Welcome to part two! One of my favourite things about any story is a juicy plot twist--and if your story is boring or flat, I can guarantee that's what it needs.
Plot twists are events that take the story in a new direction. They keep both your characters and your readers guessing and add an element of risk--they tell your reader that you are unpredictable and may break the rules... in a good way. There's nothing more boring than a story that's just plodding slowly along to a clearly foreseen climax. Plot twists snatch the story and drag it down a new route--one your readers (hopefully) weren't expecting.
Plot twists take many forms: red herrings (purposefully misleading readers through story events), reveals, sudden, fortune-changing events, and many others. Here's a list of plot twists with examples from great movies. Just be aware, great plot twists are ALWAYS spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, skip the example (if you don't want spoilers).
Introduce Something New Probably the simplest way to twist the plot is to introduce a new character or situation. Something that shakes up the protagonist's world. It could be anything from a new kid on the street to a cancer diagnosis. Just remember that it's not a plot twist unless it's a game changer.
Example: Toy Story When Andy gets a Buzz Lightyear toy, life completely changes for Woody, pushing him out of his comfort zone and into situations he never thought he could handle.
Plot twists take many forms: red herrings (purposefully misleading readers through story events), reveals, sudden, fortune-changing events, and many others. Here's a list of plot twists with examples from great movies. Just be aware, great plot twists are ALWAYS spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, skip the example (if you don't want spoilers).
Introduce Something New Probably the simplest way to twist the plot is to introduce a new character or situation. Something that shakes up the protagonist's world. It could be anything from a new kid on the street to a cancer diagnosis. Just remember that it's not a plot twist unless it's a game changer.
Example: Toy Story When Andy gets a Buzz Lightyear toy, life completely changes for Woody, pushing him out of his comfort zone and into situations he never thought he could handle.
Red Herring As stated above, a red herring is when the author tries to make his readers (and sometimes his characters) think something about the story that is not true. The author later reveals that the readers have been following a false scent.
Example: Monsters, Inc. When Sully finds Randall on the scare floor after hours Mike assumes Randall is cheating. Only later in the movie do Mike and Sully discover Randall's real plot, which is far more sinister than they ever suspected.
Example: Monsters, Inc. When Sully finds Randall on the scare floor after hours Mike assumes Randall is cheating. Only later in the movie do Mike and Sully discover Randall's real plot, which is far more sinister than they ever suspected.
Reveal This is the catch-all for plot twists, because so many types fall under this category. Even red herrings have to have a reveal at some point. Reveals only work well if the readers would never have guessed it on their own, so don't make it something they could see a mile off (the hero being the special one the prophecy speaks of, for example, isn't a particularly stunning plot twist).
Example: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke Skywalker's father. This really throws a spanner in Luke's goals to avenge his father's death and become a jedi because a) his father turns out to be the evil psycho he's been trying to kill, and b) Luke doesn't know whether or not he's inherited some of his dad's moral instability.
Example: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke Skywalker's father. This really throws a spanner in Luke's goals to avenge his father's death and become a jedi because a) his father turns out to be the evil psycho he's been trying to kill, and b) Luke doesn't know whether or not he's inherited some of his dad's moral instability.
Take Something Away Equally effective is removing something the hero was counting and depending on--his home, a mentor, or a valuable heirloom that was going to repair the family fortunes. Bear in mind that loss of any kind is painful and it won't simply be a plot twist--it will change your character on a deeper level too.
Example: Big Hero 6 Hiro loses his big brother Tadashi, someone he looks up to and depends on. With Tadashi gone, Hiro has to deal with his loss and learn to push through on his own.
Example: Big Hero 6 Hiro loses his big brother Tadashi, someone he looks up to and depends on. With Tadashi gone, Hiro has to deal with his loss and learn to push through on his own.
Peripeteia This is a sudden switch from good to bad or from bad to good in the events of the story. It's most effective when everything is either going amazing or going terrible for your protagonist, because it makes more of a contrast and comes as more of a shock.
Example #1: Up The story begins with a whole list of awful events for the protagonist, Mr. Frederickson. His wife dies, the big city has taken over his once-rural neighbourhood, he's going to lose his house, and he's being sent to an assisted living facility. Things are looking really bad when suddenly Mr. Frederickson releases thousands of helium balloons and floats his house away to South America, fulfilling his childhood dream of exploration.
Conversely...
Example #2: The Lego Movie Everything is awesome until Emmet finds the piece of resistance and thereafter gets arrested, becomes a fugitive, has to save the world, almost dies several times... you get the picture.
Example #1: Up The story begins with a whole list of awful events for the protagonist, Mr. Frederickson. His wife dies, the big city has taken over his once-rural neighbourhood, he's going to lose his house, and he's being sent to an assisted living facility. Things are looking really bad when suddenly Mr. Frederickson releases thousands of helium balloons and floats his house away to South America, fulfilling his childhood dream of exploration.
Conversely...
Example #2: The Lego Movie Everything is awesome until Emmet finds the piece of resistance and thereafter gets arrested, becomes a fugitive, has to save the world, almost dies several times... you get the picture.
I hope I've helped you add a few new tools to your writing arsenal. If your story feels lifeless and dull shake things up a bit with one of these plot twists!
Last time: Subplots Up next: Fun and Games
Last time: Subplots Up next: Fun and Games