier to again use an
example to kind of illustrate this
say that the biggest climactic point and
biggest twist in your novel
is the moment that two characters find
out they're related that's cool
and then they discovered that they're
siblings okay so that's another
revelation that the readers now having
to grapple with
and then they discover that they're
twins and then it just kind of feels
like
that snowball effect again is just
building and building and now there's
kind of three revelations that we're
having to grapple with all at once
instead of taking each of those
piecemeal and understanding them one by
one
this approach runs the risk of the
reader feeling like
the ending just didn't deliver that
satisfying conclusion that they were
looking for
they might say something like the ending
just really wasn't believable when all
of those things started happening at
once
or they might say it felt like the plot
got out of control in the last third
so you want to make sure that you do fix
this so that the reader feels like that
most climactic point of your novel is
also the most exciting
so what you're going to do in this
situation is really space out those
revelations
make sure that they're given their due
time on the page
have the characters reflect on them talk
about them think about them internally
before you hit the reader with another
revelation and then lastly whenever all
of the reveals are out on the table and
you know
the climax of the novel is over make
sure you do have a little bit of falling
action it doesn't have to be a ton
but just some closing passages that sum
everything up and show us how the
characters
have evolved and how they are reacting
to the changes that they have seen
over the course of the novel so i hope
me calling out these mistakes helps you
go back into your manuscript and see if
maybe you're falling into some of these
same errors
and ultimately i hope it helps you
strengthen your manuscript and feel
great about the plot that you've
developed and let me know in the
comments below if you've noticed any of
these similar mistakes in your book or
if you're having any other issues with
plot i'd love to
have a dialogue and hear about what
you're working on and if you have a
draft and you're in the process
of going back through and potentially
editing it i recommend checking out my
video on
mistakes that you can catch when you're
self-editing your own book if you found
this video helpful
it would mean a lot to me if you hit
that like button below as well as
subscribe to my channel
every week i post a new video either
with writing tips like this one on how
to strengthen your book or
tips on how to go about getting
published if that is something that
you're interested in down the line
thanks so much for watching and happy
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writing
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