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Picture this. Businessman, adult son, and work colleague go into closed room while businessman’s wife waits outside. A shot rings out. Wife enters room to discover husband dead and son grappling with work colleague. Work colleague runs from room with gun, and the rest of the novel is spent hunting the murderer.
When I read that scenario, I thought to
myself, ‘Oh I bet the son turns out to be the killer’. And guess what? He was. Although
the novel was well-written, with lots of suspense, the fact that I picked the
twist in the first 20 pages did dampen my enthusiasm.
When I read Ian McEwan’s Atonement, I had a totally different
experience. While there are some aspects of the book I didn’t enjoy, the twist
is the best I’ve ever read. It turned the whole novel on its head.
So what makes a good twist?
Avoid
the Obvious
There are some really well-worn plot
twists that invariably let down the reader. Here
are some examples.
- You follow your protagonist through an incredible series of events, only to find it was all a dream.
- The strange man you saw kissing the married woman turns out to be her brother.
- The protagonist is behaving out of character and you discover he has an identical twin.
Work
on the ‘Set Up’
While it’s important for a twist
to surprise, it shouldn’t come ‘out of the blue’ or trick your readers. There
needs to be some foreshadowing so that when your readers get to the big reveal,
they think ‘Wow, that all makes sense now’. Kate Morton does a brilliant job of
this in The Secret Keeper. The twist
in itself isn’t the most unique I’ve ever come across. In fact, I read another novel
recently that used a similar device. However, her plotting and
foreshadowing is brilliant. While I didn’t see the twist coming, it explained
everything and I felt like I wanted to go back and read the book again in light
of the twist.
It
Advances the Story
As K.M. Wieland notes, a plot
twist shouldn’t be an end in itself. It has to contribute to the plot in a
meaningful way so that readers will be excited about the ensuing developments. The
twist should actually make the story better.
All of that is easier said than done of
course, but if you can develop original twists that avoid gimmicks, are set up
well and raise your story to the next level, you’ll have thousands of happy
readers.
Which novels have you read that have great
twists? I’d love to hear your suggestions (without the spoilers of course).
More
Reading
Scheller, R. (2014). 4 Ways to
Write a Killer Plot Twist. Retrieved from: http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/4-ways-to-write-a-killer-plot-twist
N.B. Most of
this article is an excerpt from Story
Trumps Structure by Steven James.
Wieland, K. M. (2013). 5 Ways
to Write a Killer Plot Twist. Retrieved from http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/5-ways-to-write-killer-plot-twist/
Nola Passmore is a freelance writer who
has had more than 140 short pieces published, including devotionals, true
stories, magazine articles, academic papers, poetry and short fiction.
She loves sharing what God has done in her life and encouraging others to
do the same. She and her husband Tim have their own freelance writing and
editing business called The Write Flourish. You can find her writing tips
blog at their website: http://www.thewriteflourish.com.au
Hey, Nola! Awesome post. Loved reading it. I agree about the twists. But it is a conundrum. (I love that word.) I have read books in the past that I paid for and finished chapter 1 and threw it aside. YUCK! Regarding the twists in novels. I think that writers spend so much time on setting, dialogue, research, character, that they hurry to get to the end. And the reader suffers. I will check out your links. I love K.M. I have another one for you. Do you know MJ Bush? She's wonderful. http://www.writingeekery.com/strength/ Hugs, my friend.
ReplyDeleteHi Robyn - Thanks for that.Yes it can certainly be a letdown if the ending is rushed. You want your readers to enjoy the whole journey. My husband has just finished reading a book with over 400 pages of small print and he was really enjoying it until the end. Lots of loose ends and little resolution. Thanks for the link too Robyn. I've had a quick look and have bookmarked it for future reference. Thanks for stopping by to comment :)
DeleteThanks Nola
ReplyDeleteFinding a new/unused plot twist can be tricky
Your tips are most helpful
I don't like too much suspense otherwise I get anxious - clearly a sign of well written novel!
I have enjoyed a series from Tim Downs The Bug Man Novel. A bit of humour in this series too.
Love your work Nola!
Thanks Di - I actually love a good suspense/thriller as long as it doesn't cross the line into horror (freaks me out too much). But one of the problems when you read a lot of suspense is that it can become easier to pick the twists. I love it when an author sucks me in, but in a good way, so that I go 'Wow - didn't see that fantastic turn of events coming'. Thanks for the suggestion re Tim Downs. Will have to check it out. Thanks for your encouragement xx
DeleteEnjoyed your post thanks.I sort of enjoy twists and they are fun to write if one can pull them off well. In TSK I actually enjoyed my second read more because I liked that 'real' character more than the one I thought she was. (If you know what I mean. trying not to spoil story for others.) Maybe it's old age beginning ( for me I mean!)
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanette - Thanks for that. I know what you mean about TSK. Again without giving anything away, I didn't particularly like the younger version of one of the characters. When I got to the twist, everything made sense. I must read it again. Can't wait for her new one to come out next month. I also loved The Distant Hours. Another one where everything wasn't quite as it seemed. I couldn't put the last 80 pages down. Thanks for your comment :)
DeleteHi Nola, I think Agatha Christie earned her title as Queen of Crime because she managed her plot twists so well. Even though we expected them from her and tried to anticipate the unexpected, she still pulled off something entirely surprising in her mysteries many times.
ReplyDeleteHi Paula - Yes I guess that's why she's the Queen of Crime and still the best-selling author of all time (tied with William Shakespeare if you believe Wikipedia). I've read a number of her books and she does have good twists. Very well-plotted. Thanks for commenting :)
DeleteHi Nola - great post with some good tips. I often find I'm one step ahead of the author (Jodi Picoult, Emily Rodda, even Agatha Christi). Writing a good twist is hard - especially getting the balance between foreshadowing (and not telegraphing) versus totally out of the blue and unbelievable. And writing in deep POV can cause it's own problems as many readers object if the POV character knows something that is withhold from the reader (I struggle a bit with that one, especially in a book with more than one POV). I do think it's best to avoid a predictable ending (unless the whole point of the story is not what will happen but how did it happen). Of course, in some genres twists are almost mandatory (detective, perhaps thriller)- but I'm beginning to wonder if too much focus is put on producing an incredible twist to the detriment to other elements.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny - Thanks for that. I remember you saying you picked the twist in The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult, whereas I was totally sucked in. Loved that book. It is hard to write a truly original twist with the right balance of foreshadowing, but not telegraphing. I can think of another novel I've read recently where the foreshadowing in one scene was too obvious and gave away the identity of the killer way too early.
DeleteYou've also raised a good point about whether a twist can be detrimental to the other elements of the story. I think you're right. The K.M. Wieland article I've mentioned at the end gives some good guidelines for avoiding that. She says that the twist should advance the story in some way so that the story is actually better for the twist being there. Not always easy to pull off as you say. Thanks for taking the time to comment :)
Succinctly put, Nola!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rhonda. Yes, it could have been a series of posts, but I restrained myself :) Thanks for your comment :)
DeleteYes, I love a good twist!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynne. Me too :)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Nola. I agree that good plot twists make great stories. The challenge is to leave enough clues but not too many isn't it? And for that plot twist to be a good ending. There have been a few plot twists which were good but ended the story on a very unhappy note. That, I didn't like. Many thanks for those invaluable tips which I shall use in my next story. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Anusha. It's really hard to get the balance right when you're the author and know what the twist is. My beta readers were helpful with that. A few of them got my twist, so I took out some of the foreshadowing. But then you've got to be careful not to take out too much. And I agree about the unhappy endings. A great twist should make us happy with the excitement of it all. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
DeleteI admire the perfect twist and authors that pull them off (loved your Stringy Bark Anthology short story with a twist). I watched Inferno the other night - another of Dan Brown's stories which, like Angels and Demons, had a twist I didn't see coming. I often pick up clues early so I'm delighted when a character or a twist surprises me.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mazzy. Glad you liked that story. There was such a tight word-limit on that one, I felt I didn't have time to set up the twist as well as I would have liked. I might try writing a slightly longer version one day.
DeleteAnd yes, it's great when you don't see the twist coming. The more you read in a genre (or watch), the easier it is to pick them out, but I love those genuine surprises. Thanks for taking the time to comment :)
Me again. Did you ( Nola) pick the twist in The Shifting Fog ( The House at Riverton)? I found that ending brilliant/traumatic. I don't think I'd picked the twist that time, and I hadn't with TSK. The essential thing for me is, the twist has to make sense form an 'emotional logic' point of view. If you know what I mean! I hate twists for twists' sake.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanette - No I didn't pick the twist in The Shifting Fog. That was a brilliant one that had me pulling my hair out for the 'might-have-beens'. I think the good thing about that one and The Secret Keeper was that once you knew the twist, everything became clear. There was a great twist in The Distance Hours too, which I really loved. I picked the twist in The Lake House about 20 pages or so before it happened. I thought that one was a little contrived.
DeleteI don't like twists for twists sake either. I've seen that in a lot of TV shows where they have to wrap it all up in an hour and suddenly the killer is the person they interviewed for one minute at the beginning of the show and hasn't been seen since :) Though the more you see or watch in a suspense/whodunnit genre, the easier it becomes to anticipate the twists. Love it when I'm totally surprised and it all fits together well. Thanks for commenting.