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Setting up a major twist while keeping the all-too-important points that make it logical but while keeping it low-key enough that it is not immediately picked up can be the most challenging aspect of writing twists into your plot. Practice, more than anything, produces talent in this area.
A few /very/ good examples of stories that include major twists foreshadowed by small and easy to overlook points are Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. The major revelation at the end of Deathly Hallows (I’ll not spoil it for those who do not know) has foreshadowing all the way back in the second book, and of a nature so easy to overlook speculation about the point did not arise until a few months before DH was published. In Lord of the Rings we are introduced to the one ring in The Hobbit (I know, not quite part of LoTR, but same thing
) and Gollum is shown as obsessing over it – the explanation given sates our curiosity, but once we discover the true nature of the ring and the depths of his depravity it makes much more sense.
Remember, sometimes it is best to place a twist in your story that has no foreshadowing – this should be done at your own discretion, and however you feel best. At no point think that I am “telling” you how to craft the perfect twist – this is merely advice.
Placing too many twists in your story is something you most definitely want to avoid, as they can make the story too hard to follow and turn the reader off of the story, something which you most certainly do not want. A good balance between the twists and straight sections can be hard to discover sometimes, but just do what feels natural to you – practice, again, helps you figure out how best you can manage this.
A few /very/ good examples of stories that include major twists foreshadowed by small and easy to overlook points are Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. The major revelation at the end of Deathly Hallows (I’ll not spoil it for those who do not know) has foreshadowing all the way back in the second book, and of a nature so easy to overlook speculation about the point did not arise until a few months before DH was published. In Lord of the Rings we are introduced to the one ring in The Hobbit (I know, not quite part of LoTR, but same thing
) and Gollum is shown as obsessing over it – the explanation given sates our curiosity, but once we discover the true nature of the ring and the depths of his depravity it makes much more sense.
Remember, sometimes it is best to place a twist in your story that has no foreshadowing – this should be done at your own discretion, and however you feel best. At no point think that I am “telling” you how to craft the perfect twist – this is merely advice.
Placing too many twists in your story is something you most definitely want to avoid, as they can make the story too hard to follow and turn the reader off of the story, something which you most certainly do not want. A good balance between the twists and straight sections can be hard to discover sometimes, but just do what feels natural to you – practice, again, helps you figure out how best you can manage this.
03-Jun-2008 22:13:37 - Last edited on 03-Jul-2008 15:59:39 by CaptChekaka
Another type would be a flashback to a traumatic event in a character's past triggered by a site, smell, sound, or… anything, really. The site of a massacred village might awaken in one of your characters the memory of their own massacred village, for example. Or the scent of a certain flower might recall to them the death of their lover, who used to wear that flower in her hair (of course, it could be a him, but really
). Anything you can think of really. This type can generally only fit into the middle of a scene, though this can be changed with proper scene changing (see the above article). The scene would continue after the flashback, often with someone asking the character if they're all right, or the character finding that they've collapsed; these are but examples, and feel free to do whatever feels best for you in the certain scene.
These are the more common methods of executing a flashback, but by no means the only ways. Rowling's pensieve, for example, is merely a method of showing flashbacks, albeit a less than conventional one. Perhaps your character will see something of the past in a crystal ball; perhaps you'll invent an item with which they might see something which has passed. Don't be afraid to be imaginative: you're meant to be. Never forget that, in writing, your imagination is your greatest asset.
). Anything you can think of really. This type can generally only fit into the middle of a scene, though this can be changed with proper scene changing (see the above article). The scene would continue after the flashback, often with someone asking the character if they're all right, or the character finding that they've collapsed; these are but examples, and feel free to do whatever feels best for you in the certain scene.
These are the more common methods of executing a flashback, but by no means the only ways. Rowling's pensieve, for example, is merely a method of showing flashbacks, albeit a less than conventional one. Perhaps your character will see something of the past in a crystal ball; perhaps you'll invent an item with which they might see something which has passed. Don't be afraid to be imaginative: you're meant to be. Never forget that, in writing, your imagination is your greatest asset.
03-Jun-2008 22:17:00 - Last edited on 07-Aug-2008 01:59:51 by CaptChekaka
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