Plots that drive me nuts
Posted by Gail Barrett on 19 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Chit Chat
As we all know, story telling has certain rules. The first – and arguably the most critical – rule is to convince the reader to suspend disbelief and buy into the plot. But I have to admit that there are certain plots that I simply can’t buy into. Plots that evoke an instant doubt, that make me skeptical of the story, no matter how skillful the writer’s prose.
Perhaps the worst, for me personally, is the mistaken identity plot. I often see this in contests I’m judging. Typically, the hero arrives on scene without announcing his identity, and the heroine reacts in some drastic, way-out-of-bounds way. Either she has raw, wild sex with him, or she hates him on sight and gets into a huge argument with him, or she does something equally as destructive — only to discover the next day that he’s her new boss, or the man she needs to convince to save the ranch/give her a job/rescue her failing company.
This plot device drives me nuts. I’m not sure why. Maybe I’ve just seen it too often. Or maybe I just can’t see this happening in real life. It’s just too unbelievable that the heroine doesn’t ask who he is.
So what about you? Are there any plots or plot devices that you don’t care for? Please share!
This is the kind of thing Shakespeare used to an extreme. Somehow we forgive him, but it is harder to get away with in modern fiction.
I recently watched “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Much Ado About Nothing”. Both plays feature people in disguise. Of course, Shakespeare is using them for comedy and he makes them ridiculous. Maybe that’s why it works?
I even enjoyed the modern adaptation “She’s the Man” based on Shakespeare’s 12th Night. The key was not to take it too seriously.
When the mistaken identity is in a serious context, it is much harder to suspend the disbelief.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:56 amFor me, the hardest plot for me to accept is the hidden baby plot. For the author to make me believe that a woman goes 12 years without telling someone he has a son needs a very good motivation.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:14 amI agree, Pam. I can understand why writers use the secret baby plot — instant conflict! But in real life? I doubt there are that many secret babies around.
Same goes for the mistaken identity. I don’t mind undercover stories, where the character is purposely withholding his real identity from everyone around him. That makes sense. The ones that bother me are where the heroine just assumes he is someone else. That seems too artifical and contrived to me. I guess in Shakespeare’s time, people weren’t as jaded. It’s like the whole “Deux ex maquina” thing (I’m sure I spelled that wrong) where an act of God or stroke of luck solves the problems at the end. It just doesn’t work in modern fiction.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:19 amDang it! And here I was just working on my latest where the heroine has a ten year old kid and when she runs into the father, whom she never told about the kid, she doesn’t recognize him and they instantly fall into bed and the next day she is faced with having to ask him for a job since he is the only employer in town, and two months later she finds she is pregnant again! When she confronts the hero he accuses her of sleeping around.
Back to the drawing board…
Ree
March 19th, 2008 at 12:19 pmOh man, Ree, you hit my plotting pet peeve.
I can’t stand the “You’re pregnant! You must be cheating on me,” plot.
Heeelllooooo,
I just read through four sex scenes where you definitely could be the father, now knock it off, you idiot.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:08 pmExactly, Chessie! What makes them think their sperm can’t get into trouble?
March 19th, 2008 at 2:24 pmYes, and usually the child looks exactly like the father — but he still denies paternity.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:38 pmDarn it!
My second book does include a secret baby but I promise there’s a good reason and it’s a very small part of the plot (and he’s only four years old.)
Maybe one of the reasons we keep writing these plots into the ground is because women like reading them?
I agree the plots you all described are very much overused and trite, but I love them in historical and don’t have much of a problem. In contemporary, though, it is difficult to make the story believable.
Well, off to take care of business!
Anna
March 19th, 2008 at 5:59 pmGreat point, Anna. I do think the time period makes a big difference — especially with secret babies. But you’re right, these plots are used a lot because they do work.
March 20th, 2008 at 3:27 amDon’t get me wrong, you CAN make a hidden baby plot work, but it needs to be fresh and REAL. You have to set the character and situation up so that it doesn’t sound contrived and weak.
And yeah, Ree - I’d go back to the drawing board on that one too.
I also hate the “great misunderstanding” plot. Authors don’t do this as much anymore, but the ones where the heroine overhears the hero’s best friend saying to an unseen character “but you have to take care of the baby, it’s yours!” and jumps to assumptions that she never tries to get right.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:26 amHi Gail and all,
Yes, I know some of these plot devices are detrop-old hat. And the new writer especially must not fall back on these. Coming up with a new twist can often help and I think the comment that often these can add to a comic plot was great.
There are some classic plots such as Marriage of convenience or arranged marriage that never seem to go stale.
But remember no coincidence in plotting. And hope you have an editor who makes you from committing this error. I’ve had a few–thank heaven!
March 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pmLyn
Lyn - that’s a fabulous point. The new writer either has to use something old and familiar, and yet somehow put a fresh and distinctive twist on it — or come up with elements so different that it starts a whole new trend. Not easy!!!!
March 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pmSomething that annoys the heck out of me is when the hero is written so alpha that he treats the woman like she doesn’t have a brain. He always knows what’s best for her and forces her to do whatever it is he says. AND SHE DOES IT! I tolerate it better in a historical romance because that’s pretty accurate to how women were treated then but when it’s in a contemporary novel, that’s when you’re going to hear the book being thrown across the room and the author permanently erased from my “will buy” list. I know there are still men walking around that do this and women who accept it but I want to bitch slap the characters and the author and don’t want to waste my time reading those stories.
Great topic, by the way.
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 am