How do you do the twist ending?

[HourglassMemory]

this is probably the most important part on a story of the likes that I'm writing.

I could write the book as I have it in my mind but nothing really happens besides a continuous series of dangerous, life threatening events, Then it ends.

I feel like like I need something more.
The contents of the story are pretty original and from the very start, it's action all the way...but I want it to have something more.

I obviously can't tell you much about the story in such a "public" place, so all the help I could get would be great.
Perhaps through private messages?

If your story has a twist, how did you come up with it?
Please don't reveal your own story.
Try to explain it in theory.

Is it something like...lead the reader to think something, than show something completely different?
I think that's what's wrong with me....I don't know what I'm leading the reader toward.
Maybe just the reader wanting my characters to survive all these situations...but there's nothing else.
If they do...a moment later they're closing the book.

It's just pure entertainment and I want it to have something more.
I'm still getting to know my charcaters...do you think that is also part of the problem?

[Cyclops]

Outline. Plot the twist from the very beginning.

Think "The 6th Sense" movie. That twist existed before the story did.

[JoNightshade]

Why the paranoia about revealing stories?

[RRK]

It sounds like what you're really talking about is a climax to your novel. A good plot leads toward a climax, in which all the tension crests and most of the confusion/excitement is resolved. After that, the reader just sort of floats on your conclusion until they reach the end. You want some kind of revelation, or accident, or event, that will surprise/satisfy your reader. Mine came to me before I started my WIP, so I don't really know how to bring one about on purpose...but I'm sure if you look at your plot and characters more clostly, you can figure out some way to bring your novel to that one moment where you reward the reader's patience with something extraordinary happening.

[HourglassMemory]

Why the paranoia about revealing stories?

I dunno I really feel that it really is an original concept. And if I put it out here for all to see, someone might steal it.
It's childish but...

[Wolvel]

Well a good example of a twist was in the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic video game.

The whole time you hearing about what the character Revan did until towards the end you learn that you are revan, only your minds been tampered with so you no longer know it.

[Jamesaritchie]

I dunno I really feel that it really is an original concept. And if I put it out here for all to see, someone might steal it.
It's childish but...


I doubt there is such a thing as an original concept, but even if there were, give it to twenty writers and you'd get twenty very different stories.

[MelodyO]

My twist was that the murder which framed my entire novel didn't happen as everyone assumed it did, and wasn't committed by the person everyone assumed to be guilty (but by one of the good guys). I knew the ending before I committed a word to paper, and it was a lot of work to sprinkle red herrings throughout, never mind enough information so the truth made sense on second reading.

It's definitely slight of hand, wherein you lead your reader one way, then spring a whammy on them at the end. I wouldn't advise tacking a twist on unless you have it in mind while writing the whole book. A satisfying ending is hard enough even without jamming in a major twist. "A continuous series of dangerous, life threatening events, Then it ends" sounds pretty good to me! Just make the stakes plenty high, and you'll be fine. :0)

[Shady Lane]

If it's so original, why do you need a twist?

That said.....

Your reader is expecting something already. That's why the twist will throw them. The twist can't just be different from the original ending. It has to be bigger and BETTER.

Think 6th Sense, like Cyclops said. Think Fight Club.

[maestrowork]

Twist: something that is unexpected but still logical.

It's actually really easy, considering you know your characters and the general story arc. If normally the character would jump off the cliff, see if he would do something different (but I don't mean forcing him to do something different). There are always multiple choices in most situations, so don't pick the most obvious or easy one -- pick another one.

There, you have a twist.

And when people don't always say or do things they say they would, the result and consequences would become twists -- your readers won't guess it because your characters are not telling the truth.

A twist ending is just a grander twist to end your story.

A twist ending should still be logical and a fitting end to your story. Just not something your readers will expect. It can't come out of nowhere, though, and there has to be enough clues so that your readers will get it but at the same time say, "Why didn't I see this coming! I must pay more attention."

