Fiction writing is not a simple task to accomplish. It requires a wild imaginative flight that produces stories and folds them in a way that inspires and engages the readers. But a fanciful fiction can’t make that only. It calls for a compact and organic plot — an action without plot holes — to grasp the reader’s attention and engage them throughout.

Many writers yearn to grow into the novelists they aspire, but certain loopholes are debarring them from turning into one. The flaw rests not in their narrative but in how they weave it into the plot.

Creating a compact plot structure makes your story phenomenal. Weaving into a loose plot can have serious consequences. A loose plot may still work successfully if it lacks plot holes.

Plot holes are unforgiving sins in the world of fiction. No matter how great the story is, no one will thoroughly engage with it if there are gaps and inconsistencies. The plot holes in your work will leave your reader’s curiosity dissatisfied.

What is a plot hole?

Have you read novels and found that something is missing in the storyline? Has the gap disrupts the development of the plot, which counteracts your logic and compels you to reclaim your ‘Willing Suspension of Disbelief? Has the inconsistency of the character made you render the work a waste of time, as you cannot enjoy it anymore?

A plot hole is any inconsistency or story gap that doesn’t go with the accepted logical development of the storyline. These inconsistencies may be an illogical development of the plot, a contradiction of the events that happened before, occurring of impossible events, or events happening for no discernible reason or unlikely action and behavior of a character that harm the readers' enjoyment.

Plot holes are considered a weakness and a drawback on the writer’s side. A successful writer takes great care of plot holes as the quality and engagement of the readers depend upon the lack of it. Having plot holes in your work has serious consequences for your fiction writing career.

5 categories of plot holes

The plot holes errors fall into the five major categories:

Contradiction

A contradiction occurs when a character’s personality or behavior changes significantly between two scenes without logical explanation or insight.

For example, between the development of your story, you have established that man cannot fly in the air, and later on, you suddenly make a character airborne for some purposes in the story. This is a serious plot hole that weakens your prior claim in the story and puts your writing success at stake.

Contradicting your own established rules destabilizes your story environment and gives your readers a poor impression. Less impressiveness does not allow your readers to immerse themselves in your story.

Illogical development of events

The illogical development of events disrupts the entire plot. It upset the logical flow of the plot development and creates a big plot hole.

For example, your story has a powerful villain that intends on destroying the earth, suddenly changes or abandons the idea completely without any apparent reason is a big plot error. The readers want to know why the big bad guy had suddenly changed his mind with no emotional investment or logical connectivity of the plot development that compels him to do so.

Such an event will crush your narrative and your writing career too.

Unresolved Storylines

A long narrative has the main plot and can have one or many subplots. The purpose of the subplots is to augment the idea of the main plot. The subplots should be strictly anchored to the main plot, and nothing happens outside it.

If you introduce a character or an event that has significant influences on the main plot or the protagonist is forgotten or left out with no reason, are unresolved storylines.

This leaves the readers in a gap. The gap will make them stop there and will turn your readers against your work.

Impossible Events

There are narratives where impossible things occur, and of course, as an author, you can create an impossible event. But it has to have some logic and reasons. Without one, you make a plot hole that will disengage your readers from your story.

Impossible occurrences are those actions or events that defy the laws of science or the general logic of the world.

For example, a newbie who wants to win a dancing competition can’t become a professional dancer overnight.

But if he practices day and night and gives triple time to other people, the chances are that he may become a professional dancer quickly and may win as you have created an environment that supplements the idea that he has invested more time and passion than others. By providing some logic, you can avoid a plot hole.

Impossible events create serious plot holes and can distract your readers from the story.

Factual errors

Factual errors are misinformation about the dates, era, or events that have happened. We often see factual errors in historical novels and movies. They are potential plot holes that can kill the reader’s interest in your writing.

For example, you are writing a romance story set in the American Civil War era. And the hero wants to meet his lover but uses a jet to go over to his lover's place. This factual error can create a serious logical plot hole.

How to find plot holes in your story?

Once you have finished your story or are still in the middle but revise, read your story meticulously and search for inconsistencies and illogical plot development.

The revision phase is a remedy for correcting the errors done unintentionally while writing your story. It happens with every writer as, during the writing, the thoughts sway from here to there without giving a trace of it.

Create a story timeline

Make an organized story timeline by creating a list of the chapters and the events in it. Check it for the logical sequence of the events that how and when they occur.

Such as the sequence of days, months, years, and even the timing of the occurrences when they occur.

Follow your character

During revision, follow the development of your characters throughout the story to see if the development is consistent with the story and the personality.

The best thing is to make a list of your characters. Write the specific traits of your character and learn how each one should be developed into a complete personality to avoid inconsistencies in their actions.

