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Topic : Re: What breaks suspension of disbelief? So much of Sci-Fi and Fantasy requires the viewer (or reader) to suspend their disbelief: The speed of light can be circumvented, magic works, vampires are - selfpublishingguru.com

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Suspension of disbelief is a requirement of most fiction, and not just because of accepting the fantastic. It's because the story the author is telling is fictitious. It never happened, but as an author you're trying to create something real enough to fool the reader.

Therefore, if you want to break suspension of disbelief, introduce a plot hole.

Plot holes take on a number of forms, essentially because something integral to the story has not been explained adequately, or because there is an inconsistency.

Characters behaving in a way that is illogical or unlikely, events occurring that are near impossible, facts that are incorrect, logical inconsistencies and contradictions in the storyline, things happening for no reason - all of these result in plot holes, and will cause most readers to stop dead in their tracks.

To take an example you gave of "magic works", we suspend our disbelief because magic will have a set of rules attached that are outlined in the story. However, if the author breaks those rules without sufficient explanation, the book becomes kindling for the fireplace. And if it didn't have rules, we'd be less likely to accept it, because then anyone could do it, and anything would be possible since there are no limits.

Another example: a group of people are trapped in a warehouse with the doors bolted. There's a bomb. They spend their time trying to dismantle the bomb. It goes off, one person dies ... except we know that there's a giant window on one side of the wall, so why not smash it open, climb out, and escape to safety? (This actually happened in an episode of CSI, totally killed it for me).

Good fiction keeps suspension of disbelief because they are consistent, logical, explanatory, and follow the laws of the universe within which that story takes place.


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