: Re: What's the difference between Deus Ex Machina and coincidence? I've read 1, 2, 3 and of course, 4. Then I read 5 and 6 and even 7. I was blissfully ignorant about coincidence, DEM and plot-convenience;

@Candy753

Go back to the origin of "Deus Ex Machina" - the term is literally ancient, referring to a god appearing in ancient (greek and roman) tragedy theatre plays to resolve the conflict.
When we use the term today, we generally refer to a turn of events with no visible relation to the story or characters, no foreshadowing, no causal link - just nothing.
A hut in a forest is not something unimaginable. The mentor of the character suddenly appearing from behind a tree to guide him would be.
The difference is that a coincidence can be unlikely, but is not impossible or unimaginable. It is within the realm of what could happen. Sure, the character got lucky stumbling upon that campsite with a map of the area, but people do go hiking and when they do they tend to carry maps.
The Deus Ex Machina is not unlikely, but implausible. Literally (Merriam-Webster) "provoking disbelief". A map falling out of the sky. With a red dot circling the protagonists current location. How exactly did that happen?
You can avoid most Deus Ex Machina impressions with proper writing. If the fact that a hermit is said to live in the woods is mentioned somewhere before, or if someone speaking about those woods a hundred pages earlier mentions that they are very sparsely populated, "you can find the occasional hunting lodge and the occasional loner living there, miles and miles from civilization", etc.

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