Question your plot

Once in the revision phase, question everything that is in the story and related to the plot. Question the logical development of the plot. Is there anything such as a character’s decision or claim that doesn’t fit their personality? Is there an abandoned event or journey that creates a gap? Is there any question gone unanswered? Are the subplots augment the main plot or not?

By questioning your story like this, you will successfully find the plot holes in your narrative.

Check it for consistency.

You should also evaluate the occurrence of the events and the setting of your story if they are consistent with the world they represent. If you are writing a fantasy, check if the world is consistent with magic-logic.

Keep track of your revision notes.

Keep track of your revision notes is highly necessary. They may open up new subplots or may lead to the finding of more serious plot holes. Check your revision notes if they are consistent with the development of the whole thing.

Be objective in your revision.

You can’t edit or revise your story properly if you are still emotionally attached to your work. Once you are in the revision phase, remove the writer’s glasses and put on the glasses of readers and critics.

Spare nothing that creates plot holes in your story. Either improve them by providing logical reasons or delete them altogether and rewrite them.

Let a professional editor check your work.

If it is costly to hire a professional editor, ask a fellow writer to read your work. You can convince them by offering an exchange.

Pro-tip: The process is tiresome and time-consuming, but there is no way out. The best thing you can do is to plan an outline before writing your fictional narrative. It will help you avoid serious plot holes because you will know how the story goes, divides into chapters, and fits into the plot.

How to fix your plot holes?

Finding plot holes may be easy, but filling them up is difficult. There is no straightforward solution to patch up every plot hole you encounter. Most of the time, it requires restructuring the entire plot, redeveloping the characters along a fresh line, rethinking the themes, and reassessing the connection of subplots with the main plot.

I know this isn't easy, but for the sake of your story, do it. Don’t just patch your plot holes, but find the best fixes. You have a phenomenal story, and you don’t want to make it leave a common impression. And to share that phenomenal story, commit yourself to the craft of patching the plot holes with the best fixes to get the best version of your story.

Research your theme thoroughly

If you are writing a story about a young and inspiring boy who wants to be a pilot, learn everything about becoming a pilot. Learn them like you want to become that pilot.

Be emphatic with your theme and reach that level of ‘Negative Capability. This will help you in identifying and fixing your plot holes.

The pro tip is to research from well-reputed sources to avoid the headache of factual errors and rewriting and restructuring.

Set guidelines for your universe

Before writing the whole thing, establish certain guidelines for the universe of your story for the readers and yourself. Let your readers know in the exposition that what happens and what not and how it happens. It will help you see the “deus ex machina,” a device used to provide a simple solution to a seemingly difficult situation to avoid making a plot hole.

Provide a proper setup and enough information for the readers to know about the possibility of something happening. The critics frown upon the illogical solutions to the problems. Follow the laws of your story’s world.

Provide rules and structures

Once you have established the guidelines of your story’s universe, know how everything works in it. Figure out how power dynamics, the backstory of narrative, rules, regulations, and your story's setting work together.

Think of how your characters are developing in that world. Are they following their dreams and goals? Are their goals consistent with the power dynamics of the world? How is the story developed, and is the relation of cause and effect logical?

Walk away from your writing.

Sometimes the writers get too closed to their writing, and they can’t judge it objectively. In such situations, take breaks and walk away into an environment where you can get relaxed.

A short walk on the riverside or in a natural environment significantly influences one’s creative genius. Visit one to get refreshed and get new inspiration.

It will help you come with fresh eyes and offer a unique perspective of the problem you have encountered.

Final thoughts

Writing fiction is not a simple task. Have a mind that keeps track of everything. Writing a story may be easy to give outlets to your thoughts that never let you at peace. But to tell a story that inspires and leaves a lasting impression on the readers, read it first and get inspired by it yourself.

Countless fiction writers have written great novels, but plot holes make them unpopular. A plot hole is anything that baffles your readers by its illogical occurrences. It can be a contradiction in the goals and decision of a character or the happening of an event that happens out of nowhere — lacking a logical relation of cause and effect and has no connection to the main plot.

Leaving out a character or an event behind in the middle of the story without bringing them to a logical conclusion is another facet of the plot holes.

A successful writer revises his work, keeps records of the revision, and knows the world of his work best. He also knows how power dynamics work in the world; If there is any inconsistency in the plot’s development, character, and storyline that creates plot holes, he finds the best patches that don’t sacrifice his craft and story.

How to Engage Your Readers by Fixing Up Plot Holes in Your Story was originally published in Blank Page on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Once you have resolved that you are making money from your writing; don’t look back because there is no looking back. There is only going ahead.

