The Lantern Effect

The Lantern Effect is a useful trick to keep in your back pocket when you've written yourself into a corner.

Photo by Gül Ergin on Unsplash

When You’ve Written Yourself into a Corner

Every writer hits the point where the story needs something to happen, but there’s no clear or believable explanation. You’ve painted yourself into a corner. Instead of scrapping the whole subplot, you can use a trick I call The Lantern Effect.

Shine a Light on the Problem

The Lantern Effect works by having your characters acknowledge the oddity. A quick line like, “That’s so strange how that happened” signals to the reader that yes, this is unusual. By shining a light on it, you ease the reader’s concern and allow the story to move forward without a long detour.

Use It Sparingly — Once Per Series

This is not a tool you should lean on often. At most, use it once in a series. Overuse breaks reader trust. The Lantern Effect should be a safety valve, not a regular feature of your storytelling.

Otherwise, You’ll Need an Explanation

For most plot points, you owe the reader a real explanation. Shortcuts may work in movies when time is cut, but in novels, readers expect consistency. Only pull out the Lantern Effect when there’s no better solution for a subplot — not for the main storyline.

An Explanation That Makes Sense…

When possible, take the harder road and fix the story. Adjust scenes, weave in foreshadowing, or rewrite to make the plot point believable. Readers will forgive a small oddity, but they’ll notice if the central thread of the story feels sloppy.

Different from the Spotlight Effect

The Lantern Effect isn’t the same as the Spotlight Effect, which is a psychological term: you think people are paying more attention to you than they really are. In writing, the Lantern Effect is about drawing just enough attention to a plot hiccup so readers accept it and move on.

Final Thought

The Lantern Effect is a useful trick to keep in your back pocket when you’ve written yourself into a corner. Use it sparingly, never for the main plot, and only when there’s no better way forward. Most of the time, the right move is to dig in and fix the story so it makes sense. But when you can’t, shine a quick light, acknowledge it, and keep the story flowing.

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The Lantern Effect - Original Medium Article

The lantern Effect  - Over 1000 Five Minute Focus videos on the Successful Indie Author YouTube Channel

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Craig Martelle is an author, leader, and entrepreneur living in Alaska. Retired from the Marine Corps military intelligence community and physical security, he graduated summa cum laude from law school and went into business consulting. From intelligence, to the inner workings of company boardrooms, to on-the-ground leadership, Craig has seen it firsthand.

He is a million-selling author of over 200 science fiction (post-apocalyptic, military sci-fi, and space opera), thrillers, and the non-fiction series, Successful Indie Author. Craig has been running author conferences since 2017, and also the Successful Indie Author Facebook Group, and the Successful Indie Author YouTube Channel.

Leadership is a service, not a crown to lord over others.

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