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Monday, March 20, 2017

Plot Twists with C.B. Cook

Hello! I have C. B. Cook here with us to talk about writing plot twists. Plot twists are fun, and they're really my favorite part of writing. I especially love foreshadowing plot twists.

C.B. is a good friend of mine, beta read the first half of Lady dragon, Tela Du for me (Which means that she didn't get to my great plot twists). I've read her Twinepathy, and quite enjoyed it. I haven't gotten around to reviewing it yet, but I put my stamp of approval on its cover.

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Writing a Plot Twist
C.B. Cook

Hello, friends! As a quick intro, I’m C.B. Cook, author of Twinepathy and Paralyzed Dreams. I’m a college student and indie author, and I’m super excited to be here on Kendra’s blog for the Indie Author E-Con. I’ve been asked to talk to you about plot twists, so let’s get into the post!
We can all admit that sometimes writing plot twists can be… challenging. Sure, random plot bunnies may pop into your head all the time, but how do you pick the right plot twist to go with (because you can’t do them all!)? How do you make your plot twist truly impact your reader? Picking a plot twist can be made easier if you eliminate some options by determining that they are clichés, so to begin with, I’ll go over a few of these clichés. After that, we’ll go over your characters’ reactions. If your character reacts in the right way, your reader will, too. Then I’ll wrap it all up with a few basic dos and don’ts!
Note: I will be using examples in this post, so if you don’t know about a certain plot twist in the original Star Wars trilogy ( you know the plot twist I’m talking about), there are SPOILERS in this post.

Plot Twist Clichés
The whole point of a plot twist is for something unexpected to happen in your story, taking everything in a new direction. And something that does the complete opposite of that is a cliché. The list below outlines several of these clichés, and possible ways to mix it up.
·       It was all a dream. The first time you read one like this, it’s an interesting twist. After the twentieth time, it becomes a turn-off in any book. How could you use this? What about having the main character wake up in his bed and think it was all a dream, but then find out… nope! It was all real! Or, if you don’t want it to be real, have the plot be a story the main character was telling someone else.
·       Surprise! That character didn’t actually die! (AKA Marvel Syndrome) This twist is sometimes a celebration (because who wants their favorite character to die?), but in all honesty, it dramatically cuts down on those feels readers love so much. Sometimes you have to be willing to kill off a character for real. Way to mix this one up? What if your main character thinks someone is alive again, but it turns out to be someone else pretending to be that character? Ooooh!
·       That character we trusted was actually working for the bad guys the whole time! Sometimes, when I start reading a book or watching a TV series with a team or a group of characters, I try to figure out which one is going to be evil. And whether my choice is right or wrong, any character “turning evil” simply becomes a huge annoyance to me (especially if it’s a character I like). How could this be fixed? What if the character is suspicious and thinks a member of his team is working for the bad guys, but in reality, he’s been working with the bad guys unknowingly.
·       The main character knew the antagonist. This is one I’m sooo tired of seeing. Star Wars did it great with Darth Vader being Luke’s dad, and since then, all villains seem to be related to or old friends of the main character. What about a villain the main character doesn’t know, but thinks they do? Or what about a villain they knew in second grade but don’t remember at all?
These are a few of the plot twists that have been done far too many times. The whole point of a plot twist is to be original, so don’t copy someone else’s plot twist just because theirs was successful. Plus, a cliché will pull your reader out of the story, rather than pull them in deeper, like a plot twist should. So stay away from clichés!

Characters’ reactions
After the plot twist itself, you have to think about the characters’ reactions. Different people react to different situations in different ways. Some people (or characters) are very emotional, while some hide their emotions and bury their feelings. Girls react differently than boys, and older people react differently from younger people. Extroverts will react differently from introverts, too.
If you want to show your reader how much a plot twist affects your character, show them how emotionally unstable the twist has made the character. Obviously, the situation changes the reaction as well. A really emotional character might cry if someone they know dies, but they might immediately react with fury if another character betrays them. In a good twist, someone who hides their emotions may actually smile, or in a negative twist, maybe all you see is the character’s clenched jaw or slightly slumped posture. Or say your character has a surprise parent reveal, much like in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, when Darth Vader tells Luke that he is his father. Luke has a moment where his eyes grow wide, and then he starts to say no, moving into denial. We see Luke’s POV, and we empathize with him, pulling us deeper into his emotional struggle.
Remember, the aftermath of a plot twist is important. If you wrote the twist itself successfully, your reader is already shocked. Figure out what you want to turn your reader’s emotions into—delight, sadness, sympathy for your character? Then figure out how best to get that response from your reader.

Dos and Don’ts of Plot Twists
Do surprise the reader.
Don’t do something completely random to surprise your reader.
Do study your favorite books and study how their plot twists work.
Don’t copy those plot twists!
Do test your plot twist out with your beta-readers.
Don’t forget to work out plot holes your plot twist may introduce.
And finally…


DO be creative! That’s what plot twists are all about. So get out there, brainstorm, and write that plot twist.

16 comments:

  1. This was good. Plot twists are one of the hardest things to get right in a story, especially when you don't want them to be just another cliche. Because seriously, it gets old :P

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    1. Thanks! I agree, I've stopped reading books because a plot twist was too cliche. Thanks for reading!

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  2. Plot twists are tricky, and I find myself coming up with a plethora of them, but without any conclusion or tie in. The plot holes that come from them are my worst enemy. But I find that studying other authors' methods has helped immensely! Very helpful list of dos and don'ts. :)

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    1. Thanks so much, I'm glad this was helpful! :D

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  3. This was really interesting! I totally agree, so many plot twists have become rather cliche, and that can totally ruin an otherwise awesome story!
    However, I've got a question, and it pulls right back to the Star Wars references (*giggle*). (This is that big, ok-not-so-big, twist from TFA.)
    *Gasp* Kylo is Han and Leia's son?! .... ok, yah, maybe it was a little expected. So, it didn't work so great as a plot twist.
    BUT I thought it worked fantastically as a plot twist FOR THE OTHER CHARACTERS. I mean, you've got this girl who thinks Han is the greatest thing, literally "the father that she never had" but always wanted. And then he's brutally murdered by this monster! So now she's gonna want revenge, she's gonna want to bring him down!
    So what is it going to do to her when she discovers that his killer, this man she sees as a monster, is actually his son? Especially when she saw Han as so good and wonderful, and didn't believe a word of it when this evil monster told her he was flawed and would let her down.
    This whole not-so-original and kinda cliche plot twist has now become an entirely different sort of irony, and a great source of potential conflict for our main character.

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    1. Ah, I know a lot of people hated that plot twist, but I actually really liked it. One of the main continuing story lines in Star Wars is family troubles, and how the two sides of the Force pull families apart, so I completely agree with you! Plus, it really helped Rey grow, and helped move the story along. Thanks for the thought-provoking comment! :D

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  4. And then along the same lines, the villain-knows-the-hero cliche. (And yes, another SW example! Because there are just SO MANY awesome storytelling lessons from Star Wars! :D )
    Not too long ago in the Star Wars: Rebels animated series, we had our new (and newly-recanonized) villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn have a brief encounter with a secondary good-guy character, Commander Sato.
    And, lo and behold, out of the blue -- Thrawn knew Sato's name, and Sato Thrawn's! It was obvious that they have some sort of history, and it had all the fans gasping and clamoring to find out what it was. It obviously wasn't good, and the fact that it had something to do with Sato's brother who had been killed in a rebellion attempt years earlier gave us some interesting hints.
    This twist may be a bit cliche, but where it worked out here was because Sato isn't a main character, and no one else knows Thrawn.

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    1. I actually haven't seen that one, so I'll have to trust you on that. :)

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  5. I hate cliche plot twists, and I try to avoid them as much as possible - unless, of course, I can twist it around to make it a lot less of a cliche ;). Thank for for sharing this with us, C.B.! It was an awesome post.

    ~ Savannah
    scattered-scribblings.blogspot.com

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    1. That's great! I'm glad you liked the post. Thanks for the comment. :D

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  6. And now I have to write novels to rework all the cliche plot twists like you suggested because you gave me half-baked idea rolls. Thanks so much, C.B. (Actually thanks, though, because once I figure out where to use those, it's going to be awesome.)

    Anyway. Awesome post!

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    1. Hehe, sorry about that, and you're welcome! I hope I can read some of those when you use them. :D

      And thank you!

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  7. This was really helpful! I'm in the middle of crafting a plot tiwst right now for a sequel to Martin Hospitality. MH's plot twists were successful, so I need to do that well again. The thing is, they came naturally for the first book. Not so much this time XD #nopressure

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    1. Oh yes, writing a sequel that lives up to the first one is hard. I'm going through that with mine now, too. You can do it! :D I hope this post helps or gives you a few ideas!

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  8. Plot twists are so common they're almost expected...
    How about the plot twist that what looks like happened (shock) actually happened!
    Yes, it's been a long week. :)
    I do enjoy plot twists even though they're difficult to write.

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    1. Hehe, that's actually a good idea! Sometimes the best plot twist might be no plot twist at all, as long as it's not a let down. A good plot twist is definitely worth enjoying, though. :D

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Hi! Now that you've read my post, hast thou any opinions that thou wouldst like to share? I'd love to hear them!