But the going ahead is not always a linear path. You have to invest time and money to have more money. And to have more money, you need to upskill yourself and look for more earning avenues.

Many writers limit themselves to just one source, and while that works well for some, if that source dries up then you have nothing to fall back on. Expanding into different markets gives you multiple income streams and most of them don’t require any extra skills than the ones you already have.

So, here are the five little-known writing sites that do pay writers.

5. Contently

Contently is the promising writing site that pays exorbitant money to talented writers. Initially, the site aimed at improving the world of media as it is founded by technophiles and journalist, but now it is restructured to help freelance writers advance their writing career.

As a writer, you can actively look for the work on Contently, but first, you need to create an impressive portfolio to attract potential clients by showcasing your best works.

The site works with famous brands such as Google, Coca Cola, GE, GM, and Walmart. Once you have showcased your best work, these brands and other related will contact you through Contently, as it works as a broker and negotiates a great pay rate for the requested projects.

Once contacted by a potential client, you can assist them with your writing skill by writing quality articles for them. But this is not the sole thing you can do. You can also work with them to provide infographics, photo essays, and videos making services.

The pay rate is quite impressive but you need to have a PayPal account to receive the payment. Their pay rate varies for the project and can range from $0.75/word up to $1,500/flat for long-form digital report writing.

4. Textbroker

Another magnificent site for the writers who want to add more bucks to their monthly income. The site also pays big money to promising writers who can deliver quality work on time.

But the site works a little different. Here you have to fill a detailed profile or to provide a piece of complete biographic information and to verify everything before you set it to work.

The site also wants you to submit a writing sample. Once your sample is reviewed; the editors will rate it. The writers normally receive a 2 or 3 stars rating at first.

Once you are rated, they will assign you tasks based upon your rating. The average writers are accepted with the 3 stars initially and later you can grow in the platform up to 5 stars at max.

Upon acceptance, you will be given access to your dashboard where you can see a list of topics assigned for each star ratings. You cannot opt for the higher stars topic but you can attempt on lower stars. And this is in your favour.

But it doesn’t mean that a topic assigned to 3 stars level writers offers $50 and you work as of $50. You have to satisfy your client and to deliver a work of $52 article. Always try to write above your level and to deliver a work of high calibre. Because the clients rate your work and it gives you a promotion to reach a 5-star level.

The plus point is that once you have completed 10 assignments on level 4 successfully, you can request a bump-rise to level 5. You can also withdraw your money once you have reached the $10 milestone.

3. Incomediary

The site was launched in March 2009 and since then has been actively looking for prominent writers who can create quality work.

If you can write on the niches related to affiliate marketing, Social media, traffic generation, how to boost your website, entrepreneurship, building great websites, or how to earn money online — this is your site.

They pay a handsome rate and mostly their rate ranges from $200 up to $500. The pay is negotiated and primarily depends on your writing skills and professionalism.

Connecting with them is easy. All you need to do is to send them a quote/pitch to be added to the writer’s team. Once added, you can have plenty of work.

2. ModernLove

Modern love is an offshoot of the New York Times page and invites writers who can create quality essays on the topic of modern love. The editors of modern love are looking for writers who can write on deeply personal topics such as dating, seduction, intimate love, marriage, parentage, and the problems of contemporary relationships.

Ideally, they are looking for essays that are subjective in nature and may exhibit the firsthand experiences of the writer himself/herself. Most importantly, the feelings and emotions presented should be honest and expressed compellingly.

You have to pitch them on their site and once accepted, they will publish your story and will pay you $300 right away.

1. Narratively

Narratively is open to all those writers who can tell stories from their personal perspective and can grip the reader's attention throughout the story with his immersive and interesting art of expression.

They don’t accept opinions or views on stories. They look for stories that are actively told and can transport readers to another world with the help of imaginative plight. The story must be vividly told, depict the beautiful scenes by showing and revealing the inner self of the characters to the readers.

The story must be original, not published or covered by other publications, in narrative form (means to have a proper beginning, middle, and end), and must involve human characters.

The pay for each story varies between $200 to $300. The quality of your story and content determine the pay.

Takeaways

Writing is a business. And if you are in this business; you might look for more avenues to expand your earning. The best thing is that you can earn from as many sources as you want, time permitting, of course. Over time you’ll be able to build a passive income from your backlog of writing, generating more and more money every month.

Remember, these five sites aren’t the only ones that pay their writers. There are many other sites out that for all niches and experience levels. Find what works for you. Expand your career beyond borders and grow exponentially.

5 Online Platforms That Pay Writers for Their Writing was originally published in Blank Page on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.