One Hundred Fantasy Clichés That Really Need To Rest In Peace

#77: Plot Holes

  One of the biggest mistakes any writer for any genre and for any level of experience can make is the dreaded plot hole.  These writing holes are plot inconsistencies that can occur if one is not too careful about keeping details consistent in the story.  Any detail must have an importance to the plot, whether it be the rules of a book of death, gaining one hundred souls to become one of Death's weapons, and that small bag of ricin hidden behind the wall.  Their roles must stay consistent and have some type of a payoff by the end of the story.  This is called Chekhov's Gun.  Fail to use this plot consistency trope and a plot hole can form even in the most unlikely of places inside of a book.  You may even find yourself in a sticky situation with the audience of your story.

  The failure to use Cheehov's Gun in the fantasy, science fiction thriller Star Wars: The Last Jedi was a huge factor to the movie's hatred by a majority of hardcore fans.  Certain plot points foreshadowed in the previous movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, failed to be expanded upon or even brought back into the plot for a more cohesive story.  The unusual connection main character Rey experiences with the force was never expanded upon being just a useful deus ex machina.  Half of the storyline, which focused on finding a hacker to help save the Rebels, was reduced to a casino trip and a very obvious lesson about judging a book by its cover.  Worst of all was the immature killing of Snok, the Emperor-like villain whose character motivations and characterization were all ignored for a cheap plot twist.  Despite the director Rian Johnson having experience with using Chekhov's Gun impressively in previous works such as the legendary TV show Breaking Bad, somehow these skills failed to come forth for arguably the most anticipated movie of 2017.  This example, among many other unfortunate examples in other books, comics, manga, and movies, is proof of the impact plot holes can have on a storyline and negatively towards the audience.

  Plot holes like in the case of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, are story ruining clichés that can easily befall any experienced author.  Stephanie Meyer in New Moon created the plot hole of Jasper attacking Bella from a paper cut, despite the character acting perfectly fine before around humans at school.  In the anime adaptation of Death Note, the creative team fails to explain Ratt's involvement as a spy for Mello, one of the two new threats for Light after L is out of the series, unlike the original manga that explained it beautifully.  Even J.K. Rowling made a mistake in The Prisoner of Azkaban with the Marauder's Map, whose code words should have only been known about by the four people who originally created it.  Plot holes exist everywhere with a true escape from them not being so easy to accomplish.

  To prevent falling down one of these rabbit holes, take every bit of care to keep every single plot element consistent.  Heavy amounts of note taking after writing each chapter is a strong way to prevent plot holes, followed directly by heavy amounts of editing when writing your story.  It is not an easy job, but if you want Chekhov's Gun to fire, these processes are a must.  You do not want to be remembered as the guy who ruined Star Wars, despite having a strong track record with writing previously.