by C. S. Lakin
Having characters jump to conclusions, make emotional judgments, fail to see the obvious because of emotional issues—these can all help when creating twists. An insecure character will think her best friend has abandoned her when he doesn’t show up, and that can push her to reactions and actions that will send her off in an unexpected direction.
This morning, before working on this book, I continued plotting out my next Western in my Front Range series, Wyoming Tryst. This exact situation comes into play when my hero, Robert Morrison, rides into Laramie to meet with his beloved so they can marry. When he can’t find her and no one knows where she’s gone, he quickly assumes she jilted him.
Why? Because at the start of the novel we see Robert’s friends trying to lift his spirits after a woman jilted him. Instead of looking further and probably discovering that she’s been hauled off to prison for shooting a would-be rapist in self-defense, he leaves town and heads to Colorado, hurt and angry. This makes the way for another great plot twist and crisis of conscience when he reads in a newspaper that his Julia, daughter of another prominent ranching family, is slated for execution, incarcerated at the territorial prison.
(If you haven’t guessed, I’m doing Romeo and Juliet a la Wyoming in the 1870s, so you might recognize this as the early scene in which Romeo is walking the streets of Verona upset over being ignored by Rosaline.)
Make Those Twists Believable
The best twists work because the reader has been led to believe in the certainty of a situation or outcome. By pulling that out from under the reader (and set up believably with those earlier hints), the twist will cause that shock and surprise, but it will work (so long as you don’t lie to your readers). And you don’t want readers to be angry or upset at a stupid or unbelievable plot twist. If your readers say, “Aw, come on—that character would never do that” or “That just would never happen,” then your twist isn’t well constructed.
I read a best-selling novel that had a big twist at the end that was so unbelievable, I got angry and threw the book across the room! I had loved The Horse Whisperer . . . up until the love interest killed himself in order to spare the heroine from having to choose between him and her husband. I kid you not (Redford changed the ending in the movie, and wisely so!).
In other words, don’t use a stupid, unbelievable twist just for shock value. Think through your twists, and make them work to your benefit.
No, they’re not all that easy to do, but spend time thinking about creating twists in your story. As with any key development in your novel, you can make a list of five or more expected outcomes of a choice or action. Then study those and think how you could perhaps use the opposite of one.
What could make a close friend turn on your protagonist? Something she misheard? Something she needs or longs for that comes within her grasp that makes her choose that thing over supporting the protagonist? Speaking of Romeo and Juliet, could there be any better example of a story rife with misdirection, wrong assumptions, and unexpected twists? I think not. (Don’t worry, in my novel, being that it is a sweet romance and not a tragedy, my characters don’t end up dead! But it’s gonna be close!) Which also prompts me to encourage you to study the great classics—novels and plays.
In the Spanish play Life Is a Dream, written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, a contemporary of Shakespeare’s, Segismundo, prince of Poland, has been imprisoned in a tower by his father, King Basilio, following a dire prophecy that the prince would bring disaster to the country and death to the king. Basilio briefly frees Segismundo, but when the prince goes on a rampage, the king imprisons him again, persuading him that it was all a dream.
Similar to Oedipus Rex, the prince, in attempting to thwart a prophecy, causes the prophecy to be fulfilled. These are great plot twists that would be featured prominently in the Ten Key Scene Chart, without a doubt.
What If Readers Figure Out the Twists?
Now, some readers may figure out your plot twist early, and that’s fine—so long as your plot twist really advances the story and creates intriguing drama. You can have readers for dozens of pages biting their nails because they’ve figured out (they think) the twist, and now they can’t wait to see what happens when the character learns the truth.
I have lots of powerful plot twists in The Map across Time, which is probably one of the reasons it’s my favorite of all my novels. I took all the major plot elements—the mystery of the queen’s “death” (did she really die?), the firebird’s strange appearance (what really is the firebird?), the magical map (who made it?), the stranger that instructs Adin (who is he?)—and twisted them all. The entire book is a twist. And by the end, all the twists lay out in a flat line of clear, concise story.
Work on coming up with twists for those two key scenes in your first layer. Then think how to set them up well earlier in the story. Keep in mind, though, that your story and genre might lead you to put that big twist in at the end, even after the climax.
Jodi Picoult’s novel My Sister’s Keeper had two potent plot twists at the end—one pertaining to the actual plot events (the accident) and the other the reveal about Anna’s true motivation for wanting to stop being a donor for her sister, Kate, who has leukemia. Picoult’s book is the perfect example of setting up readers’ expectations and beliefs such that these twists, so cleverly built into the story, hit hard.
The movie Outbreak comes to my mind with twist #2. Dustin Hoffman’s character finally finds the monkey carrying the disease. He flies to the noted location, and the monkey is caught. They now have great hope to get a cure made before everyone in the quarantined town (and possibly the world) dies.
But . . . he learns upon returning that the president has authorized full cleansing, and the bomb is en route to annihilate the town. Hope is raised but then so are the stakes, and that propels the story toward turning point #4—that major setback or crisis at the climax.
