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Yay I solved the problem, darn there is a new problem

I've finally been able to create some logical reasons for major plot points, like the whole reason the MC goes on a quest to begin with (kind of important yes?). But of course when one issue resolves itself another one pops up.

Anyone else having to spend a lot of time working on creating a logical chain of events to keep the story moving forward?

Lately it has resulted in a lot of re-writes but I guess that's just part of the deal.
 

Cambra

Minstrel
Pantser, huh? Same as me...

Yes. I have characters I have an idea of what happens... Need to find out the why and how...
 

Swordfry

Troubadour
Try making a detailed outline first, if you haven't already. Another thing you can consider that helped me out of more than one pickle is just to create more characters, most likely minor ones. Taking the time to shift some focus on them allows for the story to breathe, feel more natural, and more immersive for the reader. Also, I have found that it is just simply best to create a new character to do something a more major one was originally intended to do, just to sort of spread the load. Maybe this will help you.

Or maybe you could give us some more precise details without spoiling?
 
I have a similar problem. I'm an outliner. I began my current WIP about three years ago, and the general outline for events came fairly easily. A more specific outline took longer (hence the years of contemplating different plot points.) But when it came time to write the thing, I was & am faced with a dilemma: day-to-day activities, or all that happens between the major events and endeavors.

This is worse at the beginning of the novel. I firmly hold to the idea that all major and minor characters must have daily motivations, activities, i.e., "a life", that isn't always shaped by the plot. Deciding what they are doing, and why they are doing those things until certain events and catalysts happen, and making those things both logical to the character and compatible with the plot (so that they'll logically experience those catalysts rather than constantly have "coincidental" convergence of daily life and catalysts/instigating events).....is where the complication comes for me.
 

teacup

Auror
I'm currently working through many problems in my series, and many times when a problem has been solved it has created a couple more or I have found more problems while I solved the first.

I recommend you use the program Microsoft OneNote to solve these problems. I've been using it to organize these problems. I have a separate page in OneNote for each problem, and when new problems come up I note them down quickly and them paste them as new pages. It's worked extremely well to stop them from overwhelming me and having them organized like this has been great.


For me I began as a pantser for draft 1 but now I'm on draft 3 and I'm making a very clear timeline of events from start of the series to the end. I ran into a few problems so began solving them and finding more and more.
 

Gurkhal

Auror
I recognize this problem. :( Getting it logical and coherent with how each character should act to get to the desired point can be, and often is, a major pain.
 

Cambra

Minstrel
If your plot is flagging, have a man come in with a gun.
When stumped, have a man come through a door with a gun.

Raymond Chandler

Or in the case of fantasy writing, a mage with a charged staff... Or a dragon breathing fire!
 
Or in the case of fantasy writing, a mage with a charged staff... Or a dragon breathing fire!

In the case of Shakespeare - add a letter that conveniently explains everything!

I think a knock on the door or a phone call would work but maybe that's why Chandler is well ... Raymond Chandler I'm a nobody. ;) Do you by chance know where this quote is from? I read through a portion of The Simple Art of Murder but I don't recall if I ever finished it. Just curious if he'd produced other things on writing.

I wonder... when you're that brilliant do you know it or do you still only see flaws in what you produce? ...


Sorting out the plot is a huge pain in the butt. Pantsing makes the writing itself more lively but it can lead to some major problems. Y'all have my sympathies. I've outlined for some previous projects so I understand what you mean by struggling to fill in the day to day activities. ATM I'm rewriting a pantsed project and it feels like every plot hole patched means two or three more uncovered. It's like battling a friggin' hydra! I'm hoping that at some point the multiplication of holes will stop but I don't really know ... I guess I'll have to stick with it to the end to see.
 
Try making a detailed outline first, if you haven't already. Another thing you can consider that helped me out of more than one pickle is just to create more characters, most likely minor ones. Taking the time to shift some focus on them allows for the story to breathe, feel more natural, and more immersive for the reader. Also, I have found that it is just simply best to create a new character to do something a more major one was originally intended to do, just to sort of spread the load. Maybe this will help you.

Or maybe you could give us some more precise details without spoiling?

Oh believe me I'm all about the outline. Basically I have situations where I have a real weak plot point and I need to come up with something that makes sense and isn't just a cheap way of getting to the next part of the story. I try and assume that my readers are not dumb and willing to take illogical situations at face value.
 
So I guess I should describe the scenario to provide a little more info.

Basically I needed two childhood, brother and sister, friends of the MC to end up living with an aristocrat on another continent. Once this happens the MC starts having dreams/visions that strongly suggest they may be in some kind of danger. The aristocrat is basically the vampire head honcho of that continent. So the MC decides to leave home to find them before it's too late.

Basically I had to figure out why an aristocrat that lives quite a ways away would know of these kids to begin with and why he would want to adopt them. Didn't know what he ultimately was trying to do. It was flimsy as hell. And why would the parents agree to it?

After thinking for a bit I decided that the father was a merchant that made his living by sailing to different locations to drop off and pick up various goods. His family established the company awhile back, though he has decided to live in a rural area instead of the big city, where his brother runs it. His eldest son helps him out. This way the family members have a reason to end up where they need to be.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
WRT outlining, I find it to be a seductive siren. I outline. I outline the bejabbers out of the thing. Everything flows beautifully.

Then I start writing and the plot is revealed to be full of holes. It also feels flat. I can outline a romance, but I can't outline the *feelings* of that romance. I can outline a battle, but I can't outline the spiritual crisis folded into that battle. I've come to realize the outlining up front does well to establish sequence, but it can't do motivation because I don't know my characters yet. One does not fall in love via an outline.

So I have two outlines (at least). One is the initial one. Then I write the story (first draft). Then I outline what I *actually* wrote. This document usually sends me down the Staircase of Despair, wherein I encounter many Plot Demons.

WRT your specific situation, you tell us your initial problem and how you solved it, but you don't say what problems were generated by the solution. Which was, if I read the OP aright, why you made the OP. You are secondarily stuck.

Care to share?
 
Well I'm going by the vampire lore that includes the concept that they can't travel across water. I want to make this apply to them being able to take ships across water between landmasses. The vampire lord wants to use the merchant and his children in a scheme to spread vampirism to other nations.
 
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