hannaht29•12d agoTop Commenter

My detective story fell apart when I realized my timeline had a 3 hour gap

I was halfway through chapter 8 of a noir mystery set in Portland when I noticed my detective left a bar at midnight but didn't arrive at the suspect's house until 3 AM. I had no idea what he did in those 3 hours and it totally broke the pacing. I sat there staring at my notes for like 20 minutes trying to patch it. Finally I just added a scene where he stops at an all night diner and has a random conversation with a waitress. She ended up giving me a clue I hadn't even planned. Now I'm wondering if I should go back and add more gaps like that on purpose. Has anyone else fixed a plot hole by accident and had it make the story better?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire44312d ago

You basically stumbled into the BEST kind of writing fix. That diner scene you added is EXACTLY what makes a story feel real. People don't do things on a perfect schedule. Real life has those random three hour gaps where nothing plot relevant happens. I've done the same thing with a missing hour in a thriller. I filled it with a scene where my detective has to stop and help a stranded driver. That driver turned into a whole subplot I had never even thought about before. Now I actively leave blank spots in my timeline on purpose. It forces me to think about what my character would actually DO with that time instead of just teleporting to the next clue. Keep doing it. Your readers will feel the difference.

-2

calebm4611d ago

Yo straight up this is genius. I did the same thing with a missing afternoon in my mystery and my guy ended up getting his car towed and meeting this old mechanic who dropped a huge clue about the murder weapon. Now I leave gaps on purpose too just to see where the characters wander. It's like free brainstorming you didn't even know you needed.