If you make them read the book again to get all the clues, more the better. Leave crumbs. But not enough for them to guess the twist.

[maestrowork]

Another way is to work backward from the ending and up. If you know what the ending is (such as in the Sixth Sense), then you can work backward to fit your plot within that framework.

[wayndom]

I could write the book as I have it in my mind but nothing really happens besides a continuous series of dangerous, life threatening events, Then it ends.

Judging from the above, I suspect you have a bigger problem than coming up with a twist ending. It sounds like you may have a series of dangerous events, but no plot or character development.

You can't just "tack on" a twist ending out of nowhere. It has to reflect what's been going on in the story up to that point. If you really have a story, not just a series of exciting scenes, then the ending should grow out of the story.

So some questions: Are these dangerous events linked together by some underlying idea? Do they grow naturally, one out of the other? Are they driven by one or more of your characters?

What is the central conflict that needs to be overcome in your story? When you say a series of dangerous events that just end, it suggests to my mind some people caught in a natural disaster, first threatened by an earthquake, that causes a fire, that results in riots, that eventually calm down. That's a series of dangerous events with no plot. Is that what you have? Because if it is, you need to come up with a story...

And by the way, if you have a story idea worth stealing, it can always be stolen after you've written it and had it published. You can't copyright story ideas, only the specific words you've written. How many Night of the Living Dead clones are out there? It's a cottage industry, but it goes to show that if your writing is good, there's always room for another version...

[Toothpaste]

Also don't forget that twist endings aren't necessary and don't necessarily make for a better book. If it fits into the plot, is something that needs to happen, then it is brilliant, but I know a lot of people who are tired of twist endings, Hollywood seems to advertise every movie lately as having a surprising twist at the end. Heck I would even say these days it might be more original NOT to have a twist. Darn it, that could ever BE the twist!

[lfraser]

In one of my short stories I had a "surprise" ending, but I wrote most of the story before I knew what the endng was. Once I understood the ending, I went back and edited the story so that there were enough clues in the story to ensure that the ending was not a cheat but rather the inevitable conclusion to what had gone before; it was exactly the ending needed for the story's protagonist. The information was all there for the reader to see.

I had a lot of fun with that one.

[Enraptured]

I agree with the advice about knowing the twist from the beginning. That way you not only know what you're leading up to in your writing, you can drop in little hints along the way :)

I also agree that twist endings aren't necessary. It depends on whether it fits the story or not.

Do the events of your story change your characters in some way? Often that can be enough to give the story substance, and a feeling that something has happened, without the need for a twist.

Of course, if you do decide a twist would fit the story, there is absolutely nothing wrong with adding one :) Unfortunately, I'm not sure how you would go about creating one, though. One of my stories uses a twist ending, but I came upon it by accident, because there were two scenarios that I wanted to use but that I couldn't figure out how to combine. I finally figured out how to combine them, and the combination ended up turning into a twist ending.

[Bufty]

Hourglass Memory.

Better to have twists and turns in your plot as the story unfolds, but if as you say, nothing really happens in your story, you may not have a plot at all.

What is your story about? - and that doesn't mean tell me everything that happens.

Who wants what, and who or what stands in his way?

And please don't fret about someone stealing anything - that's a phobia that strikes most beginners.

[midwife]

I do have a twist in mine. Whether it's decent or not, only Deadly Accurate can say, cause no agents have gotten that far. I knew before I typed the first word who the perp was, but I also had several plausible suspects and red herrings. And then I had a scene after the murderer was revealed. It was a quiet wrap-up kind of scene, but I was kind of surprised that the person involved had motivation to set the whole thing in motion. On my rewrite I brought in parts of this motivation. It was a natural outgrowth of the story.

Does it work? I think so, but....alas....

