Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46835
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46835
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

> Is a plot twist still a "twist" if my reader knows it?

It is not a surprise, but it is still a twist. Readers can only guess at things, they cannot know anything for certain until they have read it. They may feel certain of something, but it can still be satisfying to have their suspicions confirmed.

> Are plot twists for the reader or for the characters, or both? I don't want to outsmart my reader by making some bizarre plot twist that they never would have guessed and therefore make it unfeasible.

Everything you write is for the reader, but readers do identify with, sympathize with, or dislike or hate characters. The emotional connections to these imaginary characters (positive or negative) going through these imaginary events are the whole ballgame, it is why we read, to have you (the author) assist our imaginations.

If the reader finds a plot twist ridiculous, then you haven't done your job. But a plot twist that **makes sense in retrospect** can delight the reader, especially if the whole story makes **more** sense by adding this missing piece of the puzzle. Like the twist at the end of The Sixth Sense, nobody I know saw that one coming, but everyone I know thought it was a fantastic twist: A dozen elements of the story that seemed "atmospheric" or character quirks at the time were suddenly meaningful and in sharp focus.

> But if my readers guess it early, have I "ruined" my twist and/or my plot?

You haven't ruined your plot; a guess is just a guess, and the triumphant moment of **_"I knew it! I frikkin' knew it!"_** can be an enjoyable moment to give the reader.

If you realize now that this is what you are going to do, that you cannot hide the twist, then you can enhance that moment with escalating brinkmanship; go back and engineer your hints so they are _increasingly_ (on the scale of very vague to very clearly) suggesting the twist, without actually letting the reader know. You can keep the _character_ in the dark, so the moment of the reveal is still emotional for the _character_, but the emotion is different for the reader, like watching a super-slow motion car wreck:

1. They suspect what is going to happen,
2. Then feel certain it is going to happen,
3. Then dread what is about to happen,
4. Then it happens. BAM!

IN other words, if you don't think you can make the twist invisible until the reveal (like The Sixth Sense), then don't try; allow the reader to guess it, just make sure you don't provide them any concrete proof; find ways to always smudge the picture so the reader may _suspect_ but cannot be _certain_.

Original score: 3