Questions tagged [twist]
A twist is a point in the plot of a story where what the reader has assumed to be true turns out to be false or incomplete. Use this tag for questions about how to write or handle twists, or if you should include them. Do not use this tag for general plot questions.
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Writing a particular plot in my story
In my story, a group of courageous teenagers named Maverick, Kristy, Stuart, Alice, and Gaurav find themselves engaged in an intense battle against formidable extraterrestrial foes. These teenagers ...
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How to trick the reader of a character's sexuality
For my story, I am trying to write a mystery on the protagonist's sexuality. Throughout the story, there are subtle hints that he is either bisexual or gay, whether either past relationships or ...
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What ways can be used to make a story secretly horror
I am trying to write the story for a game. It starts off well, only to end up really being horror. The goal is supposed to slowly become like that, but without the player figuring it out until it is ...
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How do I maintain a character's anonymity until it is revealed in the plot twist?
For my horror/thriller story, I want to start off with the prologue with a seemingly random character facing the main plot driving antagonist. I'm doing this by having the character have a nightmare ...
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Is it acceptable to have a subplot run out of sync with the main plot by a few days?
Is it acceptable to have a subplot run out of sync in front of the main plot by a couple of days and hide that fact from the reader until near the end, where it then becomes synced with the main plot? ...
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How do I deliver a historical plot reveal?
Right before the climax of my scifi fantasy novel, there's a big reveal about who the bad guys really are and how they influenced the magic system -- throughout history. This reveal will be the much ...
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Will naming a character Sindri make it too obvious that he isn't trustworthy? [closed]
I am writing a middle-grade series where a character is introduced early on as a supporter of the protagonists. He is enthusiastic at first, but grows more and more pessimistic as he realizes that ...
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How can I successfully change main character half-way through the story?
I write short stories in Chinese, and give a new page to my teacher to correct every few days. This is the story I'm thinking of writing:
We have a male main character. His wife is devoted to him, ...
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How to name MC after revealing body change?
The plot of the novel is the following: The villain has body-swapped with the MC and I want to keep this hidden and reveal it as a plot twist in the middle of the story.
If MC real name is John and ...
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Is an easily guessed plot twist a good plot twist?
In my post-apocalyptic novel, there are two "twists", but they're mostly tied up in each other. The first is that humans have developed different kinds of kineses, like hydrokinesis, telekinesis, and ...
user34214
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Magic is the twist
It feels silly to say, but I've got myself into a bit of a bind of a side project.
In a three-act structure (not what everyone uses, but a good reference point) you generally need to set up all ...
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Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy
I am writing a rather dark, grey fantasy story. It is supposed to feature a twist that turns the antagonist's goal to not to be evil at all (just misjudged) and really trivial (despite requiring large ...
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How do I write a compelling villain-all-along twist?
I have in mind a character who is the protagonist's trusted ally throughout the story, but it is revealed at the end that he was the primary antagonist for most of it. This kind of thing has, of ...
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When to finally reveal plot twist to characters?
In a post-apocalyptic novel I'm writing (which is the subject of many questions I've asked on Writing.SE), I recently cut out my entire Chapter 10-11. I was revealing the MC, Eris' finékinesis (death-...
user34214
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How to build up towards a "Moment of Reckoning" when my story is told in the first person?
I had started writing my novel in the first person. Later on, I planned some plot twists along the way.
For these plot twists to happen, the protagonist shouldn't be aware of the consequences/...
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How to trick the reader into thinking they're following a redshirt instead of the protagonist?
I'm currently planning a "magical girl" story, and I thought of an interesting way to start it, rather than launching straight into the backstory. It opens with a woman in her mid-thirties, complete ...
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Plot twist where the antagonist wins
I’m putting together this story and its formative stages are almost complete. However, I am genuinely interested as to how the ending would appear to the reader.
My protagonist is a skilled ...
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How to deceive the MC
My protagonist is finally meeting with the big boss of a mafia. At least, he thinks he is. The boss actually sends someone to pretend to be him.
I'm writing from the protagonist's (limited) POV. If I ...
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Too soon for a plot twist?
In my story, I will have a hero begin a journey. It will be the underdog story as well as good-vs-evil story. Think Frodo vs Sauron for massive oversimplification. Except in my story the hero becomes ...
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Using a different POV just for the opening line
I'm currently working on a short story with a dramatic "twist" ending. I use the quotation marks because, unlike a conventional plot twist aimed at surprising the reader, the intended target of the ...
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How can I make a talky, idea-based concept enjoyable [closed]
I'm writing a psychological novel about different characters finding the meaning of their lives. But the ending reveals it was all part of an experiment (properly foreshadowed). Someone was trying to ...
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Of plottwists and endings
While writing my story this has come up in my mind a lot.
I have been planning and foreshadowing this major plottwist near the end of my story.
But the effects of it might change my world utterly and ...
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Will the ending spoilt it if I keep my plot twists till the last chapters?
I have set up the plot of a general fiction; with 3 important twists that follow one by one at the end - I figured that it was better than making it a thriller (where there are minor twists that are ...
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Ideas for a twist or plot point involving adopted character's parents [closed]
I'm writing a plot for a tabletop game, and one of my players is running a character who was taken from her home at a very young age. (it's her earliest memory) She was raised from that point on by an ...
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How to write two seemingly different characters that are actually the same person?
I'm currently working on a book with two protagonists and switching the perspective between them. They have quite different plotlines, but actually they're the same person. English is not my first ...
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Is it a deus ex machina if the alternative is illogical?
Background: I know to avoid Deus Ex Machinas - meaning to me a sudden and unexpected solution arriving out of nowhere to save an otherwise unsolvable problem. They are often indicative of a writer who ...
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How can I make sure a major twist is not disappointing? [duplicate]
I've been having some trouble with the ending of my current story, and I've decided that the best way to deal with those issues is to include a major twist. Due to the nature of this twist, I'm not ...
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Is discovering memories are false, a plot twist that invalidates my story so far?
So about halfway through the story I'm writing, the main characters discover that they're actually AI whose entire lives have been simulated in order to create an AI with human-level emotional skills. ...
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Should I make my character suspect an upcoming twist or not?
I have reached a point in my story in which the characters, who are in a sort of gang, will have to turn against each other. The specifics of it are not important; what is, is that capturing the main ...
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Plot twist twist = straight plot twist
I'm thinking of putting a "straight plot twist" to my story. What I have in mind is putting in a similar situation that leads to a previous plot twist, but actually the plot is just going straight ...
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What makes a plot twist believable/unbelievable?
I'm just interested. Since there were many plot twist in books, movies, etc some critics say they're unbelievable. Now I'm asking myself, what makes a plot twist believable/unbelievable?
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How can I surprise my readers with an unexpected betrayal?
In my action/adventure story, the two main protagonists are rescuing the injured victim and escaping the dungeon. (Or jail cell. Or whatever.) Once the protagonists have rescued the victim, I want to ...
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When having a plot twist, does there have to be foreshadowing of it?
Can it just pop out of nowhere, or does it have to be something that was slightly mentioned before that only expert readers would catch?
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