There’s nothing more fun than raising someone’s hopes to the heights, then dashing them. No, I’m not mental. This is good storytelling!
Raise your character’s hopes at a moment when he really needs hope. Then smash it into pieces and send him reeling. That’s the build to the climax.
Red Herrings
In lieu of a twist, you might throw some red herrings in to misdirect a character (and reader) and lead him off track. Just as a strong smell of fish might cause a hunting dog to detour from his path of finding a downed bird, a strong misdirection can throw off a character, or your reader.
A red herring is a common device used in mysteries and thrillers to distract the reader from identifying the real culprit. The red herring may be a character that the reader suspects due to misdirection by the author but who turn out be innocent when the real murderer is identified. But red herrings can be used in any novel as a way to complicate the plot and interfere with the protagonist reaching her goal.
In The Da Vinci Code, we see the protagonist, Robert Langdon, certain that Bishop Aringorosa is the one killing people to find the Holy Grail. This belief distracts both Robert and the reader from the unexpected mastermind of the plot: Sir Leigh Teabing, the frail old man and mentor of the hero.
In the movie Legally Blonde, Elle Woods—erstwhile bimbo, now aspiring attorney studying at Harvard—is helping in a trial defending Brooke Wyndham, who is accused of killing her husband. Brooke can’t give an alibi, and her stepdaughter has told an eyewitness account of Brooke standing over the dead body with gun in hand, so it looks pretty bad for Brooke. However, when Elle goes to visit Brooke in prison, Brooke confides that on the day of the murder, she had liposuction—something the famous fitness guru wouldn’t dare let the public know. Elle eliminates the red herring, which leads to her solving the murder.
Red herrings can also be objects, such as a piece of clothing, a ring, or a book. But when you’re laying out our ten key plot scenes, you want to come up with a red herring—should you choose to use one—that causes a twist in the action, and usually in the protagonist’s or
in another’s that directly impacts his path.
Red herrings are great elements that create twists, but too many of them can muddle a plot and create lack of focus. But one of your key twists in your novel could be a red herring—if it fits your genre.
Unreliable Narrator and Smoking Guns
I love the image that comes to mind with the term “smoking gun.” If you see a smoking gun in a person’s hand when you walk into a room, it’s weighty evidence that the person just fired that gun. “Smoking guns” can be effective in twists because of the misdirection they create.
In my detective novel A Thin Film of Lies, Mike Jepson is arguing with his wife in his front yard when the police show up to check the dent on his front car bumper. Tiny threads from the sweater the victim Libby Denham was wearing are carefully collected and submitted as evidence that Mike hit and killed her with his car. But it’s a smoking gun. And one that, complied with other “smoking” bits of “evidence,” land Mike in jail for manslaughter.
A plot twist could be the result of an unreliable narrator. I found Gone Girl, while highly disturbing, impressive due to the twist created by the unreliable (read: flagrant liar and psychopath!) female lead in the story. You are way into the book by the time you learn the cold, scary truth about Amy Dunne.
In The Girl on the Train, we see a number of plot twists, red herrings (the doctor Rachel thinks may have killed Megan, for example), and an unreliable narrator (who turns out to be not so much) due to her excessive drinking habit. A brilliantly structured novel—a murder mystery—that uses those important plot twist scenes in all the right places.
Don’t Forget to Properly Set Up Your Twists
While plot twists need to be surprising, they should be properly set up. Meaning, if you are going to have that “smoking gun” show up late in the story, you need to show a hint of it early on. Anton Chekov said, “One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn’t going to go off. It’s wrong to make promises you don’t mean to keep.”
Think about including one or two strong twists in your story, but be sure to set them up.
All the clues are there to show that Dr. Crowe in The Sixth Sense is dead—young Cole tells him directly: “I see dead people” as he’s looking right at Crowe. I sure missed the obvious there!
The best twists are the ones that cause readers to say, “Oh, I should have seen that coming!” But, of course, you don’t want your reader to see it coming. You want that twist to hit her smack on the head. But if you hint enough earlier, the payoff is fantastic.
Which is what makes Turow’s breakout novel Presumed Innocent so terrific. Turow gives so many great clues to indicate who murdered Carolyn Polhemus—and the murderer is a huge surprise—that when you finally, in the end, learn who that is, you realize it was obvious. Yet, both readers and characters in the story are absolutely blindsided by this revelation. No wonder it topped the best-sellers lists for months.
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Your assignment: Come up with at least three great twists for your novel. Play around with the idea of a red herring or two. Who can come across as an ally but really be an antagonist (or vice versa)? Think of some ways you can drop hints early in the story that misdirect or mislead (without lying to or betraying the reader). Then consider how you might place two of those plot twists in the appropriate places in your layer.
Remember: Twist #1 comes somewhere after the first pinch point and before the Midpoint. This is where something new happens: a new ally appears, a friend becomes a foe. New info reveals a serious complication to reaching the goal. The protagonist must adjust in response to this setback.
