How to Fix A Plot Hole

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No matter how experienced, every writer will encounter a plot hole in their writing at some point in their writing process. This is just one of those things that’s inevitable as you develop a story, especially if that story has many facets. Sometimes writers, even great writers, won’t notice a plot hole until their editor points it out, or even after the book has gone on the shelves!

Plot holes can also be overwhelming, given that they derail whatever outline you had at the time. It’s tempting to panic immediately or overthink. However, there are ways to escape a plot hole once you’ve fallen into it. Check out the following tips below to fix the plot holes you’ve come across in your writing!

closeup photo of assorted title books — Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Go Backwards

To start off, there are different types of plot holes. Often during a writing session, writers will present information that might contradict something they said earlier. Or they might state the wrong information if they are recounting past events. Additionally, as their plot develops, characters might make decisions that are out of character, or illogical events might occur. All of these can be fixed, and ALL of these issues are par for the course in writing.

One thing you can do is begin working backward. Pinpoint the area that needs fixing, then slowly walk through each stage of your plot, all the way back to the starting point if you have to. This will help you figure out how you got to this mistake so that you can make the necessary changes. Personally, I like to write things down as a go, just to keep from overthinking. Writing it down also helps me from making the same mistake in the future and keeping the writing information in check. To clarify, imagine you have a plot hole X.

1) Begin working backward. Ask yourself: what part of this story ended up causing X? Eventually, you might realize that “B” was the cause of “X.” Awesome! You pinpointed where the problem started.

2) Start fixing. Next, ask yourself: how can I fix B so that X doesn’t happen, or so X makes sense in the story? This could be done in a variety of ways. It might be just a simple footnote that’s easily solved. It might be some natural exposition by the characters. Other times, you need to take more drastic measures.

Rework What You Have

Sometimes a plot hole can be some engrained in certain aspects of your story that it requires a MAJOR overhaul to fix. This is especially true in the beginning stages of your draft. At this point, you’re still figuring out what will and won’t work in your story. You have the idea, now you’re testing to see what pans out. With that testing requires a lot of straightening and tweaking as you continue establishing the rules of your world and even make changes to the story itself.

Sometimes in your rough draft, you need to take drastic measures to fix an issue. It might be that you need to take one or two of the ideas you had and completely scrap them. We all hate to kill our darlings, especially if we like the idea, but if that idea hinders the entire story, then it no longer serves as beneficial to you. This doesn’t mean the idea was bad. It just means that now is not the right place for the idea to be included. Sometimes we hang onto ideas because we’ve grown attached to them, but sometimes these ideas aren’t sustainable in the long run. They keep leading to more questions, more convoluted explanations, or more cumbersome details that the reader will feel weighed down by. When this happens, that’s when you know you need to start cutting.

You CAN rework the idea into something new, however. For example, imagine you have plot idea A. Plot point B, however, is a major focal point of your story, and there’s no way for you to get from point A to point B without taking several illogical, convoluted steps. You might consider fixing A so that it becomes A 2.0, which then leads to B perfectly. Also, you can save the idea for a different part of your story, where it might be more useful because it’s utilized in a place that doesn’t lead to tons of questions. In this new place, the idea discovered a natural way of belonging, one that readers don’t need to question.

Take A Step Back

Sometimes writers need to take a break. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. You’re not going to get everything done in one day, and not everything is going to fall into place automatically. Remember, you have time to figure these problems out. When you take a step back, you allow your mind to relax. Take a step back, then reapproach the issue at hand. The next time you do, your mind will be much clearer than it was before.

Two things happen when you do your best to get rid of a plot hole as fast as possible. 1) You begin overthinking, leading to all sorts of other negative thoughts and feelings. And 2) You begin thinking in circles. When you think in circles, you don’t go anywhere. You get stuck in the same place you started in, unable to look at anything from the proper perspective. Fixing plot holes is all about reexamining your work, evaluating what’s wrong, and tweaking the aspects of your story that need to be tweaked. It’s not an all-or-nothing venture. Take the time to let your mind rest. That way, you won’t waste your energy running around in circles, which will keep you from sorting out the plot hole you found.

Ask Others to Take A Look

A second (or third!) opinion always helps when you’re writing. If you can rally around a group of like-minded writers or even find someone with experience in writing and publishing, you’re heading in the right direction. Because you can’t do this sort of thing alone. Everyone who looks at your work reads it from a certain perspective, and sometimes that perspective will uproot any issues that you didn’t see yourself.

Additionally, writers often miss mistakes and plot holes because they have looked at their work for too long. They’re also looking from a close, personal viewpoint. So when you find someone who is willing to look at your work, be sure to listen and remain proactive whenever they have a question or feel the need to point something out. Some questions they have might be easily answered. Other times, their confusion can lead to you rooting out a major issue that you wouldn’t have been able to see as the writer.

So what happens if someone else discovers a plot hole for you? For starters, that’s good! Better to find it now rather than later. Now, go back to the previous steps. Don’t overthink or see yourself as a failure. Place the plot hole before you and see what you need to tweak, cut, or rework to get rid of it. I like to write everything down when I do. This takes it all out of my head so I don’t overthink! Just be sure to look at the entire story piece by piece so that everything falls into place once again.

So when you come across a plot hole, don’t panic. You might have to do some overhauling, but that doesn’t mean that your story idea is bad. It also doesn’t mean that what you initially created was bad to begin with. Like I said, every writer, no matter how much experience they have, will encounter a plot hole at some point. So just keep doing what those other writers have been doing!