[NeuroFizz]

You can't just "tack on" a twist ending out of nowhere. It has to reflect what's been going on in the story up to that point. If you really have a story, not just a series of exciting scenes, then the ending should grow out of the story.
This is the key, in my mind. I love twist endings, and use them in both prose and poetry. Obviously, they work best in mystery and suspense-type stories, but there are no genre limitations. A good twist requires a significant set-up, usually throughout the story. To make it believable, subtle hints have to be planted in the story as well so when the reader gets to the end, he/she does the forehead slap and says, "I should have seen that coming." So a twist is not just something unexpected happening at the end of a story, it's a clever misdirection the author springs on the reader after leading that reader down a path of possibility, including the possibility of the twist, but where the reader is carefully convinced that another direction is the likely way. The path can be studded with red herrings, or it can be clean of misdirection until the very ending. The most important thing--it should never be a deception for the reader (go back to the forehead slap thing).

If you want to get an idea of twist endings without reading an entire novel, read a bunch of short stories by o henry. He was the master of the twist. If you want a brief example from poetry, here's one of mine, where the set-up is not only in the wording, but also in the rhyme scheme:

The C-Word

I called my wife
the C-Word
an emotional
affront

It slipped from my tongue
without pausing
an unintended
stunt

A lesson learned
the hard way
I musn't be
so blunt

I didn't realize
the distance between
beautiful
and cute

[ChaosTitan]

Run out and read Stephen King's short story "Secret Window, Secret Garden." It was the first non-movie that came to mind. I'm sure there are more, but this is a good place to start. Read it once, then go back and study how he sets up the eventual twist. Look for the hints you didn't notice the first time.

[maestrowork]

I agree with the advice about knowing the twist from the beginning. That way you not only know what you're leading up to in your writing, you can drop in little hints along the way :)

To me, I don't think knowing it ahead of time is necessary. Sometimes endings can surprise both the writer and the readers, and they're the best! You can always go back in rewrites to leave crumbs.

[maestrowork]

I dunno I really feel that it really is an original concept. And if I put it out here for all to see, someone might steal it.
It's childish but...

:) Every writer has thought that way one time or another. It's just kind of silly. Even if the concept is actually unique, it's not easy to just "steal" the idea. Say, if I want to steal your idea, I still have to plot it, develop my characters, and write it! And I'm already knee-deep in writing my own novels. If it's such a great story, then by the time I get around stealing your idea and writing my version of it, you would have finished and gotten it published. :)

And more often than not, the concept really isn't that original to begin with. If JK Rowling had told you about the concept of Harry Potter, you would have said "Oh, wizard school? Good vs. Evil? It's been done before." It's how you execute it that is the original part.

[maddythemad]

Good twists have hints throughout leading to the "surprise ending." They can't be too big, though, or people might figure it out ahead of time.

I think a very good example of a "hidden hint" is in Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Quirrel is bewitching Harry's broom to try and throw him off, but Hermione thinks it's Snape, so it's him that she tries to stop. It says something like, "Hermione was in such a hurry that she didn't even stop to apologize to Professor Quirrel as she knocked him headfirst into the row in front. Reaching Snape, she crouched down..." Blah, blah, she set's Snape's robes on fire and Harry is able to climb back onto his broom in the air. The reader assumes it's because Hermione intervened with Snape attacking Harry, but of course it's actually because she knocked Quirrel over.

Okay, so I know you said no examples, but I think that one is too excellent to pass up. Basically, to make a hint effective, the reader has to think there's a different reason for why you're giving them the information. In the Harry Potter example, the reader thinks we're being told about Quirrel to demonstrate what a hurry Hermione is in. If JK Rowling had written, "On the way to set fire to Snape's robes, Hermione knocked Quirrel over," it wouldn't have worked nearly as well, because the reader would have instantly wondered "Why is she telling us that? UNLESS there's a twist coming up!"

And a good twist is totally unexpected. But it should also be totally plausible once explained, and not leave the reader going, "Huh... what?"