Twist 2 comes after the second pinch point and before the climax. In this twist, an unexpected surprise rears up, giving (false?) hope. The goal now looks within reach. This might be in a mentor giving encouragement, the acquiring of a secret weapon, or the obtaining of an important clue, for example.
When you’re happy with what you’ve come up with, write these twists in your chart.
Chapter 9: The Dark Night, the Climax, and the Resolution
While the purpose of these last key scenes may be somewhat obvious, there are some aspects we should keep in mind when crafting the “dark night” moment and the climax of our story. These are the big powerful scenes the entire story is barreling toward, and it’s important we structure them carefully for greatest impact.
The Dark Moment Showcases Your Themes
I haven’t spoken about theme in this book, but it’s an essential pillar of novel structure. Even a suspense thriller that appears to be just a hang-on-to-your-seat wild ride of chases and danger can present themes that readers resonate with. Just take a look at the popular superhero movies—they’re all about good defeating evil, one of the most ubiquitous themes in stories.
Theme is what your story is “really about.” Theme is your protagonist’s inner motivation made universal. So it stands to reason that in that key scene #8—the “dark night of the soul” moment—your novel’s theme is going to come to the forefront. The dark moment of despair or hopelessness often reflects back the theme by showing exactly how the character feels about the pertinent issues in her situation.
So when you’re brainstorming that dark moment and your climax, think about your themes, and have your character face full-on the things that matter most to her and what is ultimately driving her to her goal.
Make It Impossible
In this dark moment, we need to think of all the ways we can make this situation as hopeless as possible. Everything the character has depended on up till now should fail.
Once the character feels all is lost and processes the situation she is in, she essentially looks back on the journey so far—what brought her to this brink of failure—and questions her commitment, beliefs, choices, and actions. If “all is lost” at this crisis point, it only stands to reason she is going to look at how she got here and what possible options there are, if any, for going forward.
Now, at this crucial point in the story, the plan to reach her goal has failed, the obstacles are insurmountable, and the character thinks, “There’s absolutely no way out.” If you’re writing a romance, this is the moment the hero loses all hope of getting the girl. In a mystery, arriving at the truth seems impossible. In a thriller, evil seems to have won.
At this point, too, there’s no retreating or going back—the only way out is through. And that means one final hard push toward that goal—often lacking the support of allies the character once had. Often the hero has to go it alone—everyone else is either dead or has abandoned him.
Make It Believable
Readers love it when we paint our heroes into a corner that is seemingly impossible to get out of. And that’s the challenge of the dark night moment and climax. But we need the situation and the solutions to be believable. If you are going to have your character use some talent or skill or amazing intellect to prevail, you better make sure you set up throughout the story that he has that needed attribute.
If you’re going to have another character suddenly show up and save the day, that’s not going to work. Your hero has to be the one to draw from his well of inner resources to push through to victory. Yes, an ally can show up to give support—think of how Hans Solo comes “out of nowhere” in Star Wars to help Luke Skywalker in that eleventh hour to destroy the Death Star. But Luke is the hero, and it’s his goal we’re focused on. He saves the day by trusting the force and firing the explosive that blows up the Death Star.
The Moment of Truth
Part of the dark night moment is the transition from hopelessness to determination. This is the “moment of truth” that comes right before the outward, visible action taken to reach the goal. The decision to press on is made in that “moment of truth.” Does she really want to reach that goal? What’s it worth to her? What will it truly cost her? What will the consequences be if she fails? Who will suffer?
With lighter stories, you’re not going to have car chases and a h
igh death count as your hero races toward the goal.
At the end of Never Been Kissed, Josie is standing on the pitcher’s mound with the clock ticking. She has alienated the guy she loves and has exposed her heart by revealing her ruse (pretending to be a high school student) via an article she wrote for her newspaper. Will Sam forgive her and come to the ballpark before the clock counts down to zero? Everyone in the crowd is waiting and watching with her, hoping he’ll come. Her heart is on the line, but he’s not there . . . then, he runs toward her. Whew!
You still need to wrap up the climax by showing what is going on around the hero once he gets to the goal line. The world may continue crumbling around him, but he finds a way out. The girl might get the guy, but they still have to kiss, let everyone cheer them, then take their bow. The moment needs to be resolved in a satisfying way.
Here are a few movies with great climax moments:
It’s a Wonderful Life: George’s dark moment brings him to the revelation of seeing what the world would have been like if he wasn’t in it, and this then moves him to run back to the bridge where he was going to jump to his death and instead cries, “I want to live again!” From there, the town comes together at the climax to help George raise the lost money so he can avoid arrest.
Ender’s Game: After Ender completes his training and practice sessions, the big battle against the Formics takes place. Under the greatest duress, Ender vents his anger and destroys the enemy, thinking he is only trying to pass a test. His dark moment occurs when he learns the truth—that he actually annihilated an entire species and their home world. While the big battle appears to be the climax, it’s a “faux” climax. For Ender, his goal is reached and his arc is complete when he rescues the queen pupa and heads off to a planet to ensure the survival of her species.
