Occasionally, I have some hole in my story into which a thing goes, but I don't know what the thing is. Then, when I find out, I occasionally try to go back and put it in, and I sometimes just burn the book instead. I recently realized what foreshadowing I need for the Big Bad. I've been attempting to come up with a way to slip that in appropriately, and to decide how many little nods it needs throughout the first 25k words or so. I doubt I'll ever be happy with the way it works, but... You know. Maybe. Maybe. I'll probably always doubt that it fits--I'll always think it looks as if it was welded on after the fact, because I will always know that it was welded on after the fact... Do you have a similar problem? To what extend to you figure that's just neuroticism and to what extent is it a real concern? Alternatively, is this absolutely hopeless and just a good way to guarantee that this needs a rewrite? Edit: I don't mean "plot hole." I should have worded this more carefully. I just mean that there is no foreshadowing for X, but I'd like to add some.
I can't imagine not having these gaps. I know that many writers don't, but, how?! I need to: Firm up the "sister" theme. Firm up the "father" thing. Do some food stuff to establish satisfied cravings later. Foreshadow the Dark Errand as soon as I figure out exactly what it is. And that's just what comes to mind as I'm waiting in line for lunch.
The number of nods kind of depends on the subject material and the nature of the conflict/plot. Obviously fantasy/sci-fi tends to need more reminders because a lot of things are made up. It's easy for the reader to forget who Lord Cornholio is or why the Raven Clan hates the Eagle Clan or why Miss Molly's fire magic only works on Tuesdays. And a convoluted plot with lots of moving parts will need more signposts than a simple revenge or rescue story. With me I usually wait until the story is completed before I worry about the holes or any weaknesses that need to be shored up or reinforced . Not something I worry about in a first draft, especially in the early game. Tough to tell if it's hopeless in your case without reading it. There's plot holes and then there's plot holes. You can ignore some and write around others by not drawing attention to them with explanation, but the big boys are unavoidable. I've found that character holes like motivation and consistently are fairly easy to fix provided they have a solid plot to adhere to. Sometimes adding or omitting a few lines here and there can do the trick... especially if the characters are already where they need to be and doing what they need to do, albeit in a different way or for different reasons. But story-centric holes usually require deeper rewrites, and those can upend everything. Sometimes plot points just don't work and need to be replaced, which is why I don't trust outlines until the first draft has vetted all of my early ideas.
Oh, I didn't mean "hole" as in "plot hole." Sorry--my fault. I meant "hole" as in "a piece goes here, but I have not decided what that piece is." If it helps, the specific example I'm dealing with is that I have only recently found out who the villain is, and I think it would be nice if she left her mark on the very beginning of the story even though she doesn't appear until scene 13.
That is exactly why I fell in love with Scrivener: by having icons on the left-hand side of the page for chapters, and boxes on the right-hand side of the page for notes within a chapter, I could easily skip past troublesome parts of the narrative because I was always 1-2 clicks away from getting back to it There are so many features of Scrivener that I have never tried, but I was willing to pay the full price just for that one part. Plus, the 30-day free trial is 30 days of use – not just 30 days after you start the trial – so if you only write one day a week, then the 30-day free trial lasts for 7 months while you decide whether to keep it
