I really want to be organized when I write. I want to have a neat outline from which I can start typing and, by the time I finish, have a wonderful manuscript ready for submission. Alas, that just doesn’t fit in with my spontaneous personality. I spend a lot of time visiting my WIP world in my brain. I scratch down some scene ideas, which I may or may not use. Then I sit at the computer and let fly whatever will come out of that hodge-podge. It sorta works for me…

Until I get to that sagging middle part. Some scenes are necessary for the story progression but aren’t as much fun as the action or love scenes. I don’t want to bore my

readers, so I struggle to make the flow smooth.

I was relieved to read several posts by author Terry Odell that address this subject. In Don’t Ask Me for Blueprints, Terry says, “Plot points come and go.” In another post,

Read more of this post at KYOWA Writers…

“The most important element of a novel is plot. A plot is a purposeful progression of events. Such events must be logically connected, each being an outgrowth of the preceding and all leading up to a final climax. I stress the word events because you can have a purposeful progression of ideas, or of conversations, without action. But a novel is a story about human beings in action. If you do not present your subject matter in terms of physical action, what you are writing is not a novel.” Ayn Rand

I really hate to be pulled from a story because my logical mind stops me from reading on. A few things do this to me: grammatical errors or misspellings; mistakes in character names; and holes in the plot. I don’t want to be an editor when I am reading for pleasure. Yet the perfectionist in me won’t allow me to skim along ignoring the mistakes that could be avoided. Grammar and spelling errors are not nearly as distracting as plot holes.

Unless the author writes science fiction or fantasy, which naturally expects the audience to suspend belief in order to immerse themselves in the story, she must carefully close all the gaps in her plot. Author Teresa Slack, keynote speaker at the 2010 Dogwood Writers Conference, described a scene in a book she had recently read, in which a small female police officer had a huge male criminal on the floor with her gun trained on him. The officer had no back-up. The next scene opens with the criminal stepping out of an elevator at police headquarters, handcuffed with the police officer walking behind him. Teresa asked, “How did that small officer get the handcuffs on the big guy, get him off the floor, and to the police station without his unlikely cooperation?”

Writers might be more sensitive to this than other readers, but that doesn’t excuse careless plotting. Readers deserve the extra effort it takes for us to examine our scenes and fill in the holes. A critique group can be invaluable in catching these plot holes. I’ve just gotten to the point in my writing where I am comfortable tossing out my writing and letting others guide me through the errors. Just knowing they will be reading and commenting on my work has increased my awareness of following each scene to its logical resolution. I’m even looking forward to their criticism next week. Well, almost. ;p

Helpful Links (add your own in the comments section; I will update the list):

How to Plot and Write a Novel

How to Write a Plot Outline