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[Guide] Internal Plot Consistency

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bardsandsages:
In an effort to help build the forum and get some discussions moving, I'm going to post some topics with links to some of my blog articles that can trigger a conversation.

As an editor, working through internal consistency issues is a major part of my job. Sometimes these issues are caused by writers painting themselves into a corner and not knowing how to get out. Sometimes they are caused by authors forgetting what they wrote previously. Sometimes it falls back to BUT IT IS FANTASY WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?

Internal consistency is vital to the suspension of belief readers need to enjoy a story.

https://bardsandsages.com/juliedawson/2016/03/29/batman-v-superman-and-the-quest-for-internal-plot-consistency/

related:
https://bardsandsages.com/juliedawson/2014/10/20/movie-review-dracula-untold/

WasAnn:
It happens a lot in both tradpub and indie fiction. Sometimes, when reading a trad book, I can almost see the editor saying, "No, it needs a higher stake, more emotion..blah, blah." Often, this ruins a book to make it more marketable. In some of the indie books I see it in, what I see is a lack of ideas at book five or six or nineteen. It's clearly an issue of doing their best to keep pumping out books in a performing series.

idontknowyet:

--- Quote from: WasAnn on September 18, 2018, 07:06:00 AM ---It happens a lot in both tradpub and indie fiction. Sometimes, when reading a trad book, I can almost see the editor saying, "No, it needs a higher stake, more emotion..blah, blah." Often, this ruins a book to make it more marketable. In some of the indie books I see it in, what I see is a lack of ideas at book five or six or nineteen. It's clearly an issue of doing their best to keep pumping out books in a performing series.

--- End quote ---


It is the worse when you can see that a writer had no idea what was happening in book 10 when they wrote book 1 2 or even 3. When you find success with a series  please pleas please only continue to write a story that you know where its going. I don't mean that the characters cant change your mind, but if you're just adding stories to make money and have already tied up all the plot lines move on to something else.

Lorri Moulton:

--- Quote from: idontknowyet on September 20, 2018, 02:48:53 AM ---
--- Quote from: WasAnn on September 18, 2018, 07:06:00 AM ---It happens a lot in both tradpub and indie fiction. Sometimes, when reading a trad book, I can almost see the editor saying, "No, it needs a higher stake, more emotion..blah, blah." Often, this ruins a book to make it more marketable. In some of the indie books I see it in, what I see is a lack of ideas at book five or six or nineteen. It's clearly an issue of doing their best to keep pumping out books in a performing series.

--- End quote ---


It is the worse when you can see that a writer had no idea what was happening in book 10 when they wrote book 1 2 or even 3. When you find success with a series  please pleas please only continue to write a story that you know where its going. I don't mean that the characters cant change your mind, but if you're just adding stories to make money and have already tied up all the plot lines move on to something else.

--- End quote ---

I'm writing a serialized story right now and one reason it's taking so long...I include hints of what's going to happen later on.  This means I have to plan most of the major storylines now.

Like clues in a mystery, I prefer seeing something in book 1, reading a bit more in book 3 and then having it become an important part of the story in book 4. 

If there's nothing about a major storyline or new/important characters until book 4, it can seem like an afterthought.  Maybe it works, but I prefer a few clues in the beginning.

elleoco:

--- Quote from: idontknowyet on September 20, 2018, 02:48:53 AM ---It is the worse when you can see that a writer had no idea what was happening in book 10 when they wrote book 1 2 or even 3.
--- End quote ---

Yes! I'm seeing a lot of this lately, maybe because of the popularity of series. Readers like me pick up on it because when we find something we like, we read as much of a series as is available in a binge. It depends on how egregious the inconsistencies are, but at some point I figure if the author doesn't care enough about their stories to make an effort, then I don't care at all.

Not having written a long series, I have to ask - is it that hard to keep track of what you wrote earlier? Do some just figure oops, wish I hadn't made it that way, I'll just ignore it now that it's inconvenient to this new idea - readers will never notice.

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