Congratulations! You’ve finished your novel. It’s not perfect, but it’s done. Unfortunately, there are a few holes here and there that you’re not quite sure how to fix. You need more story. The problem is, you’re all out of ideas.

I’ve been there. I understand how this feels. Since it’s Christmastime, I’ve got a couple tips to help you fill in the gaps and connect those fragmented scenes in your story.

IDENTIFY THE HOLES

First you need to make a list of the holes in your story. I’ve shared with you before that when I’m in the editing stage, I make a full list of the scenes in my book, then I storyboard them so I can see the holes. You can do this if you like, but you don’t have to go that far. In fact, you can just make a list of places that have holes. It might look like this:

Hole #1- In the middle of Chapter Three, my hero finishes his school day, then it skips to him spying on someone.

Hole #2 – In Chapter Five, my hero is walking home from school with the girl he likes, then at the start of Chapter Six, she’s mad at him for something he said, only he never said anything…

Hole #3 – In Chapter Six, my hero is in math class, talking to his friends about football practice, then he is suddenly at home with no mention of football practice ever happening.

DECIDE WHAT TO DO

Once you have your list of scenes, you need to decide what to do for each one. How will you fix these holes? I tend to fix scene gaps in one of two ways. I either write a new scene to bridge the gap, or I connect the two scenes with narrative.

ADDING NEW SCENES

Adding new scenes need not be scary or hard. The best way to decide what kind of scene you need is to start by looking at the scene before the gap. What just happened? What will your character do next? Is he happy because of how things went? If so, you might write a victory scene and let him celebrate a little. If he is sad, you might write a scene that shows him grieving or feeling guilty about how things went down. If he was injured, you might show him resting, doctoring himself up, or going to the hospital. If he is angry, he might be fuming or thinking about revenge. If he drew the attention of the wrong people, he might have made a new enemy. Or he might be in trouble now. Perhaps he’s now on the run since the bad guys are likely chasing him. 

Once you figure out what needs to happen, before you start writing, take a look at the scene on the back side of the gap. What happens next? Because you’re going to have to end this in-between scene where this other scene begins. So, if the first scene ended in a victory, and the second scene showed your hero spying on someone, the in-between scene needs to end in a place where he can be spying. If he was injured, he might have his arm in a sling or a bandage on his face while he is spying. Or if he made an enemy, he might overhear the enemy grouching about him or planning to attack him while he’s spying. Or if he feels guilty about how things went down, maybe he went back to apologize, then witnessed something dastardly, and that’s why he’s now spying.

See how that can work? Play around with your gaps and see if you can use the question of “What would naturally happen next?” after that first scene to get you to the start of the scene on the other side of the gap.

ADDING NARRATIVE TRANSITIONS

The other way of dealing with gaps is to write a narrative transition scene. Sometimes a single sentence will do. If our first scene ended in victory, then using our examples from above of 1) being injured, 2) making an enemy, or 3) feeling guilty, here are some narrative transitions that could get our hero from the victory scene, through one of those three situations, and ending at the scene where he is spying on someone.

1) Being injured. I wasn’t hurt that badly, really. It was just a sprain. Keri tried to talk me into going to the hospital—she actually thought my foot was broken! Eric just wanted me to go home and rest. I knew better, though. We were in the lead, but if I went home now, James and Ella would get to the prize before we did. So I drove over to Ella’s house, got out of the car, and limped around back to a window that was cracked open. It took some careful steps and leaning on Eric’s arm to get back behind Ella’s mother’s prickly rose bushes, but once I did, we had the perfect view of James and Ella in the kitchen. And they were talking about where to go next!

2) Making an enemy. We gotten the clue to the next step before James and Ella, but at what cost? As Keri, Eric, and I drove across town, I couldn’t help thinking about what James had said, that’s he’d make me pay for this. I knew how badly he wanted to win this contest, but would he actually hurt me over it? I couldn’t think about that right now. 

The address on the clue was in The Heights, which was a good ten minutes from here. I took the next on-ramp. The freeway would be faster.

3) Feeling guilty. As I drove my car to towards the address on the clue and Keri and Eric prattled on in celebration of our win, I couldn’t help thinking about the look on James’s face when we beat them. I knew how badly he needed to win the prize money. Maybe I should have let him win the clue first. 

My GPS told me that we’d arrived at our destination. I stopped the car at the curb and got out. I couldn’t think about James right now. We had another clue to find.

Those are the two ways I fill in the gaps in my story. How about you? Do you have any tricks for adding new scenes or transitions into your story? Share in the comments.

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms, and the author of several young adult fantasy novels including the Blood of Kings trilogy. She loves teaching about writing. She blogs at goteenwriters.com and also posts writing videos on her YouTube channel and on Instagram. Jill is a Whovian, a Photoshop addict, and a recovering fashion design assistant. She grew up in Alaska without running water or electricity and now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two kids. Find Jill online at jillwilliamson.com or on InstagramYouTubeFacebookPinterest, and Twitter.