The Story Plot Twist

The story plot twist is a turning point or new bit of information that changes the reader's perception of the story.

The twist can be at the end like in THE SIXTH SENSE where we realize that Bruce Willis' character is not only helping the little boy deal with his ability to see ghosts, Willis is a ghost himself, so we have to rethink the movie to see that this truth has been there the whole time, but we've not noticed it.

A twist can also be within the story. For example, the reader discovers halfway through the novel that the hero's sidekick is really the bad guy, and everything the hero thinks he's learned or gained is now suspect.

One of my favorite types of twist is the expectation reversal. Sometimes, this involves the writer using a popular story trope like the marriage of convenience.

When the reader realizes this trope is being used, she will expect it to follow the standard pattern of the pretend marriage-- the characters will avoid sexual and emotional entanglement, they will gradually become emotionally and sexually closer, then their sham marriage will become a real marriage.

With the expectation reversal, the trope is set up, but the characters will do the exact opposite of what is expected. For example, the sexual relationship they've agreed not to have may happen almost immediately when they get drunk on their wedding night.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK has another excellent example. Indiana Jones is chasing after the men who have kidnapped his girl, and a huge bad guy with an enormous sword steps in front of him. The expectation is that Indie will pull out his sword, and they will fight.

Instead, pragmatic Indie pulls out his gun and shoots the man so he can continue after the girl. The big fight trope is not only skewered, but also the viewer realizes that Indie doesn't buy into the heroic yet stupid belief that a fight must be between equals with equal weapons no matter what the cost. For Indie, the girl's life is more important than the heroic ideal of an equal fight.

One of the most important things to remember about using a story twist is that the story itself must hold together and have depth of character and plot without the plot twist. The twist is the cherry on top of the sundae, not the sundae itself.

The other thing to remember is that you have to play fair with the reader and give them bits of information that will give them little clues to the big twist. It shouldn't appear arbitrary or come from thin air.

If Bruce Willis' ghost character interacted with live people as well as with the little boy, the viewer would have felt cheated. Instead, they think back to him talking to a wife who is ignoring him, not because their marriage is in trouble, but because he is dead, and she can't see him, and the viewer will give a gasp of surprise and a bit of a wince at missing all those clues to what was really happening.

If you can make the reader gasp with surprise and rethink what she's read, your twist has worked.

Links of Interest

PRODUCTION COSTS FOR THE SELF-PUBBED AUTHOR:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2013/07/key-book-production-costs-for-self.html

BODY LANGUAGE AS SUBTEXT:

http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/07/using-the-subtext-of-body-language-in-storytelling-2/

INCLUDING THE FIVE SENSES:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/07/guest-author-marcy-kennedy-how-to.html

WHAT TO DO WHEN A BLOG ENTRY STIRS UP CONTROVERSY:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2013/07/12/how-to-deal-with-a-firestorm-of-controversy-on-your-blog-before-it-suffocates-you/

MARKETING, BOOK GIVEAWAYS:

http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/07/marketing-101-book-giveaways/

DO YOU NEED A LITERARY EXECUTOR?

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/do-you-need-a-literary-executor/

THOUGHTS ON AGENT-ASSISTED SELF-PUBLISHING:

http://publishingperspectives.com/2013/07/agent-assisted-publishing-an-interrupted-debate/

MARKETS, SHORT STORY:

http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2013/07/short-story-sub-op.html

HOW TO GET YOUR AVATAR TO APPEAR EVERYWHERE

http://www.authormedia.com/how-to-get-your-avatar-to-show-up-everywhere

BUILDING A GREAT CRITIQUE GROUP:

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/10-power-tips-for-building-a-great-critique-group/

CREATING EMOTIONAL RESONANCE AT THE END OF YOUR BOOK:

http://thewritersalleys.blogspot.com/2013/07/before-you-type-end-creating-emotional.html

Avengers, Assemble

Think of the beginning of a scene as an establishing shot in a movie.  You must give the reader visual clues about where the scene is and who is in it.  You must also tell them when the scene is if time has changes much from the scene before it.  

If you have four characters in a car, you must tell the reader within the first paragraph or two that Tom, Dick, Jane, and Harriet are in that car.  You can’t have Jane and Harriet chatting in the front seat for five pages then have Dick chime in on the subject in the back.  That will jerk the reader right out of the scene as she tries to figure out where Dick came from.

In a scene with a lot of people, it’s not necessary to mention everyone who will be important, but you should show a character who hasn’t been mentioned as there come forward to join the conversation or whatever, and the viewpoint character should react to their presence.  The new character may need to say why they are there if their appearance is totally unexpected.  

Remember that you are building a visual and emotional scene for the reader, and you must offer enough information and clues to allow them to see the scene themselves, or you lose them as readers.

Links of Interest

ADDING A PLUG IN TO A WORDPRESS BLOG:

http://www.authormedia.com/how-to-add-a-plugin-to-your-wordpress-site/

THE MARKETING QUESTIONNAIRE:

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2013/07/countdown-to-book-10-marketing-questionnaire.html

 AUTHOR NEWSLETTERS:

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/the-how-and-why-of-author-newsletters/

ADDING SEXUAL TENSION:

http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?2800-Sexual-tension-without-any…you-know…sex-by-Alice-Gaines

DIFFERENT PRINT FORMATS AND THEIR SALES PROFILES (WELL WORTH THE READ):

http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/07/pulling-back-the-publishing-veil-sales-for-various-print-options/

MARKETING OUTSIDE THE BOX:

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/07/07/marketing-outside-the-box