[OddButInteresting]

Having just finished with the Harry Potter series, I totally agree with maddythemad. J.K. Rowling nails "the twist," as a literary device. It's all down to misdirection and foreshadowing. Snape is Suspect No.1 throughout, and we have no reason to doubt the gang's judgement. Who really would suspect Professor Quirrell, as he himself states during the final confrontation.

The problem with M. Night Shyamalan's films is that the twist is expected. It's a Shyamalan trademark. The Sixth Sense included a great deal of foreshadowing. Although Signs didn't have a big "OMG!" moment, it still had a twist of sorts. I believe it was foreshadowed at least once. With Unbreakable (my favourite M. Night flick) the big twist hits you right at the very end. The same goes for The Village. Little to no foreshadowing. However, it still works.

It depends on your material. If your twist is too far-fetched without sufficient foreshadowing, you'll leave your reader with a sour taste in their mouth. However, if you decide to hit them with a sudden twist, it needs to fit. From Dusk 'til Dawn did it seamlessly. It switched genres from heist movie to vampire movie in a second, and it worked.

I'd say go over what you've already written, and let the main body of the story dictate what the big twist moment should be.

[Tornadoboy]

Towards the end of my WIP the reader and my male protag find out that my FP had been lying about something key to understanding her, because she was afraid of being rejected if the truth were known.

I'm hoping this will generate an "oh my god!" moment for the reader, as this fear is always one of her major motivating forces, but until then why and just how deeply it is not really understood, and all at once this leads to a bunch of pieces falling into place and making sense.

For me the best shocks and twists come from things that on a subconcious level I always knew, but couldn't connect those final dots until the author decides it is time for me to do so.

[JohnDavidPaxton]

The only thing I really take pride in with my writing are my twists and my dialog.

Here is how a I orchestrate a twist:

Outline and plot it all out for the beginning. You don't have to know when, exactly, you'll reveal every detail or show every misdirection, but you do have to know the evolution of your trick. Don't glamorize it: It is a trick, no different than a magician, you need to practice it to get it right.

Do not betray your audiences trust: Tell them EVERYTHING they need to know about the twist before you reveal it. Try and tell them ahead of time because revealing a piece of crucial information right before the end isn't cheating, but it's darn near close.

Make sure to weave the twist into the dialog at least. If people aren't talking about the twist aloud it well somehow forced, no matter how clever or natural it is.

Like everything else in a WIP: Overwrite. Put TOO much evidence in to show it. Point too dramatically in the direction. Hit the reader over the head with it. Then, when you're finished, you can start trimming down and obfuscating.

Try to avoid clinches that people are on the watch for: The least suspect-able character, the unnecessary guy. When people start feeling something is fishy, they're going to scrutinize these guys more than the rest of the line-up.

If your twist is shocking because it's sudden, it's wrong. If someone says "What" you didn't twist, you just surprised. If someone says "What!? ...ohhhh," you've done it correctly. Make sure you really want to twist and not just shock.

I'm sure I'm butchering it, but Hitchcock had a great quote on suspense that I think should be a mantra of everyone who wants to write a twist:

If you show two men sitting at a table talking and there is suddenly an explosion you'll get a few moments of shock. But if you show those two men talking and pan the camera down to show a bomb underneath their table, the timer counting down, you get suspense. The audience will suddenly start screaming at the characters "What are you doing talking? There's a bomb!"

Basically, I think you should take this approach with your audience. You're trying to fool them, but it's only fair if you play by rules and show them what they need to see to attach to it, otherwise it's just visceral and sudden.

Hope this helped.

[maestrowork]

Suspense and twist are two different things, though. Suspense is an anticipation of something happening -- it may be a mystery, or not. But a twist should always be surprising. It doesn't have to be illogical, but it should be surprising.

[JohnDavidPaxton]

Suspense and twist are two different things, though. Suspense is an anticipation of something happening -- it may be a mystery, or not. But a twist should always be surprising. It doesn't have to be illogical, but it should be surprising.

Yeah, I apologize for being vague, I didn't mean to imply there were the same thing.

