The previous blog post this month discussed some ways to create a plot for your story. By now you know that the mechanics of plotting are simple enough, but figuring out an idea that works well is where the difficulty lies. If a current popular writer handed us a fully fleshed out outline of their next book idea, it is possible that we could write our own page-turner. Push that fantasy aside and try to come up with your own outline, add details and life to the outline, and then begin to write—that is quite a task and one that we writers contend with as we come up with good story ideas. 
There are many common problems writers face when creating a good plot and here are just ten of them to think about. Pointing out these potential difficulties is not designed to make your job more difficult, but to help you be realistic about what can go wrong as you create a compelling story idea.
10 Plot Problems
#1: The characters are not well-rounded. Only yesterday I read an interesting story submitted by one of my writing students. Although the story’s plot was original and creative, readers knew next to nothing about the main character aside from his name. When this situation occurs, readers cannot connect with the main character, or other characters within the manuscript, and won’t care what happens to them. You need readers to connect and care about what is going to happen in the story if you want them to continue reading and become invested in what is going to happen in the story.
So, know your own characters as well as you know your friends and family members. As you create a personality for them, you will notice right away if someone in your story is doing something that does not jive with what readers already know about them and readers will remain interested throughout.
#2: The plot is boring. This could possibly be listed as #1. A boring plot means there is no tension at all in the story and readers will want to toss it aside. They won’t be enticed to turn the page and read on. Of course, Seinfeld’s television episodes had nothing much going on, but intriguing and well-fleshed out characters and zany subplots kept most viewers interested in the entire half hour.
#3: The conclusion is not enjoyable. Readers are reading and anticipating how things are going to end and how certain parts of the plot are going to be resolved, and that barely happens in your story, or the story somehow seems incomplete. Ensure that your plot outline includes an ending that provides a satisfying conclusion to the story.
#4: There are too many characters. If readers need a character list, you have too many. Perhaps only Ken Follett and the late Elizabeth Jane Howard – and a few other writers – can get away from those types of front-of-the-book listings. Remember that if you can remove a character from a story or a book manuscript and that character is not missed at all, they likely should not have been there in the first place. Blend two characters into one (do you really need your main characters to have three adult brothers, or young children who are not integral to the plot?) The more you are able to decrease the number of characters and strengthen the presentation of those characters needed for the story, the better the manuscript will be.
#5: The plot still needs some work. There are holes in it—some ideas are going nowhere. There are errors in continuity or tense inconsistencies. Characters’ personalities seem to change for no reason as the story unfolds. Sharing your plot with a trusted writer friend can sometimes work to help you see what is not always evident since you are so close to the idea. Laying the outline aside for a few weeks and working on something else and then reading it again with somewhat new eyes also works well to reveal these types of potential problems.
#6 The plot is typical, and nothing about it is original. Readers can figure out the ending before the book is halfway through. This problem does not need much explanation.
#7: The plot is too complicated. This is a common reason readers won’t finish your book. If you look at Goodreads comments, those for more complicated plotlines, and written by less experienced writers, will often get a DNF—Did Not Finish. Readers will comment that there is too much going on and too many characters, and they ended up not caring.
#8 Parts of the story can be removed. Just as with too many characters, if a part of a story (a sentence, a paragraph, entire pages, or even chapters) can be removed without it affecting the story, do it. Ensure that everything is essential and your writing is tight. Often this comes with rereading a draft and only looking at that aspect, the necessity of every word within the manuscript.
#9: Some parts of the story contradict others. This situation annoys and confuses readers, who will often go back to parts of the story to try to figure out whether they remembered something wrong. Writers can resolve the problem by keeping careful track of the facts, details and information about the characters and what is taking place in the story. 
#10: The story moves too slowly. Sometimes it takes a beta reader to tell you this, but a slow-moving story is no fun and will be boring to your audience.
Now that you have been reminded of some things not to do as you plot out your story or longer manuscript, ignore them for now. Create your outline, add details and descriptions, flesh out your characters, and begin to write. After you have a solid first draft, come back and read about the potential problems once again and create a checklist for yourself as you dive in and address those that may apply to your work.
No one said this is easy.
Related Posts on Plot