SUITING YOUR WRITING TO EACH TYPE OF SOCIAL MEDIA:

http://socialmediatoday.com/martinmeyergossner/1578936/how-write-perfect-post-infographic

WHAT THE MIDPOINT IN A STORY REALLY IS:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-magical-midpoint-moment.html

AN EASY TIP FOR DEVELOPING STORY IDEAS:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/07/an-easy-tip-for-developing-story-ideas.html

THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL AS PART OF PLOT STRUCTURE:

http://www.magicalwords.net/carrie-ryan/the-dark-night-of-the-soul

GOODREADS USERS ANSWER THE QUESTION--WHAT MAKES A BOOK READABLE:

http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/goodreads-users-reveal-what-makes-a-book-readable/

APPLE FOUND GUILTY IN PRICE-FIXING CASE:

http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/judge-cote-finds-apple-guilty-of-colluding-with-publishers/

YOU MUST UNDERSTAND YOUR GENRE:

http://scotteagan.blogspot.com/2013/07/dont-just-know-your-genre-understand.html

WORLDBUILDING, CREATING FUTURE HISTORY FROM OUR PRESENT:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2013/07/worldbuilding-from-reality-part-3.html

EMAIL NEWSLETTERS, FREQUENCY AND CONTENT:

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2013/07/email-newsletters-frequency-and-content.html

Beware the Unexpected Spoiler

Spoilers of plot and character are the bane of many readers and authors’ existence.  Especially frustrating are those spoilers in the packaging of the book.  The cover, back cover blurbs, and the book jacket plot summary are noticeable sources of too much information.  

I, unfortunately, just found a new source--the acknowledgement page.  The first page of text of a mystery I just read was the acknowledgement page.  With just a quick glance at the contents, I discovered in the first sentence of the second paragraph a huge thank you for information on carbon monoxide poisoning.  

On the third page of the first chapter, a young ghost appeared with cherry red cheeks which is a classic symptom of carbon monoxide poisoning so one of the major mysteries of the novel--what killed the little girl and her family--was not such a mystery.  

So, the moral of this story is, if you have control of the publishing of the book, put the acknowledgement page at the end of the book, not the beginning.  If you don’t have control, don’t spell out what your informants helped you with, unless you can be very general.  

Links of Interest

BETA READERS AND THE QUESTIONS TO ASK THEM:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2013/06/beta-readers.html

CREATING IMMEDIACY AND CONCURRENCY IN ACTION SCENES:

http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2013/06/26/making-words-count-3-immediacy-and-concurrency/

SEVEN SECRETS TO BOOK PROMOTION:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/06/7-secrets-to-loving-book-promotion-even.html

ORGANIC LAYERING:

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/the-maze-to-amazing-organic-layering/

MARKET NEWS-- AGENTS, EDITORS, AND PUBLISHERS LIST THEIR MARKET NEEDS:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/manuscript-wish-lists-on-twitter_b73317

A FREE WORDPRESS BOOKSTORE PLUGIN FOR AUTHOR SITES:

http://www.authormedia.com/announcing-mybooktable-a-wordpress-bookstore-plugin-for-authors

FIGURING OUT BACKSTORY:

http://www.magicalwords.net/mindy-klasky/continuing-the-backstory-writing-exercises/

IT’S NOW ABOUT LONG-TERM BOOKSELLING, NOT SHORT TERM.

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2013/06/we-are-all-long-tail-marketers-now.html

TROUBLESHOOTING DEEP POINT OF VIEW:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2013/07/01/troubleshooting-deep-point-of-view-and-voice/

HOW AUTHORS CAN SELL BOOKS THROUGH INDIE BOOKSTORES ONLINE:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/how-authors-can-sell-through-indie-bookstores_b73411

TEMPORARY BLINDNESS FOR A CHARACTER:

http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/q-and-a-can-a-blow-to-the-head-render-my-character-blind/

10 QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN CHOOSING SETTINGS:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/07/10-questions-to-ask-when-choosing.html

HOW TO ADD A FACEBOOK BADGE TO YOUR BLOG:

http://tadahsocialmedia.com/2013/04/how-to-add-a-facebook-badge-to-your-blogs-sidebar/

PLOT POINTS FOR FANTASY:

http://thereanddraftagain.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/how-to-plot-your-fantasy-novel/

WHERE TO FIND COVER ARTISTS:

http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2013/05/where-to-find-cover-artists.html

EDITORIAL LETTERS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/07/editorial-letters-and-other-edit.html

AUTHOR NEWSLETTERS:

http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2013/07/newslettering.html

TARGETING A READERSHIP:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2013/07/targeting-readership-part-9-creating.html

RHYTHM IN DIALOG:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2011/02/give-me-beat-rhythm-in-dialog.html

Separating the Critic From the Reader

QUESTION: Ever since I started to write with my eye toward being published, I have trouble reading for fun.  I keep spotting craft mistakes, or I’m analyzing why I like or don’t like something.  I miss the fun.  Any suggestions?

I have two degrees in literary analysis, I’m a professional writer, I’ve worked as an editor, and I teach writing. If anyone has an super-critic in their head, I do.

Years ago, I realized I could never shut off the critic in the head, but I have learned to keep her separate from me, the reader. It’s not an easy thing to do, but I learned to do it.

About the only time my super-critic takes over is when a book is so flawed I continue to read it like an autopsy of what can go wrong and why. Otherwise, I’d stop reading entirely.

Reading really good writers helps.  Reading what you love helps.  Reading outside your genre helps.  

Mainly, though, you simply have to learn to ignore the critic sitting in the corner of your brain taking notes the same way you focus on one conversation in a room full of conversations.