How to spot plot problems
There are many books that offer up a system or structure for writing a novel: a beat sheet or scene list or outline. When I was drafting my own novel, I found these systems only marginally helpful. I reviewed what I’d read about plot during my year of book reviews, even making a spreadsheet listing the steps or beats of various systems. But when I sat down to write, I found that what propelled me along was cause and effect, which is the logical structure that propels these story systems too. Sometimes I knew a cause I wanted to include (the 1834 fire that destroyed the Houses of Parliament) and then I could work out the effects. Sometimes I knew an effect (murder mystery is solved!) and had to work backwards to identify the causes.
As an editor, I give advice about plot much less often than I give advice about character development and scene structure and theme. For many writers, the plot and the characters are the book—the two ingredients they have spent the most time dreaming and writing about. If you have written your way to a complete manuscript, then you have likely already solved the biggest problems plot has to offer. But let’s zero in on the finer points of plot and the problems you might need to address when you sit down to revise your novel.
Focus on cause and effect
When I do content editing, I don’t check a manuscript against John Truby’s twenty-two step story structure to see if the writer included items like “Fake-ally opponent” or “Plan.” If a necessary element is missing, then I’ll sense the gap. Not all novels need a fake ally, after all. What I really spend my time thinking about is the cause-and-effect relationship between scenes. Does the manuscript include enough backstory for me to understand why the protagonist is making certain choices? (Truby calls backstory the “ghost story,” which I do love—it always come back to haunt the main character.)
And that’s what I’d advise you to do as one of your early revision steps as well. Write up a brief description of each of your scenes (I use a spreadsheet like this one) and then identify the cause and effect of each scene. If an early scene doesn’t cause a later effect, do you really need it? This is especially important to ask of prologues and scenes that are largely backstory. You might need this information as a writer to fully understand and see your character moving around in their world, but do readers also need it? Does it simply double up on a cause that produces a single effect? (If you want to read more about cause and effect and story structure, I highly recommend Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story.)
Too much plot or not enough?
Besides cause-and-effect wobbles, there are two other plotting problems I sometimes see in manuscripts: too much plot and not quite enough. Your word count will often be your first clue that something is amiss. For most genres, your target word count should be 70,000 to 80,000 words. Fantasy can run a bit longer, typically around 100,000 words.
If you are halfway through a romance novel and you’ve already got 60,000 words on the page, then you’ve likely bitten off more plot than you can chew. Here’s where the story systems can be helpful. In addition to the cause-and-effect exercise I noted above, take a look at John Truby’s Anatomy of Story or Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and try to match up your story elements against their structures. You may find that you are trying to cram two (or even three) plots into one book.
On the other hand, if you’ve made it to the whodunnit in your cozy mystery at the 40,000-word mark, you may need more plot. Again, here’s where story structure can show you plot moves you hadn’t considered. Maybe you can introduce what Jessica Brody calls a “B Story”—a secondary plot that echoes the theme and may intersect with the main plot, but which involves a new character like a love interest, enemy, mentor, or friend. Chuck Wendig also has a list of possible plot moves in Damn Fine Story that will give you ideas for new twists and turns.
However, before writing these new scenes into your novel, put them through the cause-and-effect test! One new subplot will likely require at least three separate scenes or touches, scattered across the novel, to fully deploy. (I’m reading Lucy Score’s Worst Best Man right now, and the character of Margeaux is a classic example: she shows up as part of a deliciously bitchy bridal party at the beginning of the novel, the protagonist puts her in her place in a satisfying way soon after, and then Margeaux plays a dirty trick on the protagonist that sets up the climax at the end.)
Plot tests: story questions + summaries
Two more smaller plot tests may also reveal problems in your manuscript:
First, read the manuscript looking specifically for open story questions. Write them down (or highlight them in the manuscript) and check them off when they are answered. For example, if the protagonist loses her lucky Blackwing pencil in the first scene, does she ever find it? Or does she come to terms with its loss and write her Great American Novel with a replacement? (If you are writing a series, you can leave some open to answer in future books, but only if you do so intentionally. Readers will know the difference!) It can be hard as a writer to spot your own open questions since you already know the answers, so this can be a good job for a friend, beta reader, or critique partner.
Second, write a summary of the plot from the standpoint of each of your point-of-view characters, your primary antagonist, and at least one secondary character. Focus the summary around that character’s experience of the plot. This exercise may reveal plot holes or logic problems you hadn’t spotted before. It’s also an exercise that will help you add greater depth and realism to your portrayal of your secondary characters, so it has multiple benefits. This is another technique to try out if your plot feels skimpy.
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