There’s nothing like a good twist. Chubby Checker’s on the stereo and everyone’s writhing to ‘Let’s Twist Again’. No, wait! Not that kind of twist. I’m talking about those dazzling twists in novels that leave you gasping in amazement at the author’s brilliance.
- What about that twist in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None when we find out that …
- Or how about the one in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, when Maxim de Winter …
- Or The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, when the girl’s memory …
As River Song from Dr Who would say, I can’t tell you more because of ‘Spoilers!’ Just trust me when I say those twists had me completely hooked.
However, there have also been times when I’ve guessed the twist by p. 20 or the twist didn’t work for me because the killer turned out to be such a minor character that I couldn’t even remember who they were.
So what makes a good twist?
Avoid the Obvious
There are some really well-worn plot twists that have almost become clichés and invariably let down the reader. Here are some examples.
- You follow your protagonist through an incredible series of events, only to discover it was all a dream. For example, the whole of Season 9 of the TV soap Dallas turned out to be Pamela’s dream, thus rendering the season meaningless.
- The protagonist is behaving out of character and then you discover he or she has an identical twin. I’m old enough to remember the Days of Our Lives plotline in which Marlena’s twin impersonated the much-loved psychiatrist and had her committed to a mental institution. It might be a good recipe for soaps, but not so much in novels.
- The strange man you saw kissing that married woman goodbye turns out to be her brother.
- The heroine’s older sister or aunt or grandmother turns out to be the mother.
Some of these may not be bad in themselves and would have been original in days gone by. However, they have been overdone. If you’re going to do something along those lines, do a different spin on it, or better still, come up with something more unique. The more original you are, the more likely you’ll create that ‘ah ha’ moment for your readers.
Work on the Set-Up
While it’s important for a twist to surprise, it shouldn’t come out of the blue. 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 fantastic job of this in The Secret Keeper. The twist in itself isn’t the most unique I’ve ever come across, but her plotting and foreshadowing are 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.
Did you know that the Bible is a masterclass in foreshadowing? Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection are foreshadowed all through the Old Testament, yet some still didn’t see it coming (e.g., 1 Corinthians 2:7-8).
It can be tricky to get the balance right when foreshadowing. Too little, and the twist seems to come out of nowhere. Too much, and you give the story away. I remember reading a book where a teenage girl didn’t get a good look at her attacker and could only remember that he had grey hair. A little later, a grey-haired business executive asks his colleague whether the girl got a good look at the assailant. Mmm, I wonder who committed the crime?
Foreshadowing may work best when you can hide some of those clues in plain sight. You might like to see my post on How to Hide Clues in Mystery Stories for some ideas.
Make Sure 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.
I remember a friend once saying that there were so many twists in novels, it would almost be a twist if there wasn’t a twist.
If a twist isn’t necessary for the story you want to tell, don’t try to force one in. The plot doesn’t have to pivot on a twist, though it’s still a good idea to aim for something original. For example, your sleuth may come across red herrings and dead ends as he or she unravels the threads of a mystery, but in bringing them to light, he or she re-evaluates the facts in a new way or redirects efforts in a new direction.
Value the Reader
When writing twists, think about the reader’s response. A jaw-dropping twist can really add to a reader’s enjoyment, but they won’t like it if they feel they’ve been duped. This can happen when the twist hasn’t been set up well (as noted earlier) or when the author has promised something that is not delivered.
I recently read a bestseller about a disadvantaged girl who experienced prejudice and discrimination from many of the people in her community. She was a true underdog, and when she was exonerated in a trial, I was cheering that justice had been served. Then right at the end of the book, we find out she was guilty after all. While some reviewers loved the twist, I felt cheated (and I wasn’t alone). The author had done such a good job of ripping apart the town’s prejudices, only to reinforce those stereotypes again. Don’t undermine a book’s impact by throwing in a curve ball at the last minute that dilutes the message.
All of these tips are 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).
For Further 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/
Acknowledgements
Featured photo is by Ben White on Unsplash.
Some of the material in this post appeared in earlier posts on The Write Flourish and Christian Writers Downunder, but it has been revamped and some new content added.
Thank you to Tim Passmore for providing one of the examples.
