I use to do it like this: my story runs on two levels (because there are two protagonists). When a chapter is almost satisfying and you have a surprise going on, you cut the surprise, so readers will have to get to other chapters to know how a situation ended.
-Would this be a plausible story?
---yes
-Would strip mining have been invented at the time?
---use wikipedia
-Are there any other plot holes you guys can see?
---no
-How could this history tie back into the main story? I'm thinking doing something with underwater tunnels or various stuff at the...
I created it like this.
1- main "cool scene" around which all the book is based
2- protagonist, why he/she is special
3- conflict
4- now that you have a struggle, you need to make it comfortable to you (example: NOT a civil war)
5- You have all these elements? Make characters be just A PART of...
Elemental stuff has been used for so long (power rangers, avatar and every cartoon in history) that they give me no feelings any more (they actually tend to make me loose interest)
Is it a drug? yes it is. they took starcraft and diablo2 and mixed them up. If you play Skyrim you play for long but at least --you can make it come to an end----