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Holy Plot Holes, Batman! ( Smallish Rant )

TNTOS

Entry posted by TNTOS

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Currently I am writing a rather in-depth summary of my first epic, The Tales of Shika Nui, for the BZP Epics Wiki, created by Toa Spirit. Because of this, I am having to reread TToSN to make sure that the summary is as accurate as possible.

 

And man, I just realized that the epic itself has tons of plot holes! I know I was not as good a writer as I am now and that no one is really good in the beginning unless they're born with the gift, but it is very hard to make the summary sound good when I find that the characters act extremely stupid and sometimes out of character just for the plot to advance (something I try best to avoid in all of my writings).

 

I mean, it seemed as though I couldn't decide if this one Dark Hunter's name was Viho or Yhio, both of which sound far too similar to the name of another Hunter, Giho. That is quite minor compared to some of the other things I've found, but it should give you an idea of what I've seen while rereading it. I even discovered an unintentional fragmented sentence in the narration itself, even! Easily fixed, fortunately, but I still cringe for after reading each sentence. Was I really that bad? Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it really isn't all that good compared to what I write now, at least.

 

On the plus side, rereading it has given me loads more plot threads to resolve in AUA that I had forgotten about, which is part of the reason I am rewriting it again, as the first two drafts didn't answer any of those questions or plot points. So there's a bright side to everything, I suppose.

 

-TNTOS-

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Guest kopakanuva13

Guest kopakanuva13

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Ah, don't worry. We all improve... I myself cringe every time I reread my first epic, "Early Sunsets". I even noticed that there's a part where a Turaga goes on a rant about how a secret organization destroyed his home island which I never recalled writing... in the prequel, said character knows that organization didn't destroy his island, and even his mentor was a part of that organization he claimed to hate in book 1 >.<

 

So yeah, I'd say there's nothing some editing can't fix. If there are plot holes big enough, you can always add some filler into a sequel or something of the sort that describes why the hole is there. Something stupid could always work (as long as it's not overly deus ex machina)... like, "Man, Tahu, how were you in Ta-Koro and the alternate dimension at the same time?" "Ah, that? It was no biggie, I figured out how to travel through time with the Vahi!" *flashback*

 

Okay bad example but you get the point =P

 

And about characters seemingly being forced to move the story along, many writers struggle with that, especially when they planned the story in detail ahead of time to avoid plot holes as mentioned above. I was victim to that in one of my own epics, actually. I still haven't found the best remedy if the damage has already been done yet... however, redrafting can work wonders if you still care about the epic. Something stupid can be changed into a bad decision a character made under pressure or in a fit of rage, for example.

 

So yeah, all the above are common mistakes, even for really experienced writers, from what I've heard. It's good that you can use things like plot holes and redrafting productively, though. That's a good skill to have if you're writing a multi-book saga =D

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TNTOS

@ Cap'N: I don't plan to go and change the epic right now. I've already got a bunch of other things to work on at the moment and I don't have time to deal with the mistakes I made when I was a newbie. However, I am thinking of rewriting TToNS sometime in the far future, though I can't say for sure right now since I have a bunch of other ideas I want to write first.

 

Other than that, mostly agree with you :) .

 

-TNTOS-

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