What If You Find a Plot Hole as You’re Writing the Book?
What do you do if you find a plot hole as you’re writing the book? Right when you’re in the middle of it or even rounding third and heading for home?
Well, you curse a lot. Or maybe that’s just me. Then, you have two choices:
- Leave it.
- Fix it.
Honestly, option 1 hurts my soul and makes me twitchy. I can’t stand the idea of leaving a plot hole in my book on purpose. By accident – like you notice it after the book is published – that you have to live with. But once I see that it’s there, if the book’s not done, I have to figure out how to get rid of it.
But there are a couple of tactics you could take for that.
How to Fix a Plot Hole as You’re Writing the Book
Patch It
If it’s not a big hole, maybe, a small change can handle it, and the rest of the plot can stay the same. For example, characters having a conversation that explains why they that choice won’t work or a fancy technology that makes x possible (see deus ex machina). Minute adjustments that make the rest of the plot hold together or hold together well enough.
Unfortunately, if the hole’s too big, trying to patch it can damage the story more. At best, it will be taken as lazy writing. At worst, it’ll be called poorly plotted. So be careful.
Rework the Plot & Rewrite as Needed
For plotters, this is the obvious choice: stop writing the story to figure out how to fix the plot. Once your plot is mapped out again, then, go back to writing.
The downside to this is that it’s messier to change the plot when you’ve already written a large chunk of it. There are going to be sections that need changed – scenes that need added, removed, or rewritten. And when you do that, it’s very easy to miss something and screw up your continuity. Granted, if you do this successfully, you’ll have a better story at the end than with the patch, but you’ll have to keep close track what needs changed to make sure it all comes together right.
Throw the Intended Plot Away & See What Happens
Basically, switch from a planned plot to a seat-of-your-pants plot, coming up with the story completely as you go. Many people write entire books that way (it’s such a common plotting method they’ve gotten the nickname “pantsers”). If you’re a plotter by nature, though, this may feel a bit risky and uncomfortable, but it can work.
The biggest advantage is that you don’t have to do a lot of adjustments to what you already have (although you might want to in later drafts to tie things together tighter). The downside is that you have to figure out how to fix the plot without adjusting what you already have, which isn’t easy.
But if you don’t like how it ends up, well, that’s why we call it a first draft. This lets you get the novel finished, and some find fixing plot problems and adjusting easier in editing.
TL;DR Just Finish the Book
Honestly, I hope you never find yourself in this situation. Finding a plot hole as you’re writing the book is a frustrating and discombobulating hurdle. Unfortunately, everyone who writes novels is likely to face it at some point. There’s always something unexpected no matter how carefully you plan.
Just don’t let it defeat you. I know I said that there were only two options at the beginning (well, one for me), but there really is a third: giving up on the book and not finishing. And sadly, many people give up before finishing their first novel. I can’t say how many do it because of this scenario, but it’s not too hard to imagine someone who doubts themself realizing that they missed a big plot hole and having that derail their confidence and motivation completely.
Don’t listen to those doubts. This situation is entirely normal, and you can fix it. Use one of the methods above or come up with your own – whatever you need to do to finish the book.
