In a post on Writers in the Storm, Janice Hardy asks if your protagonist may be too lucky. “Getting a plot to unfold just the way you want it to can be challenging,” she says. “Sometimes we get so locked on how it should go, that we force it to follow a certain path—even if there’s no reason for it to unfold that way at all. This can lead to lucky breaks for the protagonist that feel convenient at best, contrived at worst.”
This is a common mistake: characters get what they need to forward the plot, at exactly the moment they need it. Your hero might eavesdrop on a telling conversation, bump into an acquaintance, or meet someone with important information, and thereby gain access to the next step in the story. “The problem is that the protagonist did nothing to earn it, so there’s no conflict,” Hardy says. “Quite often there’s no goal, either, since a key piece of information drops into the protagonist’s lap out of the blue without them even looking for it.”
In one sense, all plots are contrived, because we’re making them up. However, we can still craft a story so that the plot seems plausible, rather than forced. “Coincidences happen, and it’s not uncommon to have one or two occur in a story to make the whole thing work, but they typically work best when the coincidence is what brings people together or triggers the novel’s conflict, not the force behind getting the protagonist out of trouble,” Hardy says. Her rule of thumb: If the coincidence hurts the protagonist, it probably works. If it helps, it usually feels forced.
Her advice:
- If your character needs information, have them uncover it through action or skill, not through eavesdropping. If they do overhear a conversation, give them a reason to be in the vicinity, or make their presence a purposeful decision, rather than coincidence.
- When a character takes a wrong turn or gets lost, this should cause a problem or involve the inciting incident. If your hero simply arrives at the right place at the right time for a plot point or important discovery, it may seem contrived. Instead, consider ways your character might come to the right place through investigation or skill.
- Does your hero bump into strangers who just happen to know the right information he needs or has been trying to discover? Instead, make him earn it with skill, subterfuge, or even threats. Don’t make it too easy.
- Beware the deus ex machina. Does your character inherit money at an opportune time from a heretofore unseen relative? Does a friend just happen to drive by in their hour of need? Don’t let other characters solve your hero’s problems without obstacles and effort. This is your hero’s story and they should be working to solve their own problems.
- Is your bad guy too dumb to win? If your antagonist fails through no fault of the hero’s, then there’s no point to having your hero in the story. The same failure would have resulted. Make your villains as strong and capable as your hero, and force the hero to raise his game.
