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I don’t think we’ve had much talk about this yet, and it’s time we did. This comes (not at all coincidentally) after Mrs. Wieland’s recent post “The #1 tip for writing books readers can’t put down” Though I loved this post, after reading it I was a little confused. I knew that what she was saying was true, but I wasn’t quite sure how I should implement it. Things were too vague for me. I wanted them in measurable categorical statements.
After posting my questions, and her half answering them, and me thinking over it a lot more, I finally came to a better understnading of what makes a plot twist that really works. Even now though, I am confident that I still have a lot of digging to do in this area. That is why I’m creating this topic. I’m sure some of you will have your own special ideas on this or unique perspectives. I think if we work together, we can make this issue of plot twist a little easier to understand and therefore easier for us to use effectively.
Mrs. Wieland was nice enough to direct me to another article of hers which was very helpful in this aspect. I think it can serve as a good starting point for our discussion.
On top of that, after a little bit of thinking, I came up with a rule of thumb which I think gives some insight into what makes a good plot twist. Now granted, I think this is just one aspect of a good plot twist which doesn’t even have to be there, but I think it is a good guideline in developing a plot twist. The rule of thumb is this: “A good plot twist is one where the plot twist ruins everything the character wanted to accomplish but isn’t in vain because it helps push them down the long road of character development — a road which they need to travel.”
So then, after that long winded introduction, it’s time for me to hand over the mike to you. What are some other ways to put the punch in your plot twist?
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Hey, this is an awesome topic @Daeus. Thanks so much for starting it.
Your theory is perfectly accurate— that’s a really good way to look at it. A plot-twist is when you reach the door at the end of the tunnel and it slams in your face, but a second door opens to your right. You’re still moving forward, but the playing field has changed.Oh boy, this whole discussion is highly intuitive… let’s see if I can articulate any of it lucidly.
First off, there are two distinct categories of plot twists.
#1: The shift.
#2: The discovery.
The shift is when something actually changes— some key element of the story web becomes something different, forcing a chain reaction. The discovery is when a hidden part of the existing story-web is revealed, changing the whole dynamic of the story by revealing some key secret, but not actually remaking anything.
Let’s focus on the shift for now.
I think a good thing to remember about high-quality shifts is that they are always highly subjective. As in, the plot is completely at the mercy of the characters. (Here we go again). I like to look at it like this: Plot is a pathway that each and every character must walk. On one side of the pathway there are correct and righteous decisions— correct actions, correct reactions that will drive the story most straight and surely forward to the goal. On the other side are incorrect decisions. Wicked decisions, even— complications that will throw a wrench into the workings and tangle everything up into a big mess.
Each character on the path is bound to at least one other character by a ‘relationship thread’— some threads are stronger than others, and all are woven of something different. Some are woven of anger. Some of love. Some of hatred. Some of fear. But they are all binding in some way or other.
The one thing we can never afford to forget is that characters are humans, and as humans walking a fine line between two extremes, they are going to err more often than not. They are able to be persuaded/coerced/tricked in either direction— and most often their human nature will lead them off into the ‘incorrect side’. When that happens, it creates a plot twist. It changes the playing field. It shifts something that until now was a key element in the overall story web. And there will be repercussions— all characters bound by a relationship thread to the erring character are going to react in some way, which in turn will cause another chain of reactions as the characters bound to the characters following the erring character are thrown out of step, and so on and so forth.And I think that’s enough for one post. 😛
Something else I just thought of @Daeus… I don’t know if it adds anything to the discussion, but it may help clarify it a bit.
First, a plot twist is anything that changes the direction the story will take from here on out. Duh. How obvious.
But that means it doesn’t just have to be characters who drive them, though I usually think in that mindset. Any story element at all can force a plot twist. Anything that was at one time one way and then changes to be another way twists the plot. For instance, if the story goal is to dig out a buried treasure that lies at the bottom of a crumbling mine shaft, and the shaft collapses, the story element that is the mine shaft just created a plot twist. The collapse or transformation of any story thread at all has immediate potential to change the plot.
When I say it that way it sounds incredibly obvious, so I don’t know why it sounded so important… but I wanted to say it anyway. 😀Oh, I totally get you @kate-flournoy. I feel like I need to say everything too, but it is a good point after all.
Another good point is that you should not neglect your thread right after you started it. *
Cough* Yeah.It was kind of nice actually, because just around the time that article came out about plot twists, I started reading this phenomenal book on wattpad that totally had the art of plot twists figured out. Basically, if you want it to happen, the opposite does. In fact, I was just reading a chapter a bit ago and I had been thinking it was about time for one of the MCs to get out of prison and join the others, but instead another one of the MCs got captured and put in prison with him (and is told she is going to be killed) and meanwhile one of the other MCs got bitten by this creature that poisoned her and made her go mad. That’s basically what it’s been like the whole story too.
