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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41280
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41280
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Many books follow a hero that does not really change; consider detective novels going back to Sherlock Holmes.

What is essential for a story to be entertaining is that the book is spent on a hero solving a difficult problem; but doing this does not have to upset the status quo, or change the hero, or change the world at all.

In the course of the story, Sherlock begins in his study, gets a visitor, finds the killer and then returns to his study, and the case never needs to be mentioned again.

And that's true for all the other investigators, mystery solvers, secret-agent stories and most "exploration" stories, like Star Trek. For modern series there is usually some long-running arcs for characters, but not always. Many follow the model of Captain Kirk and his buddies encountering something new, getting into trouble, getting out of trouble by wits and derring do, and then laughing about it on the bridge as they move on to the next adventure: Status quo undisturbed.

You don't have to create a **new** status quo at all.

As for wrapping up uncertainties; you cannot leave **plot** uncertainties unresolved; but others you can. By **plot** uncertainties I mean events or decisions that the plot turns on. If Mary gets a mystery note that makes her visit the brewery and that is where she sees a murder, or that is where she sees something new that lets her solve the crime, then you **must** explain where the mystery note came from. Otherwise you have a deus ex machina; a too lucky coincidence in the reader's mind, and that is not a satisfying story. Because protagonists are not supposed to crack the case by luck or coincidence, they are supposed to use their wits and skills.

That said, if one of the complications in the story is Mary dealing with a chatty new neighbor, as long as the new neighbor doesn't have anything to do with her case, we don't have to explain _why_ she has a new neighbor; that is just something that can happen to all of us. And although many writers might be tempted to solve the new neighbor problem by the end of the book, it could equally be left unsolved to provide for a humorous ending.

Original score: 2