Cal.E.'s Korner

C.: What’s a plot hole?

d.: It’s a whole in the plot of your manuscript. I'm looking for one now in one of my manuscripts.

C.: Well, thanks for clearing that up. Could you be mo4re specific?

d.: Sure. One I see all the time on television shows are timeframes. Sometimes kids are babies in the first scene, then teenagers in the next scene, but it’s twenty years later. Doing some simple math can help avoid that.

C.: What do you do about plot holes?

d.: Like pot holes, I try to avoid them.

C.: how?

d.: Well, my process is to…I call it vomit on the page, but a nicer term is brainstorming. After getting the general idea down, go back and add relevant details and delete what doesn’t belong, but don’t throw those ideas away. You may be able to use it later, or in another manuscript.

After I do that, I try to make my first rough draft. Then, I go through that draft and correct grammatical erros and look for plot holes. After that, I’ll start fresh with a new draft.

C.: That sounds like a lot of work.

d.: I’m not even finished. With that draft, I look for grammatical errors and plot holes. Then, I sleep on it for a few nights and see if I want to change any of the premises. IF I don’t, then I continue with that draft. If I like it, I send it to my editor, and she breaks it down piece-by piece. That helps me see where I  might have made an error with something.

 However, I don’t consider this to be work.

C.: Explain, please.

d.: Well, work is a four-letter word that implies that you don’t enjoy what your doing. Putting effort is using energy and resources, such as time to complete a project. Many people devote time to time-consuming hobbies that take energy and time, but they don’t consider it work.

C.: Like writing?

d.: Well…yes. That reminds me, I need to send some emails, so that’s all the time we have for today, folks. Please join us tomorrow for another episode of Cal.e.’s Korner.