Another thing I’ve been thinking of a little bit is what types of plot twists are the best to make reader’s terrified. I’ve thought of one which I’m planning to use in my next book which is to have the MC, right at the moment when he is most need to save the day, do the absolute worst thing possible.
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@Daeus yes!! Do it! Do it do it do it! I love it! *hyperventilates excitedly*
Can I use an example of this kind of plot twist… Chris Redston’s decision to use the Orimere to bring Mactalde back to Lael in Dreamlander. Yes. You made me read the book, you can’t complain if I pick it apart and see what makes it tick. 😉 That plot twist was perfect. I was literally (okay, figuratively) bouncing on the edge of my chair and whimpering through the whole scene… That moment right there was when I decided Dreamlander was one of the best books I’d ever read.
You know what would be really great… if you could take a story and make every plot-event play out the complete opposite of how it was supposed to work, and yet somehow still attain the desired goal. In one piece, of course. Or at least no more than ten. 😛
Actually, Dreamlander was like that to some extent… all the bad, wrong, destructive decisions the characters made were somehow still put right. Orias, for example— how many of the twists in the plot would have been cut if he’d never made a single wrong decision? And how powerful would the ending *sniff* have been if Chris hadn’t made that first awful, misguided step and completely messed up the way things were going? *sniffsniffsniffle* It’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. *sniiiiiiiiifffffffffffff**heartbroken wail*
Thanks @kate-flournoy, I will. If you have any other diabolical plot twists to suggest, I’ll probably add those in too. I’ve decided to go for the stress factor this time. Murphy’s Law and all that. I still have a lot of planning to do, but I have a feeling it will end up pretty good.
…Ah. Dreamlander.
It. Was. So. Good.
*Deep breath*
Did you know she’s writing a sequel? I’m both super excited and terribly afraid. I mean, there’s a lot to live up to there. But I guess I shouldn’t doubt.
I’m reading Storming now. Hopefully that will be as good. Behold The Dawn just didn’t compare even though it was pretty well written.
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@Daeus I know! It’s amazing! I heard she was writing a sequel… *crosses fingers* I’m always apprehensive about series and sequels and stuff. :/
Hm, let’s see… the mentor is tempted and falls. The bad guy gets the girl. The hero caves to the bad guy and starts working for him. The hero arcs to ‘perfection’ early in the story, then halfway through realizes it wasn’t perfection at all and everything he’s learned comes crashing down around his ears… Actually that could be pretty powerful. He builds himself up on his own strength, realizes too late his own strength is not sufficient, then has to beg for grace to rise again and accomplish whatever it is he’s supposed to do.
Um… I’m running a little short on diabolical-ness right now. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything else. 😛@kate-flournoy All good stuff. In fact, I could spin a whole story from any of those and who knows but that I might not.
Unfortunately, the first one won’t work because there is no mentor figure. The second one won’t work because that would totally ruin my ending. The fourth one won’t work either because that’s just not my MC’s character arc.
The third one though would work admirably … That’s why I’m already doing it. That’s the “worst thing possible at the worst moment” thing. Sir Aldren just wasn’t bad enough you see, so I have to have my MC not just desert his friends at the worst possible moment, but join the enemy too.
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@Daeus sounds great. No, really. Is this your time-travel story?
@kate-flournoy the mentor is tempted and falls…The hero caves to the bad guy and starts working for him.
I love both those ideas.
My idea of creating a plot twist is fairly simple. What will the reader not see coming? What could never happen? What would destroy everything if it happened? And then I have to do it without destroying everything… Though I draw the line with Silvara turning evil. Joy insists I should do it because no one would expect it, but it doesn’t go with the story at all. 😉
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@hope Yikes! Yeah, okay, I agree with you on that one! 😛 Plot twists shouldn’t just be for shock affect— they have to have resonance within the heart of the story.
Just…
Yeah.
Don’t ever make Silvara turn evil.
@kate-flournoy. Yes. It is.
And by the way, I’m using your idea of a despondent jester as one of the resistance characters.
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Haha @Daeus I completely forgot about that! 😀 I need to read this thing…
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Dreamlander was free on kindle for one day a week or so ago. So, I read it. I have a love/hate relationship with that book. It was really well-written, but it was SO sad. Especially the ending. It does have really good plot twists though. The plot twist at the end perfectly embodies what someone was saying about a plot twist making you have to get to the goal a different way. Chris’s goal was to stop the worlds from breaking apart, but he ended up having to do that differently than he thought.
Yes @Jadamae, totally! And that made me think of another obvious but maybe not so obvious point… I usually think of plot twists as distractions and rabbit trails, not a turn in the road. I think I wasn’t thinking of them correctly. My perspective was more or less ‘Okay, here’s a plot twist, now how soon can we fix this and get back to business?’.
My perspective should have been ‘Yay, a plot twist! Drop all previous plans and follow this out to the resolution, whatever that may be!’
Plot twists aren’t added elements in the plot. They are the plot. ‘The plot’ is the predictable. Plot twists are what make each plot unique.
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