Cleverly Twisted: Writing a Plot Twist that Excites

A good plot twist is the hook, line, and sinker for every reader or agent out there. With a cleverly written plot twist, your story can stand apart from so many other stories on the exact same subject. Now the tricky part is, how can one write such a cleverly twisted plot twist? Before we discuss how to write a plot twist, let’s ask… just what exactly is a plot twist?

What is a Plot Twist?

A plot twist by definition is an unexpected development in a book, film, television program, etc. It is something unexpected, yet realistic in the story. Here are a few types:

• The Red Herring. This plot twist happens when one person, place, or thing is shown in a very specific light to trick readers, only to become the opposite in the end — within reason of course.

• False Protagonist: Readers quickly cling to the main character shown in the start — but if they die or turn out to be the villain, the whole story can shift and make everything uncertain. This one is tricky, but excellent if done correctly.

• Unreliable Narrator: In this plot twist, the POV character or narrator either doesn’t hold all of the facts and is telling the story on half the knowledge or they are hiding things from the reader.

There are quite a few more types of plot twists, but right now we will be going over how to incorporate one into your story.

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Subtlety is Key

Don’t be too obvious about it, but don’t forget to mention it. If a golden laced glove is to be important at the end of the story and you want it to be a surprise, vaguely mention it periodically in ways that make sense in the scene but don’t oversell it or hyper-fixate on it. Just a passing comment or description will do.

Twists that Add Tension

Be sure that any plot twists you use in your story add some tension to the story. If the plot twist is just something to shock or surprise your reader but doesn’t add anything to the plot, then it doesn’t really serve its purpose and will fall flat on its face.

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Believable yet Shocking

A plot twist needs to be realistic to make any real impact. Let’s say you’ve built up your story to reveal that one of seven people could be a killer. All of them have a motive, and it could even be one of the investigators — but then you reveal the killer is the long-lost cousin who has never been spoken of for this whole story! It’s so out of the left field and random that all that tension and buildup between the seven options end up doing nothing.

Murder on the Orient Express handles this type of plot twists well as not one, but all of the people suspected of the murder worked together!

Misdirection of Suspicion

This goes hand in hand with the Red Herring plot twist. If you’ve shown off an important person, place, or thing that will reveal something large later in the story, create a diversion after introducing this important point. For example, there is a new character introduced and they are oddly familiar to the main character, but before they can quite figure it out an unexpected event happens and distracts them from this familiar person.

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Avoid Cliches like the Plague

Some plot twists have become overused, such as the hero's parents being the villains all along, the long-lost family, and the very good and incredibly nice man is actually deeply evil, and others like this are predictable and dull. Here are a few plot twists to try instead:

• Your hero must take on a secret identity. Who all will know about this? Who is this for? And how far will they go with it?

• A crucial character disappears in the night. What was threatening them that made them have to run? How would this affect the plot?

• Your hero quits their quest. Why did they quit? What would this mean for the rest of the story?

Beta Reader Feedback

It is very important to get Beta Reader feedback on your story and the plot twists before marking your book as complete. Sometimes your beta reader will adore the plot twists, but most of the time they will be able to give valuable insight as to what could really be a surprisingly delightful plot twist as opposed to what actually was supposed to be. Or they could help you polish the plot twist to have an extra impact on the reader.

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Overall, no matter how you want to do a plot twist the important thing is that it adds meaning or depth to your plot. Don’t try to surprise the reader via the shock factor, the plot twist should move your story forward by adding tension or depth in some way.