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When building a twist into the ending, should I leak enough information such that astute readers could predict the twist if they stopped and mulled it over or should I withhold key elements to guarantee it is a surprise?
As a follow-up: Does a reader feel smart or robbed if they can see the twist?
There are two versions of "the reader can't figure out the ending." One is Sherlock Holmes, and the other is Murder by Death.
In the Holmes stories, the reader doesn't necessarily see all the details which Holmes does at the time, but he does explain them all at some point by the end, so the trail of logic is clear. (At which point the reader might ejaculate "Child's play, Holmes!" along with the good doctor.)
In Murder by Death, which is a parody of detective stories, the murderer complains at the end about stories which introduce impossible details, unknown suspects, and twists which are essentially authorial butt-pulls because there's literally no way the reader could have figured it out.
The Murder by Death version is definitely annoying. I would suggest you don't do that. The Holmes version may work if it's something which the reader could follow in hindsight or on re-reading. A logical chain which we don't see until it's pointed out is different from "No, it was the secret identical twin you never heard about until just now!"
Part of the fun of a mystery is trying to solve it along with the protagonist. If you make it impossible because all the data isn't there, it takes some of the enjoyment out of it.
Some readers like being able to figure out the twist; others prefer it to be really hard. That's YMMV, and I wouldn't worry about it too much.
I firmly believe that the answer it yes.
The real challenge is hiding the clues in plain view while building up to the twist, distracting the readers from them, so when the sudden turn happens, some would say: "Wait, what?... nooooo...", some might even flip the pages back and say: "Ahh... right... I see... how could I miss that?...", and some, of course, will stretch their lips in a lopsided grin and huff: "Like, totally saw it coming...", but this is what makes writing–and reading–mysteries more fun.
However, more often than not a predictability of the twist comes not only from the obvious clues, left bare, but from a trope-laden cliche-based plot.
By definition, it is not a twist if the reader sees it coming. In fact, there is nothing worse than a plot twist that you see coming. Nothing makes a story seem more contrived than when you see the twist coming and it does.
Now, if the reader sees a twist coming and then the story actually twists the other way, that is more interesting. But it is something of a high wire act. Who is to say that the reader will keep reading when they are convinced a predictable twist is coming.
But the most important thing about a twist is that it must provide a more satisfying ending than the one that the reader was expecting. A mere zig zag is simply going to leave the story in the ditch. The twist has to provide the more satisfying and more logical outcome, the outcome that makes better sense of all that has gone before.
Twists work when you don't see them coming, and when things make so much more sense after the do. It's that second part that is both essential and tricky. You have to lay the groundwork so that the twist makes sense when it comes without telegraphing that it is coming, since a telegraphed twist is just disappointing.
It's all about readability.
Do you want your readers to read your book again, and find out some unique new puzzle or piece of information that they never noticed in the first read through? Are you writing your book to be a one night stand, just a fling - or do you want your book to be something that is re-read, reanalyzed and redigested to understand deeper meanings?
Probably not.
But leading in enough information to design a story through subtle hints that occur that can be overlooked, or leading in with foreshadowing are very powerful techniques that create the 'woah' moment that brings readers back for more, especially in the science fiction genre.
It depends. In cases when the story is not plot-driven, it might even be the desired effect for the twist to be unexpected.
Lets say you are writing a drama novel about the life of a fictional entrepreneur. You go through the significant events that got him here, creating his startup. Finally everything seems to be going smoothly and John is just about to fly to SV to pitch his product in front of a crowd of VCs. Funding is the remaining piece of the puzzle and with what he has to offer, success is imminent. Suddenly, he receives a call with terrible news. His six years old daughter is in critical condition after being hit by a car. From there you can end on how he goes to the hospital, she dies, he falls into despair and gives up on everything, including the company that was so far central to the story.
Did you need to foreshadow the accident? Not really. There is no way the protagonist or anyone in the story's universe could have anticipated it. Accidents just happen without warning. The novel was never about the final resolution of some conflict. It was about the thoughts, feelings and actions of a man experiencing the ups and downs on his journey. The journey just happened to end on a hefty down.
Another example is in comedy writing. No one laughs at predictable puns. As long as you set up the right tone, the more bizarre (or even world breaking) a twist is, the more effective it can be.
On the other hand, it can be very frustrating if the plot is the driving factor, yet you pull something out of your buttocks in the last moment.
Picture a murder mystery that ends with a person that was never introduced calling the detective and saying "Hey, last night I was very drunk. I now notice that I brought a bloodied bat home. I don't remember much of what happened, but I want to to turn in and cooperate." Complete disaster.
Or a classic fantasy story that ends with the benevolent old wizard completing the young protagonist's quest by waving his staff and defeating the evil warlock on the other side of the world (Deus ex machina).
It's all about what you want your narrative to revolve around, making that clear to the reader early on and fulfilling said promise. Hence you don't even need to have a twist, as long as you have set up that expectation and there is something else worth while.
As for how much to reveal and what the reaction is, I'm going with the assumption that the twist is essential to the story.
perpendicular notations on the other.
Apr 5, 2017 at 18:53