Obviously not a novel, but I remember seeing M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Village’ at cinemas. At the point in the story where they began building towards a climax I turned to my friend & whispered, “Wouldn’t it be funny if…?” My friend shot me an angry expression & said, “No! That would be stupid!” We laughed & laughed (in silence, so as not to disturb other viewers) until it turned out that was exactly what happened! It ruined what had been a deeply atmospheric story for me, & all because the writer tried to come up with some ‘out of left field’ twist that was completely unnecessary.
That’s a great example, Adam. I haven’t seen that movie, but I’ve had similar experiences. It does spoil it when the twist doesn’t really fit into the story properly and is more of a gimmick. Thanks for commenting.
Like Adam, my most memorable ‘didn’t see that coming’ response to an end twist was to the movie version of Dan Brown’s ‘Angels and Demons’. I was too busy enjoying Tom Hanks’ performance.
Great info on the high risk nature of tackling twists.
Thanks for that, Mazzy. I read ‘The Da Vinci’ Code, but haven’t read or seen ‘Angels and Demons’. Was it a good ‘didn’t see that coming’ twist or a bad ‘didn’t see that coming’ twist? It’s hard to write those twists that work really well. Thanks for commenting.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book version of ‘Angels & Demons’ & loved the twist ending, particularly as Brown had set it up quite a while before, but you weren’t sure what had happened (people with secret knowledge that wasn’t revealed to the reader until the end). But then I realised it was a bit of a Dan Brown trope; by the time I read ‘The Lost Symbol’ (which I thought was quite dull by comparison) I guessed the twist about a third of the way into it, just because I knew there had to be one!
Thanks for a good post, Nola. Good information.
I liked the twist in The Secret Keeper too but it was a bit spoilt for me because I didn’t like one of the characters involved and would have enjoyed the other one being given more space. Oh, dear! – did you interpret that sentence?
Good re The Bible. And it’s so good to read the OT in that light.
I enjoy twists but I need the characters to be well developed and nice enough for me to empathise with them.
Thanks Jeanette. I think I know which character you mean from ‘The Secret Keeper’. I didn’t like the young version of one of the main characters, and then the twist helped make sense of that. And yes, it’s always a lot better when you can empathise with the character. There have been a few books (probably many books) I haven’t been able to get into because I really didn’t care about any of the characters. They don’t need to be entirely likable for me, but I have to at least have some sympathy for why they act the way they do. Thanks for commenting.
Good article! I wonder how many twists aren’t planned from the start but are suddenly conceived when trying to solve a problem. I think the best surprise I’ve ever written wasn’t what I was planning when I started. It came to me about halfway through the writing of What Matters Most when I was struggling to figure out the exact details of the final resolution of a dangerous problem. I needed those to build toward that climax keeping everything increasingly tense and believable. (Prayer partners are great at times like that.) When I tried the new idea on my husband, he loved it. Then I tried the twist on my mid-twenties son, who is the body model for four of the men on my covers. He loved it, too. That’s a good enough test for me to embrace the risk of using it. Since the ARC readers are loving it now, I’m breathing sighs of relief.
Thanks for that, Carol. That’s great news that you’re getting good feedback from your ARCs. I know what you mean about plotting. There are a few twists and turns in my novel, and I set some of those up in advance. But some emerged as the plot developed, mainly because I had to write myself out of a few sticky corners. I needed divine inspiration for a few of those. Thanks for commenting.
The biggest surprise twist I’ve read was in a children’s novel. About 100 pages into the book, the reader discovers all the adult characters are robots! And suddenly a whole lot of things made sense.
Interesting I don’t like reading fantasy and wouldn’t have chosen to read this book if I’d known, but I was so intrigued when the twist happened that I happily kept reading. It was a good story.
Another author who does twists and mystery well is Liane Moriarty. I was very pleased with myself for working out the mystery in The Last Anniversary before it was revealed. But then, there was a twist at the very end that I didn’t see coming, but had been totally foreshadowed.
Hi Susan – Thanks for both of those comments. That children’s book does sound interesting. I love it when a twist takes you by surprise, but then everything makes sense. Kate Morton did that so well in The Secret Keeper. And I must start reading Liane Moriarty. I’ve heard a lot of good things about her books. Thanks for those great examples.