Glaring Plot Holes! HELP!

[Aislinn Mollisong]

Hey, KeePers! I have a problem.

You know that feeling when you are plotting your  book, almost have it all worked out, and feel like you can ACTUALLY do it, and then you realize you have a plot hole that could destroy the whole story?

I sure do. Here’s my problem;

In Embers Burning, my two main characters Amber and Brendan must travel through Leifer and find all of the Rangers and get a piece of a riddle from them. This in turn will help them find the lost prince. Sounds good so far, right? Here’s where it gets tricky.

Dragons.

Teine and Terran, to be exact. The crux of my problem is that if the dragons are always with my MCs, (as they need to be) the trials and obstacles I made for them won’t be a problem. Rockslide? Dragons can beat it. Army of Dulaman? Dragons can beat them. And I NEED Amber and Brendan to beat most of these obstacles without the dragons, because not only does it develop plot and character arcs, it develops their relationship. (Hehe….)

I have a few reasonable excuses for some of the situations. For example: Dragons are not allowed on the streets after dark in (insert name of town here). Hence, Teine and Terran cannot defend them when they meet up with some Eirs.

But for many of the situations…there isn’t really a plausible reason for them not to be together. And I need some. Ask questions if you need claraification, please.

ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli

[Aislinn Mollisong]

@catwing @dragon-snapper @dekreel @seekjustice @daeus @winter-rose @sam-kowal @everyoneelse

ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli

[Ben Powell]

@aislinn-mollisong Hmm…

Here are some random ideas that may or may not make sense in your story:

• The dragons get wounded in some sort of battle and have to recover
• Amber and Brendan need to sneak in somewhere silently and dragons would alert everyone to their presence
• The MCs go somewhere (a cave or something?) where Teine and Terran cannot physically fit.

The question that pops into my head is, Do you actually need the dragons in the story, or are they only there because it’s fantasy and dragons are cool? If they’re needed, great, but if they’re not they could just bog down the story.

A Kapeefer for life!
Compendium of KP Literature: kapeeferliterature.wordpress.com

[NC Stokes]

@aislinn-mollisong Sounds like you’ve got a why-didn’t-they-use-the-eagles-to-get-to-Mount-Doom conundrum here. 😉

Maybe try dialing down the power of the dragons. If they’re powerful enough to stop all of the catastrophes, they might be too powerful. What would happen of you made them smaller? Weaker? What if they needed something to get their powers to work? You don’t absolutely have to do that, but it’s a thought. If you do, just make sure they aren’t useless. 😉

Or give the enemy something that can combat the dragons?

I don’t know if that’s helpful. Or if it makes sense. But there you are. *awkward smile* *swishes cape and disappears*

Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/

[Joy]

@aislinn-mollisong  Hmmmm…

I agree with Ben and N.C..

If they were summoned on the journey, maybe whoever summoned them could tell them to leave the dragons behind, at least, to an extent. And if they weren’t summoned…

Have them get inadvertently separated from the dragons. Like maybe when they’re trying to escape the rockslide, or whatever. Then they don’t find each other for a long time, giving Amber and Brendan a good amount of time to develop on their own.

That’s my suggestion 🙂

You can pronounce it however you want.

[Skredder]

@aislinn-mollisong What if there is an errand or something that Amber and Brendan must do, but it’s incredibly far away or in a place that is not easily accessible by humans? Teine and Terran could complete that task while Amber and Brendan continue their way.

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

[Aislinn Mollisong]

Thanks guys! But I feel like I forgot to explain some things. Sorry. (Oh, the problems of explaining…)

One of the reasons they need the dragons for basically the whole story is that the barriers between the countries can ONLY be traversed by dragons. This is important because the rigid separation between the countries is integral to the worldbuilding.

One of the other reasons is that these dragons are not just pets. They are actually main characters with their own missions and personalities. I need them along with the story just as much as anyone else, even though the circumstances are rather complex…

@supermonkey42 Those are really good ideas! I have some happenings that those problems would work perfectly with!

