forum Help my plot have no direction and more holes that swiss cheese

Started December 28, 2019 by @NotSoBeautifulDiseaster group

tune

So in my last arc I'm plotting, the plot is supposed to be that everyone wants the amulet for themselves, so basically the hero of this arc is MC's(Sophie) little bro, Michael, who was simply just supposed hold on her amulet during exams, so he's basically thrown into this mess due to proxy and Sophie being irresponsible the teacher wants to destroy the amulet because due to it some of his former classmates were hurt _{note: most of his classmates were the main characters' parents} and his sons _{who are in Sophie's class} want to take it and give it to their dad, Tyler wants to do it out of loyalty and Mason wants to do it out of validation, they spend most of their time pestering Michael about the amulet, then there's some girl name Jaelynn who wants to find her friend's killer and it has something to do with the amulet and she thinks Sophie's behind it, Crystal is some girl pretending to protect Michael to help the antagonist get the amulet so she can get a new eye since she was stabbed in the eye by her, the love interests are just there and want Micheal to butt out and the antagonist wants the amulet to be immortal, it's ends with Sophie, Michael and the love interest master sparking possessed people giving their souls back

So the basic problem is that their are too many plots and feels like Sophie is practically sidelined while were following Michael being tossed from person to person also how to tie it up with the rest of the plot

For context the basic plot for most of the arcs is Sophie is assigned with a incident, befriends boy(who happens to be one of her childhood friends) who is the catalyst of the incident _{that where the love interests came from} Sophie and boy solve incident and its all supposed to be tied up by the Amulet and the incidents are supposes to be effects of the wishes from there parents

Also it's theme is supposed to be trust so I guess Michael supposed to open up to more people than his sister even through there's hardly anyone to trust and I guess Sophie secretly will miss solving the incidents even I don't know how to incorporated her struggle without making her look a selfish idiot

So how to mend this arc back up and make it less of a muddled mess

Well, from what I could gather, it sounds like you've got a lot going on. It's not impossible to incorporate to different storylines focusing on different characters, but I suggest for this to just focus on Michael and make this His arc. Just as a general tip with characters as well, make sure you always know their motivation. This will help with the plot since the characters should be what make it moves forward. You'll know why a character is doing what they're doing and what they should do that will feel real and in-character.

Selfishness is a valid character trait and perhaps a flaw that Sophie will need to work with and come to understand in herself. Maybe there is a rift between Michael and Sophie because Sophie is so caught up in her own problems and doesn't realize what Michael is going through?

If there is a love interest for the main character, it's best to make sure they have a life outside the mc, as well as motivations and a personality. Sometimes a story doesn't need romance. Hope this helped!

Thanks for the advice