What I meant to convey is that for a twist to be anything other than shock value at the end, you should show the reader a consequence, a final piece of the puzzle, first.

I think you'll find that most twists you personally enjoyed as a reader/viewer/audience member showed the resolution of the twist before revealing it. Sixth Sense, Ordinary People, Secret Window, etc.

The ending was presented before you got to the twist.

I apologize if I'm still being ambiguou, though. It makes sense in my head. :D

Write the twist into everything, make it wrap around the story like a constricting vine and SHOW your audience the consequences of it so they can feel it building up.

[Tornadoboy]

Awesome advice JohnDavidPaxton!
<making notes>

[maestrowork]

Write the twist into everything, make it wrap around the story like a constricting vine and SHOW your audience the consequences of it so they can feel it building up.

I agree. The twist means nothing if there's nothing building up to it or if there's no consequences. Still, we have to be careful with too many crumbs, too much foreshadowing. The Sixth Sense worked because all the hints were there, but they were part of the main story and it wasn't apparent until the final reveal, but it still makes sense in the context of the story. It wasn't out of the blue -- in fact, the twist ending was set up right from the beginning/prologue.

And here's a story I wrote for a challenge a short while ago:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63874

(the password for that forum is "flashed" if you don't already know)


The challenge is to write a twist ending. The real challenge is that even when the readers EXPECT a twist ending, they still can't foresee the ending, but the ending needs to make sense in the context of the story, and a satisfying one at that. So you need the setup (what I call the pledge), the build up (what I call the turn), and the final twist that is unexpected and yet logical (the prestige). Note that I also set up the ending right from the first line -- but it's so ambiguous in the context of the story that it can be anything.

[Mad-Hatter]

Outline. Plot the twist from the very beginning.

Think "The 6th Sense" movie. That twist existed before the story did.

Can't have said it better myself!

Just make something unexpected, but try to diverge away from cliches and the like. (Sorry, but that means none of that, "I am your father!")


Don't be so paranoid about letting others read it, either. Let some people read it, see what they think, and you'll get a general idea of what they're expecting.

Most importantly: Don't worry about it. Not every story needs a giant twist, but it DOES need a satisfying ending. If you can end the story appropriately, than you've done your job and few people will ask about that twist.

[JohnDavidPaxton]

I agree. The twist means nothing if there's nothing building up to it or if there's no consequences. Still, we have to be careful with too many crumbs, too much foreshadowing. The Sixth Sense worked because all the hints were there, but they were part of the main story and it wasn't apparent until the final reveal, but it still makes sense in the context of the story. It wasn't out of the blue -- in fact, the twist ending was set up right from the beginning/prologue.

And here's a story I wrote for a challenge a short while ago:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63874

The challenge is to write a twist ending. The real challenge is that even when the readers EXPECT a twist ending, they still can't foresee the ending, but the ending needs to make sense in the context of the story, and a satisfying one at that. So you need the setup (what I call the pledge), the build up (what I call the turn), and the final twist that is unexpected and yet logical (the pledge).

You call the final trick the Pledge? That IS a twist! I'd never see it coming. I usually think of them as The Prestige.

But I guess that's why you're the master. :D

You're talking about a different animal entirely with a twist thats expected, and that's something I don't have any experience with. If I had to take a stab at it, I'd start reading advice from mystery authors (since, in essence, they make a living pulling trick after trick that people are looking for). If my audience was expecting the twist I'd probably have to rely on a whole lotta misdirection.

My novel, the one I'm currently in Query Hell with, has a lot of twists. I asked the vast majority of my Beta's to keep an eye out for it, though, because I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm happy to say that, even looking for it, people still seemed to be surprised and nobody got the whole thing completely right (I made people tell me their guess before I revealed the ending).

Anyway, I'm rank novice, but I have given a lot of thoughts and practice to twists, so I hope they benefit someone. :)

[maestrowork]

I mean the prestige. A typo.

