  Drama
This week: Creating the Unexpected: Plot Twists Edited by: Joy  
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“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”
Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is - full of surprises.
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Generally my typical books have lots of twists and turns a big surprise ending and then usually another surprise at the end and ideally, as in Garden of Beasts, we get to the very end and we find at the last few pages that there's yet another surprise.
Jeffery Deaver
“When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.”
Charles Baxter, Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction
I like to be surprised. Fresh implications and plot twists erupt as a story unfolds. Characters develop backgrounds, adding depth and feeling. Writing feels like exploring.
David Brin
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. Our discussion in this issue is about creating plot twists.
Note: In the editorial, I refer to third person singular as he, to also mean the female gender, because I don't like to use they or he/she.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Suppose you filled your character sheets to your satisfaction and you designed a linear plotline for your story or novel. Then, next day or so, you took another look at your work and found the story not too enticing, the outline dull and dry, and the characters predictable, even though this is the story you want to write.
What your story needs at this point is a shot in the arm, or in the case of longer works, a few shots in the arm. Those shots that animate and embellish the story are plot twists. Plot twists increase the value of a story or novel dramatically because they cause something to happen that can alter the predictability and possibly change the outcome.
One of the several tricks for adding plot twists is to braid the subplots with the main storyline. For example, in a novel, you create one main storyline and two substories. You start with the main storyline, and somewhere along the first one-fifth of the work, you introduce the second substory, then sometime later the third one. Where these stories crisscross, in the beginning and time and time again, interesting things may happen and you can create plot twists easily.
Another way is to hold information and spring it upon the readers at an unexpected junction. A most common twist involves revealing the hidden nature of a character or object, like Darth Vader being discovered as Luke Skywalker’s father in the StarWars Saga. In addition, one can hide the villain or veil who the villain is. Mostly, who is considered a villain in the beginning of the story becomes a harmless element later, whereas another person is discovered as the villain working behind every nasty deed. Sometimes even the hero emerges as being the villain.
Yet another way is to manipulate the action by showing some issue as finished or a problem solved, but then, bringing the issue or the problem back to life in some way. For example. a landowner thinks he has paid his taxes by stealing from an old relative and working very hard in other ways also to put the money together; however, since he has sent the check through regular mail and the envelope is lost, he is in trouble and is facing to lose the property, unbeknownst to him.
A kind of plot twist to shy away from is Deus Ex Machina. This twist happens when an unsolvable problem is solved by sudden divine intervention or by some help from outside of the story that hasn’t been foreshadowed earlier. Unless used for comedic effect, Deus Ex Machina is frowned upon and is considered a blemish on the writer’s art.
While a plot twist can be placed just about anywhere in the story, the strongest twists happen close to or at the climax. A few examples to such plot twists are mind-bending switches, flashbacks that reveal hidden elements, time or period changes, new revelations about the settings, unexpected deaths or murders, characters coming back to life after dying, and reversing character roles such as making a winning hero lose.
In creating a plot twist, the writer must find something unexpected yet believable. A twist too outrageous will shock the reader. A twist that has a lot that is missing from its surprise element will be too boring. A twist that mimics the earlier twists in the story will be predictable and won’t work well. The best way to twist a plot is to leave tiny clues beforehand, then use them at the time of the twist.
A warning about clues is in order here. If you leave a clue earlier, make sure you follow up on it. This is called Chekhov’s gun, referring to Anton Chekhov’s assertion that, “One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it.”
Good twists deepen the story and help hold the reader interest from the beginning to the end.
May all your plot twists turn out to be very effective.  |
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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: NickiD89  kittiara Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
 This Issue's Tip:
A question that will help create a twist is: What does Character A not know about Character B, or about the setting, or about an issue?
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 Reading Recommendation: A book with drama
If you have a recommendation, a few words on a book or a product review, send it to me or to this newsletter. I'll highlight it here.
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Feedback for "Attention: Texture!"
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blunderbuss
Not only did I enjoy this newsletter and take on board the nuances it highlights but I was so pleased and honoured to see myself in the Editor's Picks! Thank you.
You're welcome, and thank you, too, for the feedback.
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writetight
As to "texture" in your Drama Newsletter, I'm often told my writing is abrasive and rough. Does that count?
Dan
I'd say, the rougher the better, Dan. It is like having your work embossed, so to speak. Rough stuff is difficult to write for most of us.
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Drama: July 25, 2012 Issue [#5154]
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