On sudden plot twists.
I don’t think plot twists are in any way necessary for a good story but I enjoy some mind-boggling, shocking turn of events. When I start a story I don’t intentionally go for a plot twist but I love secrets and mysteries and as I shape them into a plot it’s easy to turn them into one except it usually doesn’t work the way it was intended?
I don’t know how to properly articulate this or why this is but my plot twists are usually not at the end or near the end of a story. I love to put the twists halfway or two-thirds of the way into the story because these twists turn things upside down, obviously, it challenges everything the characters thought was real or true and they have to change accordingly. And I love giving that time, to let these changes to breathe and have time to blossom into a new setting, a new context to what the characters do.
Take Leaper as an example. It’s about halfway into the story that it turns out that one of the characters has to die in order to fix what’s wrong. Either she dies, or everyone dies (including her). So, naturally, the right thing to do is for her to sacrifice herself. The rest of the story is spent with the characters trying to get over obstacles on their way to where and when this one character can finally sacrifice herself and save the world.
And I just wonder if that’s in any way useful or even the right thing to do cause… maybe the reader would wonder “oh there’s still fifteen chapters left, there’ll be another sudden discovery, another twist, they’ll figure something out so she doesn’t have to sacrifice herself” and then it just doesn’t happen. Is that underwhelming or does it communicate that it was always supposed to happen this way? Is everything that happens after the twist, or most of it, just a glorified epilogue meant to “pad the runtime”?
In July 14th they figure out how to get out of the station like ten chapters before the end, but obviously Eve still has to go get the kidnapped kids so they can leave as well, then the rest of the story is just trying to outrun Zilda.
In Vale something very similar happens to what happened in Leaper. In In Static, well… In Static is a bit different cause technically it’s the same story twice and the big twist is actually disguised as a small twist and then the big twist is actually just an elaboration of the small twist which is at like two-fifths of the way into the story and is actually the big twist…
Anyway. I don’t mean that stories should end after the plot twist or cliffhangers are the only way to write a satisfying and shocking story, I just realised this about the way I write my plot twists and if it is in any way good for something or just bad pacing?
Pass Through Fire 