I don't mean the twist is expected, but in that exercise/challenge, it was -- the audience expected a twist, just like in a magic act. However, the twist works as well when the readers don't expect a twist. The idea is that the readers can't see it coming, but when they read the end, they'd go "now it makes sense."

But we're talking about the same thing -- a good twist needs set up, build up, and a real story (before and after) that goes with it. The twist ending can't be the be all and end all. The best twist endings (think Twightlight Zone) all have that quality.

The other type of twists are the plot twists -- they're not necessarily "trick ending" but a twist, as in "going to a different direction than expected." I also talked about that -- make sure your characters have options, and then go for the less obvious or easy option, something that your casual readers don't expect the character to take. There's something very satisfying about twists and turns in plot.

[JohnDavidPaxton]

I mean the prestige. A typo.

I'm sorry, I was just joking.

Come on! Your plot twists are soooo good you don't even reveal them. You just point back to the set-up and peoples heads explode.

Also: I would very much like to read your story, but it's asking me for a password when I click on the hyperlink. Could you maybe PM it to me? I'm very interested in seeing how you handled that challenge.

[Spiny Norman]

Whenever I need a twist, I just have the main antagonist say, "I did it thirty minutes ago," and then cut to thousands of bodies lying dead in New York.

Sometimes it's not always so logical, but it's a good back up.

(man I hope somebody gets this)

[maestrowork]

Also: I would very much like to read your story, but it's asking me for a password when I click on the hyperlink. Could you maybe PM it to me? I'm very interested in seeing how you handled that challenge.

It's just a password on AW. It's "flashed." And come on to the Suddenly Fiction forum and play. It's fun.

[Roger J Carlson]

I have a twist in my book that I sort of fell into by accident. I have a protagonist, his best friend, and the villian. When I was about 3/4 way through the book and I was setting up the final confrontation, I thought: wouldn't it be interesting if the best friend turned out to be the villian? And the villian the good guy?

I went back and looked over the book, and I had to change very little. So you might want to take one of the characters you really, really like and give him or her the opposite motivation. Now that I think about it, in his book on Characterization, Orson Scott Card suggests you do that as a writing exercise to spice up your characters.

[Sage]

As others have said, you don't need a twist ending, but you need a climax of some kind, & I'm not sure that that's not what you actually are asking about.

But, as for plot twists, my best one was a complete accident. Yes, I plotted out beforehand who was the secret villain, & how to hide who it was, but the real plot twist, while related, was a surprise when I stumbled upon it. And, yet, it was so obvious once I did (& all my betas, both friends & strangers, who have talked to me about that twist agree that it was surprising but made sense). All the clues were already laid. In fact it was one of those clues that clued me into it as I was writing it down. Not only did it make for a really good twist, it added to the villain's motivation & solved mystery the MC had thought about earlier--one I was going to just let hang, but didn't have to.

[Esopha]

I'm not a fan of twist endings. I like to see twists and turns in the body of a novel, and then have the ending come as a resolution of all those twists. I think that authors try too hard to craft a twist ending because they feel that it makes the book more memorable.

That said, the novel I'm writing now has a sort-of twist ending. Basically, the Bad Thing that the MC has been trying to prevent happens right after the MC thinks that she's got everything under control. However, once the Bad Thing happens, everybody realizes that it wasn't such a Bad Thing after all. It's not really a twist, I don't think. It's more of me trying to psychologically torture my characters.

[OddButInteresting]

Whenever I need a twist, I just have the main antagonist say, "I did it thirty minutes ago," and then cut to thousands of bodies lying dead in New York.

Sometimes it's not always so logical, but it's a good back up.

(man I hope somebody gets this)

I never saw that coming, I swear. It builds up for ages, then Veidt's line seemingly freezes time. Rather than being told they're too late earlier on (or having some ridiculously dramatic countdown), he waits to be prompted before delivering the revelation. And it hits you like a brick to the bollocks.

Alan Moore is a literary genius, and my hero. My favourite author, by far.