@daughteroftheking Yes, indeed. I do. But on to your suggestions. They are actually not that powerful compared to other dragons, being juveniles, and they can’t stop everything I have in mind. But they sure would make stuff a lot easier to beat. And we certainly can’t have that. 😉

@dekreel Like I said above, the dragons are called along with Amber and Brendan. They are rather integral to the plot. BUT getting seperated for even a short time, (Getting lost in Elesmerkan would be a good spot) is a very good plan.

@skredder Hmmm…I’m not sure if that happens, but I’ll think about adding something like that!

Thanks, everybody, for suggesting! My problem’s already getting solved….anyone else got anything?

ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli

[Sam Kowal]

@aislinn-mollisong
I have the perfect solution to your problem…
Just make all your dragons about as powerful as Stan. And then… they won’t be able to power past obstacles as well. No flying, fire, anything.
XD
Barring that, let me think.
You said that the dragons are characters of their own with their own missions and personalities. That means that they need challenges, too, as characters, otherwise they’ll be kind of boring to read about. Good idea to make them juveniles, by the way, that makes things easier.
I think what you need… is obstacles that are a challenge for the dragons, too.
The ideas of having Amber and Brendan get separated from them would work great for short term, but not for the whole story. So, if the dragons are going to come along, they need to be challenged quite a bit.
Maybe the Army of Dulaman has a special powder that makes dragons really sick, and then they can’t do anything for awhile and Amber and Brendan have to find the medicines to make them better in a town, or something like that. (Or you know, it’s your world. That’s just an example.)
I would focus on creating obstacles that the dragon can’t immediately overcome, and that will help things. If the dragons were still present, but their power compromised in some way, do you think that would allow Amber and Brendan to grow as characters still?

*Giarstanornarak tries to melt chair*
Also, Daeus has 22 turtles in his signature.

[Anonymous]

@aislinn-mollisong What if the dragons don’t get along with their humans all the time? What if the humans need to go somewhere dangerous the dragons don’t want them to, and have to sneak around their dragons?

[Skredder]

@aislinn-mollisong An idea struck me last night. What if there was a place, maybe a baron’s land or something similar, where dragons are forbidden?

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

[Aislinn Mollisong]

@sam-kowal Yes, all dragons should be like Stan. Stan is the best. 😉 That’s actually a really good idea with the Dulaman. I’m trying my very hardest not to make them Orcs but….ya know. If they did have something that would make them a bigger threat, (such as being able to neutralize dragons) they would be a lot better as henchmen in general. Thanks!

@winter-rose Sweet! The dragons are VERY protective of them, and if they had to go somewhere, such as to fight a lava worm…(right after they were attacked when the dragons weren’t there, no less) This’ll be great! Thank you!

 

@skredder Genius! I had some vague idea of dragon curfews in the towns, but I hadn’t thought of this! I have the PERFECT spot for  this! Thank you so much!

ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli

[Sam Kowal]

@aislinn-mollisong 🙂 Great. I think making challenges for the dragons as characters could be an important thing in general. Also, building off of @skredder ‘s idea, what if the dragons had to stay in hiding the whole trip? Sort of the same as being forbidden, I just thought I could add that maybe almost everywhere Amber and Brendan travel, the dragons are forbidden- and because of that, the dragons have to stay hidden a lot of the time.

That means hiding in the day and flying ahead at night to catch up to Amber and Brendan, who travel without the dragons by day so as not to be seen with them, and then they have to work past a lot of challenges on their own.

*Giarstanornarak tries to melt chair*
Also, Daeus has 22 turtles in his signature.

[Aislinn Mollisong]

@sam-kowal Ehhh….they kinda can’t be forbidden, as they are the national animal and almost everyone has one. But! That could come in handy in the third book! Especially because he’s the Dragon-boy….*rubs hands together evilly*

ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli

[Sam Kowal]

@aislinn-mollisong XD Well, that rules that out, then.

“National animal, forbidden to everyone!”

Although actually that would work if only nobility were allowed to have them

:/ I’m not sure, then. Besides having more powerful enemies.

*Giarstanornarak tries to melt chair*
Also, Daeus has 22 turtles in his signature.

[Aislinn Mollisong]

@sam-kowal I think that’s what’ll happen in the third book. MWHAHA- oops. And I think I’ve got a pretty good amount of ideas to go on! THANKS, GUYS!

ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli

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