7 Signs Your Plot Isn’t Working and How to Fix It
You love your characters.
You know how the story begins.
You might even know exactly how you want it to end.
But somewhere between Chapter One and The End, something feels... off.
Maybe the story drags. Maybe you're struggling to figure out what should happen next. Or maybe plenty is happening, but somehow the book still doesn't feel exciting.
Before you scrap the manuscript and start flirting with that shiny new story idea in your notebook, take a closer look at your plot.
Your story may not need to be replaced.
It may just need to be repaired.
Here are seven signs your plot isn't working and what you can do about them.
1. Nothing Changes
Your character goes places. They have conversations. Things technically happen.
But if you compare Chapter 5 with Chapter 10, the character's situation hasn't really changed.
That's a problem.
A strong plot creates movement. Something should continually be changing:
New information is discovered.
Relationships change.
Problems become more complicated.
Plans succeed or fail.
Characters make decisions.
Stakes increase.
How to Fix It
At the end of each major scene, ask:
What is different now because this scene happened?
If your answer is nothing, the scene may need a stronger purpose.
2. Your Character Could Walk Away
Imagine your protagonist simply deciding:
"You know what? Never mind."
Could they go home and continue their life without much consequence?
If so, your story may not have enough at stake.
Readers need to understand why this matters to your character.
And stakes don't always mean saving the world.
They can be deeply personal.
A relationship.
A reputation.
A dream.
A family.
A secret.
A career.
A belief.
A sense of belonging.
How to Fix It
Ask:
What does my character lose if they fail?
Then ask an even better question:
Why would losing that matter specifically to them?
That's where stakes become emotional instead of merely dramatic.
3. Things Happen To Your Character, but They Don't Cause Anything
This one is sneaky.
The mysterious letter arrives.
Someone disappears.
A secret is revealed.
A stranger shows up.
Another clue appears.
Your protagonist reacts to each event, but rarely makes choices that affect what happens next.
They've become a passenger in their own book.
How to Fix It
Give your protagonist decisions.
Instead of asking:
What happens to my character next?
Ask:
What does my character decide to do next?
Then let that decision create consequences.
Choice → Consequence → New Choice → Bigger Consequence
That's plot.
4. Your Middle Feels Like Filler
The beginning was exciting.
The ending is waiting for you.
And the middle has turned into 150 pages of characters drinking coffee and discussing the plot.
☕ Bosley is not opposed to coffee, but even he has limits.
The middle shouldn't exist simply to keep the beginning and ending from bumping into each other.
It's where the story should become more complicated.
How to Fix It
Look at your middle and ask:
What becomes harder here?
Your protagonist might:
Discover they were wrong.
Lose an ally.
Gain an enemy.
Make a costly mistake.
Learn something that changes the goal.
Get what they wanted and discover it isn't what they expected.
Face consequences from an earlier decision.
Your middle needs escalation, not decoration.
5. The Problems Feel Random
You've probably heard that stories need conflict.
So you add some.
Car breaks down.
Someone gets fired.
A storm arrives.
An ex suddenly appears.
A character falls down the stairs.
And somehow there's also a suspicious neighbor named Gerald.
Poor Gerald.
The problem isn't necessarily that these events are boring.
The problem is that they may have nothing to do with the central story.
Random trouble isn't the same thing as meaningful conflict.
How to Fix It
Tie obstacles to what your character wants.
If your protagonist desperately wants to rebuild her relationship with her daughter, the strongest obstacles should complicate that relationship.
If your protagonist is trying to uncover a family secret, your obstacles should make finding or revealing that truth more difficult.
Conflict should tighten the plot, not scatter it.
6. You Can Rearrange Your Chapters and Nothing Changes
Try this experiment.
Could Chapter 12 happen before Chapter 8?
Could Chapter 15 happen before Chapter 10?
If you can shuffle large portions of your manuscript without affecting anything, your scenes may not have enough cause and effect.
Strong plots tend to create chains.
This happened, therefore this happened.
Not:
This happened... and then this happened... and then something else happened.
How to Fix It
Try the Because of That Test.
Write your major plot events in order.
Connect each one with:
Because of that...
For example:
Mia discovers her father lied about where he was the night of the accident.
Because of that, she searches his office.
Because of that, she finds an old photograph.
Because of that, she realizes someone else was there.
Because of that, she confronts the person in the photograph.
Now the story has momentum.
One event creates another.
7. You Know the Ending, but It Doesn't Feel Earned
You've reached the climax.
The villain is exposed.
The couple reunites.
The mystery is solved.
The family reconciles.
The character finally succeeds.
And instead of thinking...
YES!
...the reader might think:
Wait. That's it?
A satisfying ending isn't just about what happens.
It's about everything that happened before it.
How to Fix It
Look backward from your ending.
Ask:
What needs to happen earlier for this ending to feel inevitable but not obvious?
Plant information.
Build relationships.
Create unresolved questions.
Let characters make mistakes.
Give them opportunities to change.
Your ending should feel like the result of the story you've told, not something dropped onto the final chapters because you needed somewhere to type The End.
🦉 Bosley's Plot Check
Grab your manuscript and answer these seven questions:
1. What does my protagonist want?
2. What happens if they don't get it?
3. What is standing in their way?
4. What important decisions do they make?
5. How do those decisions create consequences?
6. How is the situation harder halfway through the book than it was at the beginning?
7. How does everything I've built lead toward my ending?
If you struggle to answer one of them, don't panic.
You've probably just discovered where your plot needs attention.
And that's useful information.
Don't Throw Out the Story Yet
Writers sometimes reach a difficult section of a manuscript and assume the entire idea isn't working.
But plotting isn't about creating a flawless roadmap before you begin.
Sometimes you discover the real story while you're writing it.
You find a stronger motivation.
You realize the wrong character has been driving the conflict.
You discover a scene belongs somewhere else.
You finally understand why your ending wasn't landing.
That's part of writing.
So before abandoning your manuscript, diagnose the problem.
Strengthen the goal.
Increase the stakes.
Give your character choices.
Create consequences.
Connect your scenes.
Then see what happens.
Your story might be much closer to working than you think.
✍️ This Week's Boshers Academy Challenge
Choose one chapter from your manuscript and write two sentences:
Because my character did __________, __________ happened.
Because that happened, my character must now __________.
If you can't complete those sentences, you've found a place where you can strengthen your plot.
Need Help Figuring Out Your Next Step?
That's exactly what Boshers Academy is here for.
Explore writing education, exercises, courses, resources, and guidance designed to help you move from an idea toward a finished book.
And Author Advisory is currently FREE, so if you're stuck on your plot, characters, manuscript, or publishing questions, bring them with you.
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Where Writers Become Authors. 🦉💙
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