PLOT DIAGNOSTICS

Plot Triage and Story Surgery

How to autopsy your plot, revive your story, and stop accidentally writing forty-seven pages about a minor character's childhood trauma

Every writer reaches that moment — the one where you stare at your manuscript and think:

"Something isn't working here and I'm going to pretend I don't know what it is."

Plot diagnostics is how you stop pretending.

Think of this guide as the creative equivalent of switching the light on in a room you've been stumbling through for months. Suddenly the obstacles, detours, cracks and unhinged plot rabbits are visible — and fixable.

Let's get your story functioning again.

What Plot Diagnostics Actually Is (And Why You Need It)

Plot diagnostics means stepping back from your story, taking a deep breath, and evaluating what's structurally happening — not what you meant to happen, not what you hope is happening, but what is actually occurring on the page.

It's the process of asking:

• Does this story make sense?
• Does it escalate?
• Does it keep its promises?
• Does anything… collapse if I poke it?

It's not about judging yourself as a writer.

It's about understanding what your draft is doing compared to what you wanted it to do.

If structure is your downfall, pair this with our Story Structure & Pacing Guide —they're natural companions.

Step One: Diagnose the Spine of the Plot

Before you start fixing anything, identify the core of the story.

Ask yourself:

What does my protagonist want, why do they want it, and what stands in their way?

If you can't answer this in one breath, you have plot scoliosis and risk a slipped disk.

(Just to be crystal clear: my wife has scoliosis and has undergone spinal revision surgery twice, so I understand the pain this condition causes — this joke isn't meant to dehumanise or diminish it, only to ground the metaphor in real-life understanding for anyone who may be suffering).

Signs your plot spine needs strengthening:

• Your protagonist is reacting, not acting
• The story meanders like a drunk goat
• The stakes remain the same from chapter 2 to chapter 20
• The midpoint feels like a tea break, not a turning point
• Subplots start elbowing the main plot out of the way

Don't panic. This is normal for a first draft. Half of writing is discovering what you meant to write.

Step Two: Identify Where Tension Evaporates

Plot relies on tension. Not necessarily high-octane thriller tension — emotional, relational, internal, and thematic tension count too.

Look for:

• chapters where nothing changes
• scenes where everyone agrees (terrifying)
• emotional stakes that plateau
• conflict resolved too easily
• convenient coincidences or miraculous timing (also known as Deus Ex Machina).

Run the “So What?” test:

After every major event, ask, So what? What now? What changes?

If the answer is "nothing," you've found a dead patch in the narrative lawn.

Step Three: Track Your Character Arcs

Character and plot are welded together. If one breaks, the other wobbles.

Review each main character and ask:

• What do they learn?
• How do they change?
• How do their actions influence the plot?
• Do they cause events — or merely witness them?

If a character could be removed without altering the story, they're decorative, not functional.

For deeper character exploration, check our Character Development Prompts Guide — it helps you rebuild motivation and emotional logic.

Step Four: Recognising Emotional Themes (Yes, You Have Them)

Writers often think themes are something they choose. And sometimes they are.

But more often? Themes choose you.

Every writer gravitates towards certain emotional undercurrents:

• abandonment
• loyalty
• justice
• grief
• belonging
• identity
• freedom
• fear of failure
• self-worth
• cycles of harm or healing

Themes start slipping into your story like emotional stowaways. You don't notice them at first — but they're shaping everything.

How to identify your emotional themes:

• Look for repeated imagery
• Look for repeated conflicts
• Look for what your characters avoid
• Look for which emotions dominate
• Look at the resolution — what moral does it imply?

This is powerful information — because once you identify your themes, you can strengthen them instead of letting them whisper from the shadows.

How Themes Sneak In Without Permission (and Why That's a Good Thing)

Themes often emerge from:

• your lived experience
• personal fears
• emotional wounds
• beliefs you didn't realise you held
• questions you're trying to answer
• subconscious patterns from your writing mindset

That's why the stories you write in wildly different genres still somehow "feel like you."

Instead of fighting it, use it.

Themes slipping in accidentally is a sign your voice is developing.

Not sure what your voice is yet? Give Finding Your Voice a read to better understand yourself and your voice.

Once you notice the emotional through-line of your work, you can shape your plot so the theme strengthens rather than muddies the narrative.

Step Five: Subplot Triage

Subplots can support your story, or they can gently smother it with a pillow.

A subplot should either:

• echo the main theme,
• escalate the protagonist's journey,
• introduce conflict,
• or challenge the protagonist's beliefs.

If your subplot contributes nothing except word count and vibes, it may need cutting, condensing, or merging.

If it brings joy but not purpose, consider turning it into a bonus short story or newsletter extra.

Step Six: Scene-by-Scene Diagnostics

Now we zoom in.

For each scene, ask:

Who wants something here?
What is stopping them?
What changes by the end?
How does this scene move the story forward?
Does it earn its place?

If the answer to #3 or #4 is "Uhhh…", that scene is a beautiful candidate for revision — or the bin.

This is where our Self-Editing for Writers Guide supports line-level clarity once the structure is fixed.

Step Seven: Check for Plot Holes, Logic Leaks, and Coincidence Crimes

Be merciless. Look for:

• continuity errors
• characters who teleport emotionally or physically
• motives that appear out of thin air
• worldbuilding rules that contradict themselves
• problems solved by coincidence rather than choice
• timelines that make no sense
• mysterious pregnancies that last three weeks

Readers notice everything.

So fix everything you reasonably can.

Step Eight: Rebuild With Intention

This is the revision phase — not the diagnosis.

Use what you've discovered to:

• strengthen conflicts
• re-engineer scenes
• adjust pacing
• sharpen stakes
• deepen emotional arcs
• align themes with plot events
• trim excess
• build foreshadowing
• refine the climax

Your story becomes more focused, more powerful, and more you.

Step Nine: Final Thematic Pass

Before you sign off, look at your themes again.

Ask:

• Does the ending resolve the emotional question the story raised?
• Does the character arc complete the thematic arc?
• Does the plot reinforce the theme — or contradict it accidentally?
• Is the message clear without being preachy?

Great stories leave readers feeling something.

Themes are the emotional engine behind that impact.

Final Thoughts

Plot diagnostics isn't about tearing your story apart.

It's about illuminating what you've already built — helping you see where the foundations are strong, where the beams need tightening, and where you accidentally constructed an entire conservatory off to the side.

Revision is where your book becomes the book you meant to write.

Take it step by step.

Be curious, not cruel.

And remember: your story already has a pulse — you're just learning how to strengthen its heartbeat.

If your manuscript is currently lying toe-tagged in the morgue, download the Plot Diagnostics Worksheet and start the resurrection. Some stories don't need edits — they need necromancy.

Plot Diagnostics Worksheet