I saw Iron Man 3 again over the weekend and I think I had an even better time on the second viewing than I did on the first. I enjoyed the jokes just as much even though I’d heard them before, and I picked up on some background stuff that I hadn’t noticed the first time. I even stayed to watch the after credits scene (even thought he credits may be the longest in the history of film).
It failed to answer the question of how Tony Stark gets his beard like that. Does the suit shave him?
I also got a much better idea that Iron Man 3
Now granted it wasn’t on the same level of plot hole as, say, The Fast and The Furious 767: Physics Takes a Holiday** but they were certainly there, but the excellent script by Shane Black didn’t worry too much about it…and it worked.
The reason I’m saying all of this is because the same principle applies to novels and short stories. Not that you should ever deliberately leave a plot hole in your story, but it is worth bearing in mind that reader that’s having a great time reading your book is going to be far more forgiving of anything you get wrong.
This is particularly important for new writers who can get bogged down by the fact that their work isn’t perfect and fear sending it out into the world because they haven’t made it as perfect as it seems to be in their head.
There’s nothing wrong with making something as good as it can be, but if the quest for perfection is stopping you doing anything at all then give this a try instead: shoot for fun to read instead of perfect. Then when it’s both fun and as good as you can reasonably make it at this stage of your career…send it out. Start the next one.
Make that fun too.
What do you think about this? Let me know in the comments.
*In my mind my brain has shoulders.
** I have faith that this exact movie will happen one day.
and I came across a passage that I’m going to brutally paraphrase here:
