So, I'm working on a story, and I have an annoying tendency to drag a boatload of twins into the story. Currently, I have three sets-one set being the main antagonists, another being tragically separated, and the third being among the major protagonists. All three sets are related, with the first two sets being brother/sister (s), and the third set being children of one of the children of the first two. First off, can I seriously pull off the "Twins run in the family" stunt? Second, how common/uncommon are twins? Third, should I use identical twins, unidentical twins, doppelgangers, boy-boy twins, boy-girl twins, or girl-girl twins? Fourth, should I even use twins? Lastly, what are pitfalls I could run into when portraying twins in my writing?
You have three sets of twins. You don't have to pick just one type I've never seen a story where this many pairs of twins were all important to the same plot. The biggest pitfall you can run into in any story is "not coming up with anything that people haven't seen before" Also, general research tip: don't google "X," google "misconceptions about X." The internet is a billion monkeys on a billion keyboards, anybody can start a website about anything regardless of truth or falsehood. Adding the word "misconceptions" gets you the people who expressly look at two different viewpoints to see which one is the most accurate.
Twins can run in the family (talking from experience.) obviously if it's boy/girl, they'll be fraternal and not identical. If you're doing fraternal, you should consider some competitiveness between them.
Fraternal twins tend to run in families; identical twins are just pure chance. The difference is that fraternal twins are twins born from 2 different eggs fertilised at the same time. This has a tendency to run in families as it can be due to a number of medical conditions in the mother e.g. PCOS etc. Identical twins form when the egg splits after fertilisation which is completely by chance.
First off, can I seriously pull off the "Twins run in the family" stunt? Second, how common/uncommon are twins? Third, should I use identical twins, unidentical twins, doppelgangers, boy-boy twins, boy-girl twins, or girl-girl twins? Fourth, should I even use twins? Lastly, what are pitfalls I could run into when portraying twins in my writing? Yes, 'twins run in the family' is probably the most likely reason that any sets of twins exist, it's what people would assume if they met the twins' family. You would have to Google a cross section of an average population to know how common twins are I *think* twins are more likely to be unidentical so you may have to have more of those (a doppleganger is completely different than biological twins) Probably a mix of boy/girl or, again, Google the most realistic gender odds The only pitfall is that they could become a parody of themselves and dress alike or speak at the same time, which is a bit corny!
For twins being common you might find this quite helpful: http://www.twinsuk.co.uk/twinstips/18/189/multiple-birth-statistics,-facts-&-trivia/what-are-the-chances-of-having-twins.triplets-or-quads-/ You could pull it off you could do a little bit of research into twins and their special kinds of psychology. (As much fun as it would be to do it all, I have done quite a bit. Melas Chasma on Mars is estimated at 7-11 Kilometers deep.) As for Identical v. Fraternal well how close do you want them to be. Fraternal twins are more individualistic compared to their Identical counter parts. I think it would be pretty cool if you did use the 'twins' dynamic within a story. Challenging as it may be, it could be really freaking awesome.
