1. Steak-Ums

    Steak-Ums New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2007
    Messages:
    52
    Likes Received:
    1

    The Twist you never saw coming.....(my stories spoilers and discussion about twists)

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Steak-Ums, Oct 29, 2007.

    I've been thinking...what's the greatest plot twist you've ever read? I need some help with my twist.

    And below, in white coloring (highlight my post to read it) is my stories spoiler.



    In The Making of... Nothing I've decided to implant a dramatic and risky twist. The characters are currently at the hotel, as far as I've written. Now I'm going to get the MC and six other characters arrested. Then the action fast forwards to the MC and his three best male friends, in jail....but I don't know if I set up the story right for such a dramatic main setting. Could someone read it and see if I could successfully use the twist with minimal rewriting?




     
  2. Funny Bunny

    Funny Bunny New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2007
    Messages:
    225
    Likes Received:
    6
    Kalki by Gore Vidal had a good one, and really well hidden. It is an older book but well worth the reading. This is just the most obvious "twist" there are several good ones. It is actually a good book to read if you want to see interesting plot twists.

    The story is about an army sergeant in chemical warfare who discovered a super poison that would kill all people on earth except those made immune from an antidote. (None of this is known up front, it is all slowly revealed). No animals will die except for many primate species (but not all). The Sergeant takes on the name and aspect of the destroyer God of Indian Hindu Religion, the final personification of Shiva. He invites quite a following. On the hour that the destroyer is supposed to appear, he sends his pilot (one of 5 people made immune through an antidote, and also the narrator) to innocently deliver to the world millions of paper lotuses embedded in the time-released poison. All human life dies within the day, The five survivors are all people who are sterile (vasectomy's, tubal ligation). Only Kalki and his goddess wife can procreate. He intends to re-populate the earth in his own image.

    The plot twist is that the Doctor (one of the five--vasectomy) is sexually attracted to Kalki's goddess wife. He knows that they are not compatible and cannot have live children. If he gives the mother a something within a certain time after the birth of the first child (born dead) they will be able to have other children. (This is some actual medical mumbo-jumbo I don't know). The doctor simply blows it off, and the human race is as good as dead. In the meanwhile, they have had some Indian Monkeys they took from a temple and have let them live with humans. They are getting smarter and smarter. The monkeys end up inheriting the earth.
     
  3. jayger04

    jayger04 New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2007
    Messages:
    42
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Melbourne Australia
    One twist that is etched into my memory forever is Jodi Picoults' My Sisters keeper. John Grisham has some good endings and twists too.
     
  4. LionofPerth

    LionofPerth New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2007
    Messages:
    168
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Perth, WA
    Not so much a twist per say, more a change in perception, Heinlein's Starship Troopers, at the start you have the rather idiotic teen that signs up for the army, but right at the end you have the true soldier, the change in Juan's view of himself is quite important.

    A non fictional example, which is probably just as profound is the Book of Five Rings by Musashi, when you reach the Book of No-thing, and you actually comprehend, the other meanings, hidden is not the right word, the meanings are ther, you just have to allign your perception to them.
     
  5. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    May 19, 2007
    Messages:
    36,161
    Likes Received:
    2,827
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    I'm not a big proponent of plot "twists". A sudden change in the plot direction, out of the blue, always looks tacked on to me.

    But what some people might call a plot twist may simply be the point, or a point, of the story, integral in it from the beginning.

    The first story I posted here, Forever In A Heartbeat, is one I wrote several years ago, and I brought it here to try to clean it up. In any case, the ending is not one that I think most people would be expecting, but it is in fact the purpose for writing the story to begin with. So I don't consider it a twist.

    I think most of what I write is like that, that the story builds to something that's not obvious to the reader (hopefully!) until I get there.
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice