Solving Plot Holes

So I've been working on my new book preparing it for publication.

The Fiction book, if you were wondering.

And I realized, that there were horrible gaps in the story, like the details of certain interactions didn't matter. And when I looked at the traditional plot line, I could actually put details about every event in the story but the main purpose of the story. And that really bothered me. So, as an author, my first go to is usually to write all the missing details in. Except, this time, there wasn't anything there that could be filled in.

I wanted the happy ending. I want the sun to shine and birds to fly. And I couldn't do it. In fact, there were five chapters that were started and never got anywhere. They were great moments of tender character exchange that just were that: moments. But they existed without reason.

So last night, I did something drastic: I decided to cut out as much of the main subplot as possible. And suddenly, I only had 2 major issues to address instead of 50. Admittedly: I would feel better about having a word count closer to 30,000 instead of dropping 9,000 words to get the outcome I wanted, but anxiety I was having over getting my resolutions is gone, which is really the most important thing.

Writer's are often told to write about what they know. And to be fair: I do. And as a result, I reveal a lot about myself in the process. But what authors really are good at are drawing distinctions between fiction and fact. The world where my character's live is just that: their world. And sometimes, even if I don't understand why I know so much about them, I need to know that not all the pieces are going to be ready when I am. I consider it much like the way I get to know people in real life. I know all these details about them, I might not understand all the bits, but I know them. I have an idea of chronology. And the other thing about me, I don't usually ask the deeper follow up questions. Which always gets someone to ask me follow up question about what I really do know.

But the book is coming along. I'm going to be ready for June.