You Say Plot Device Like It's a Bad Thing: An Agent’s Take on What Works—And What Doesn’t
And How to Tell the Difference
Plot devices often get a bad rap. At times it’s earned. A twist that feels forced, amnesia that conveniently resolves, a diary serving as a thinly veiled info dump.
For me, the difference between wanting to read more of a submission, or passing, comes down to whether the device feels intrinsic to the story, or tacked on for effect.
What Is a Plot Device?
A plot device is simply a tool that moves your story forward. It can be:
A situation (a character wakes up with no memory)
An object (a letter, a diary, a cursed ring)
A structure (dual timelines, found footage, story-within-a-story)
A conceit (Groundhog Day loop, mistaken identity, secret twin)
📌Agent Tip: When using a plot device such as those noted above, make sure it’s not a trick just to get the story moving.
The Devices That Make Agents Say Yes
Let’s look at books where plot device became a game-changer—sometimes even sparking major industry buzz or competitive publishing deals:
The Silent Patient (Michaelides): A patient-doctor confessional device. Structured around a therapist’s attempt to unlock a silent patient’s truth, the device delivers a layered, psychologically driven narrative with a high-stakes twist baked in.
The Last Thing He Told Me (Dave): A vanishing spouse device. The husband’s disappearance is the inciting incident, but the device also fuels an emotional arc about trust, family, and identity. The device isn't just a mystery hook—it drives the core relationship between the woman and her stepdaughter.
Before I Go to Sleep (Watson): Amnesia as a device is risky—but here, it’s the engine of both plot and paranoia. The memory-reset conceit creates natural suspense. The repetition is used intentionally, reinforcing emotional stakes and mistrust.
Please note I spared you the Gone Girl reference.
Red Flags That Kill Deals
Not all devices are created equal. Here's what triggers a pass for me:
Deus Ex Machina
Nothing makes me pass faster than a convenient miracle that solves everything. If your protagonist's problems disappear because of a sudden inheritance, a long-lost relative, or an inexplicable change of heart from the antagonist, you've lost me.
While using this one’s powers for good is rare, one oft cited example is Lord of the Flies by William Golding. At the climax a naval officer suddenly arrives on the island and rescues the children. On the surface, this is a classic Deus Ex Machina: the rescue comes out of nowhere, resolving the unsolvable situation with no action from the protagonists. It’s acceptable because it has a larger meaning for the novel’s central theme, rather than “neatly tying up” the story.
📌Agent Tip: Readers will forgive almost anything—except feeling cheated. If your plot twist feels like a gift from the gods, make sure you’ve invited the gods to the party from page one.
The Avoidable Conflict Plot
This is the one where the entire conflict could be resolved with a single honest conversation, but your characters are mysteriously struck mute whenever it matters.
The book (and Hulu show) that comes to mind is Sally Rooney’s Normal People. So much heartbreak could have been avoided had Marianne and Connell just used their words…
In Rooney’s case, however, it works. When done well, as in Normal People, this device can illustrtrate struggles with vulnerability and intimacy. But when it’s used as a shortcut—when characters are silent for no believable reason—it can frustrate readers and undermine the story’s credibility.
📌Agent Tip: If your plot depends on characters not talking, is their silence psychologically and emotionally believable? Does it reveal something deeper about who they are? Or is it just a way to keep the story going?
Coincidence Overload
One meaningful coincidence can feel like fate. Two feels suspicious. Three or more, and I'm wondering if you understand how storytelling works. The world of your novel should feel plausible and logical, not like a series of convenient accidents.
Coincidences that cause problems are more acceptable than those that solve them. For example, a chance encounter that kicks off the plot works, but a random event that saves the protagonist feels unearned.
📌Agent Tip: A well-executed coincidence raises the stakes and deepens the tension. It shouldn’t simplify the plot or bail the character out.
What Makes a Plot Device Work
Device driven manuscripts that keep me reading ensure:
1. It's Baked In From the Beginning
Don't tack on a twist to raise the stakes in chapter 20. The best devices shape the whole story. It should feel organic and inevitable given the circumstances you've created.
For example: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The device—a library that allows the protagonist to explore alternate lives—is introduced immediately and shapes every aspect of the story: structure, tone, pacing, and character arc. The library isn’t a gimmick; it’s the structure that drives the character’s arc and emotional stakes.
📌Agent Tip: If removing the device, would cause the entire story to collapse, you’re on the right track. A strong plot device is built into the foundation of the story—not something that can be swapped out without unraveling the entire narrative.
2. It's Emotionally Earned
The reader shouldn't feel tricked—they should feel gut-punched. When a diary reveals a devastating truth or a timeline shift reframes everything, it only works if the emotional setup is solid.
Colleen Hoover’s Verity comes to mind. However, to avoid spoilers, I’m just leaving it at that... You’ll recognize it when you read it.
📌Agent Tip: A big reveal or twist only works when the emotional groundwork has been laid. Readers should feel a sense of inevitability, not manipulation.
3. It Does Triple Duty
Advances the plot/story
Reveals something essential about the character
Reinforces deeper themes
It’s the difference between adding an element because of genre expectations or adding it because it speaks to the story’s deeper themes.
Example:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Advances the plot: The interview reveals Evelyn’s life story piece by piece.
Reveals character: Her choices, secrets, and manipulations unfold in real time.
Reinforces theme: Identity, performance, the cost of ambition, and who controls the narrative.
📌Agent Tip: If your device isn’t pulling triple duty, look for ways to weave it in more fully—otherwise, it risks feeling ornamental rather than essential.
What Agents Actually Want
We're not looking for writers who avoid plot devices—we're looking for writers who master them. The most memorable books are the ones that surprise readers and feel inevitable in hindsight.
When I'm reading a manuscript, it becomes evident pretty quick if the device is driving the story. The best plot devices aren’t “gimmicks”, they’re organic to the narrative and serve the story’s purpose.
Make sure you know why you’re using a specific device. (i.e. because your story demands it? Or because you don’t know what else to do.)
Knowing that answer could be the difference between hearing from an agent… or hearing nothing at all.
Further Reading
Teaching Old Tropes New Tricks
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Saving this quote: "If your plot twist feels like a gift from the gods, make sure you’ve invited the gods to the party from page one."
Alfred Bester talked about something he called a gimmick, his name for a plot device, something that initially looks unobtrusive, but later turns out to be key to the story, often functioning as a gotcha in a surprise ending. The gimmick always related to character and connected to plot, sort of a trademark in his short fiction. All of this is detailed in an essay in one of his anthologies and has stayed with me all those years.
He used interesting facts, like the years when silver dollars weren't minted to hint that the given time and date was wrong, and in one short story the protagonist, over his wife's objections, takes career advice from a stranger, who pays for their dinner. The waiter brings back the stranger's $100 bill, counterfeit because its issue date is 15 years in the future. On the banknote the protagonist sees his signature for Secretary of the Treasury.