Journeys in Writing

How to solve plot problems

Writing a five-book series with five main characters spread out over a two hundred year timeline has literally made my life hell sometimes. 

Note to self: next time write a simple novel with only one MC. 

In a complex novel, all of the plots pretzel together, and each character influences the stories of the other characters. Solving plot problems can make you want to pull out your hair. Just when you think you've found a perfect solution for one plot hole, then you find out that your 'perfect solution' has caused a million other plot holes!

Raise your hand if you've played this horrible game of wack-a-mole?

I've tried everything to build that omniscient perspective of my novel, to see the larger picture and how all of the character's stories can come together. From post-it-notes and index cards, to huge plot maps and excel spreadsheets, I've done it all. None of it worked for me. 

Then I discovered the following technique when I was just trying to list all the possible solutions to one particularly difficult plot problem. I spent four hours that day building this huge list. Since that day, I return to this technique all the time and it NEVER fails to help me find that one answer that I'm looking for.

In short, the technique is like a pros and cons list, but then taken to a whole other level. It's like a pros and cons list on steroids. 

Let's begin. 

NOTE: It looks confusing because Wattpad doesn't have list functions, which is a real pain in the butt because this is a list technique. You might find it easier to follow along with the Solving Plot Problems Template that you can fetch from my website. I've added the link to this post. 

STEP 1

Open a fresh word document and at the top put the problem as a title. Save the file with the name of the problem. Please note, you do need to do this on a computer, because you want to be able to easily go back, add info or change the order of items on your list. 

After you've written the title of your problem, hit enter and on the next line start writing about the problem. Just as if you were telling a writer friend about it (someone who actually cared). Write as much as you want. I usually just write a few sentences, but sometimes I write an entire page worth of crap, depending on how big the problem is and how much it is affecting other characters or plotlines of the story.

Now, below your paragraph explaining the problem, create a bullet list. Write down all the possible solutions to your problem. One solution for each bullet. Open your mind and try to forget some of the more obvious stuff that you might have been stuck on. Just really try to brainstorm. If you want, you can ask a friend to help. You should have at least 5 solutions.

For example, I actually did this just a while ago with the problem/question, how does Character X get pregnant? I came up with 5 possible solutions:

How does my character get pregnant?

1. Falls in love, has sex, gets pregnant

2. Doesn't fall in love, but has sex, and gets pregnant

3. Gets artificially inseminated, gets pregnant

4. Gets raped, gets pregnant

5. Wakes up one day and finds out she's pregnant, doesn't know how it happened.

STEP 2

So, once you have your list of potential solutions, hit enter after each solution and indent that bullet. For each solution, write a sentence or two with what's good about that solution and what's not good about it.