Oliver Smuhar

Sunday, 5th October, 2019

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Unlike the classic breaking of the ice people usually attempt by calling me Oliver Twist or Twisty, a plot twist can make or break some of the greatest and some of the not so greatest stories throughout time. However, a lot of a writers can feel overwhelmed when trying to create a twist within the plot of their story. So here’s the best way to write a plot twist:

The good and the bad

A plot twist is most effective at the end of a story towards the start or the fall of your story’s climax. This is because a plot can only twist once the audience has enough information to be shock when the information they have received has been juxtaposed.

In simple terms, a plot twist is really just the change of knowledge, it’s the reverse of what we—the reader—thought we knew, it’s the combination of lying and then admitting your lie. And the easiest way to get this across is by either making something evil, actually turn out to be good, or vice versa, making something good turn out to be bad.

It’s what made Star Wars such a classic, making the evil, heavy breather, lover of black, Darth Vader, the big bad in series thus far, actually turn out to be something good, really good—plus it gave him some daddy issues in being Luke’s father. Come on, we all know the line.

(Image: Locky 2019)

Another example is through Mr Glass at the end of Unbreakable when Samuel Jackson’s Elijah, reveals to Bruce Willis that he had been the bad guy this whole time even though the man can’t walk up a staircase without breaking every bone in his body.

(Image: Squires 2017)

Now from both of these examples it is clear that George Lucas and M. Night Shyamalan blatantly lie to their audience with an oppositional fact; this fact being that Darth Vader is pure evil and that Mr Glass is pure good. However, when in actuality, after the climatic realisation of the protagonist, these two characters become the opposite of what the audience has been told.

And something to point out is that these plot twists take place just minutes before the credits roll. Although it took a while for these films to continue their pace with their questionable sequels, these twist have made them powerhouses in cinema.

How can you write a plot twist?

The best way at looking at a plot twist is by reversing the process. Know that this character is going to be evil at the end of your short story or picture book, outline the reason for why they’re evil or why they’re hiding in plain sight. I’ve already written an article on how to make a great antagonist, however, it could be the other way. Is your bad guy actually good? It could be something that isn’t necessarily human.

(Image: Nadia 2018)

You need to deceive your reader. For some of you this may be hard, but if you want to go through with this plot twist idea, you need to lie to your reader so hard that they get angry at you afterwards. You need emotions to conflict when you reveal the truth about the plot or character or even what the blue hue to the main character’s bed sheets means. And if you’re making something good be bad, the audience should be fuming, just like the characters.

Finally, surprise is key. Your lie needs to be perfect, however, foreshadowing is a must! Yes, that sentence is a contradiction. But you need your reader to believe that Phil from downstairs is really the laid back janitor who enjoy moieties, garlic bread and has an extensive knowledge for some reason about the undead. Because it turns out on page 374, Phil, the helpful janitor is actually a vampire who has been fooling you and your crew this whole time, and bam, four pages later it's the end; see you next book!

In conclusion, make the article about how to write plot twist when in actuality it's about advertising your fantasy debut, The Gifts of Life... I mean, make what your talking about, that being plot twits, really about your fantasy debut because you don’t know how to advertise and market and need ways to lure people in—wait, plot twist! ;)

Citation

- locky. 2019, Star Wars No, image, imgflip, viewed 5 October, 2019, (https://imgflip.com/i/2ptd4b).

- Squires, J. 2017, M. Night Shyamalan Wraps Filming On ‘Unbreakable’ Sequel ‘Glass’, BloodyDisgusting.com, viewed 5 October, 2019, ((https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3473133/m-night-shyamalan-wraps-filming-unbreakable-sequel-glass).

- Nadia. 2018, Plot Twits Challenge, image, Amino post, viewed 5 October, 2019, (https://aminoapps.com/c/books/page/blog/plot-twist-challenge/qDiR_uw68JlkWe0aDjw5N31wzx8LPJ).