Here’s an excerpt from an article by author Claire North. (From The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2024.) By the way, I’ve put a definition of deus ex machina at the end of this article.
![in speculative fiction, if you try to write yourself out of [a] plot-hole with an unexpected deus ex machina, there is a danger that you will undermine a reader’s immersion in what that world is. Don’t be afraid of deleting your way to freedom and take time to structure your story. Especially in speculative fiction, death need not be the thing that matters. In thrillers in the Chris Ryan vein, soldiers live and soldiers die, but betrayal hurts more than actual bullets. Gout doesn’t kill Falstaff; the betrayal of Prince Hal does. What matters to the story is not life or death, but what these things mean to our characters. Mount Doom erupting in Middle-Earth has nothing on Frodo succumbing to the dark side. Find what matters to your world and characters; obey your own rules.](https://cherryedits.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/deus-ex-machina.jpg?w=940)
Great advice? (I think so, but I’m open to hearing from others who see this differently.)
And do you think this advice applies to other genres too?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
‘Deus ex machina: a character or thing that suddenly enters the story in a novel, play, movie, etc., and solves a problem that had previously seemed impossible to solve.’ “Deus ex machina.” Merriam-Webster.com Simple Definition, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/simple/deus%20ex%20machina. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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