Directions: Read your story. As you read, look for and immediately fix plot gaps and plot holes.
PLOT GAP -- a time or place jump with no transition or explanation.
- Example--if your character goes to sleep in a bed and wakes up the next morning in a tent in the middle of a field, your reader will be confused. If that's what really happened in your story, you have to either have a transition or an explanation...or at least make the character confused too!
- How to Fix--
- Sometimes, you can fix the problem by just saying that there was a time jump. For example, "The next morning...."
- If there was a place jump, be sure to say it. For example: "After he walked to school...."
- Be confused WITH your character. For example, "The next morning, Brent woke up and looked around expecting to see his familiar room, but instead he saw the green fabric of the family tent.... His mind reeled in confusion...."
PLOT HOLE -- something that just doesn't make sense.
- Example--if your protagonist is so weak at the beginning of the story that he can't even pick up his laptop, it isn't likely that he'll be able to rescue a family by picking up a car by the end of the story—even if he’s been working out.
- How to Fix--
- Show your character getting gradually stronger and stronger.
- OR have a witch give your character magical super strength.
- OR make the change less dramatic
- NOTE: The important thing is to make everything make sense for the world you've created. If magic is a thing in your world, magic can solve the problem. However, it's very important to make the rules of your world clear to your reader.