Some stories feel like they’re missing something.
Not just a small detail—a fundamental piece of logic, a gap in the timeline, a hole in the world that shouldn’t be there. You reread a scene and feel it immediately: there’s something off. The moment doesn’t connect to what came before. The transition feels jarring, incomplete. Somewhere in the writing process, a piece of the story fell through a crack in time and space.
This is The Fictional Wormhole Conundrum—the strange, frustrating phenomenon where stories seem to accidentally create plot holes, missing moments, or broken logic that the writer didn’t even notice until much later.
It’s not just a mistake—it’s like a tear in the fabric of the book itself. And if you don’t fix it, the entire story starts to unravel.
How Fictional Wormholes Appear in Stories
Some plot holes are obvious—a contradiction in worldbuilding, a character surviving something they shouldn’t, an inconsistency in a timeline.
But fictional wormholes are sneakier. They don’t immediately register as “errors,” but they create an unsettling effect—like something was supposed to be there but isn’t.
1. The “Missing Scene” Wormhole
This happens when something important should have happened, but it never does.
- A character knows something they were never told.
- Two characters go from enemies to allies with no transition—as if their development happened off-screen.
- A subplot disappears entirely, leaving a strange gap where it should have been.
👉 How to fix it:
- Read your book as if you’ve never seen it before. Does anything feel weirdly abrupt?
- If a character’s emotional state changes too quickly, you might need a missing scene.
- If something should have been explained but wasn’t, make sure it’s actually on the page—not just in your head.
2. The “Wait, How Did We Get Here?” Wormhole
Some books have jumps in logic that feel unnatural. A story moves from one moment to another, but something is missing between them.
- A character makes a choice that feels unearned.
- The plot skips ahead too fast, leaving the reader disoriented.
- The setting changes abruptly—one chapter ends in a city, the next starts in a forest, but we never see the journey.
It’s not just bad pacing. It’s a narrative gap—like the story folded in on itself and skipped a step.
👉 How to fix it:
- Read transitions out loud—does the movement from one scene to another feel natural?
- If a character changes their mind too fast, ask: What moment is missing that would make this believable?
- Make sure each major shift has an anchor—even if it’s just one sentence that orients the reader before moving forward.
3. The “Timeline Warp” Wormhole
Some books accidentally create time distortion—not in a cool sci-fi way, but in a wait, how did this happen so fast? way.
- A relationship develops inconsistently—a character who hated someone yesterday is suddenly in love with them today.
- A character learns a skill way too quickly, making their arc feel rushed.
- A subplot resolves itself without enough time passing.
Readers won’t always notice these issues consciously, but they’ll feel the wrongness. If events don’t take the time they logically should, the story stops feeling real.
👉 How to fix it:
- Make a timeline of your book—does everything happen at a believable pace?
- If an arc feels rushed, slow it down. Give the reader one more moment to feel the change before it happens.
- If a character’s development jumps too fast, check whether you need a missing internal thought or an extra scene.
How to Detect Fictional Wormholes Before They Destroy Your Book
✅ 1. Read Your Book With “Fresh Eyes”
The easiest way to spot wormholes? Step away from the book for a few weeks, then read it as if you’re a first-time reader.
- Do any transitions feel jarring?
- Do any scenes feel like they skipped something important?
- Do any character changes feel unearned?
✅ 2. Ask Someone Else to Read It (And Watch Their Reactions)
Sometimes you’re too close to the book to see its gaps.
- Have someone read a section and tell you if anything confused them.
- Ask them if they ever had to go back and reread a part—this is often a sign of a missing connection.
✅ 3. Do a Reverse Outline
Instead of outlining before writing, try outlining after.
- List everything that happens, scene by scene.
- Look for gaps where something should have been explained but wasn’t.
- Identify any big jumps in logic that need extra detail.
Final Thoughts: The Key to Closing Narrative Wormholes
Most writers don’t intentionally leave holes in their books. Wormholes happen because the writer already knows the story too well—they fill in the missing parts in their head but forget to put them on the page.
So if your book feels like something is missing, trust that instinct. There’s probably a gap in the narrative fabric—a moment that slipped away, a transition that never landed, a missing piece that makes everything click into place.
Because when a story has a wormhole?
The only way to fix it is to go back inside and stitch reality back together.
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