Writing a Plot Twist

   Writing a plot twist can be tricky.

 Plot twists are meant to surprise your readers--to turn them into a completely different plot direction. But, the tricky thing is, the twist has to not only be smart but believable while keeping them interested in the story. You don't want to write a ridiculous plot twist that will make your readers go "That's unrealistic." You want them to take the plot twist seriously and to keep reading your book.

 Your plot twist needs to leave your readers in awe and on-edge to get to the ending! You want your plot twist to. Blow. Their. Minds. But how? How do you write a plot twist that throws off your readers while making it believable and not making it cheesy or way out there?

 Writing a plot twist can, therefore, be challenging because of the above concerns.

You should know the whole plot of your book before this. Outline, play around with a few ideas.

 Plot twists are good because it makes the reader excited and throws them for a loop. Sometimes, a book can be predictable, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, you want to keep things interesting just the same.

 1. Play God and ruin your character(s) happiness. Throw your readers for a crazy ride with this plot twist. Give them a false sense of comfort. When things get calm, screw everything up! Be a tornado! Destroy everything in your path! Think of the crappiest thing that could happen in that moment, and make it happen. It will totally throw off your readers. It works every time, if done right.

 2. Mislead your readers. For instance, you could have a character seem like "the bad guy." You could make your readers hate this character, but then suddenly make it where they become best friends with your main character. One of my favorite examples to give of this is Zuko and Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender (and no, I don't mean that horrendous movie. I'm talking about the TV show).

 3. Put tiny hints every now and then. This way, it's not just something that's out of the blue but when the big plot twist is revealed, your reader will immediately connect all the dots. Of course, try not to make the bread crumbs too obvious.

 4. The big bang. The "I didn't see that coming!" plot twist. Something believable but totally unexpected should happen. It's what I like to call a BAM AND THIS HAPPENS plot twist. The information provided during a plot twist like this should be brand new. You should not sprinkle little hints throughout your book for this one. This is something that just needs to happen.
This one does hold the most risk. You have to be really careful about how big you go with this plot twist. It can't be too crazy! Do not make it a far-fetched BAM.


 Get opinions from people. Let them read your book and then tell them about the plot twist that you're thinking about using, and ask them if they think it could work. Take notes. Ask them for ideas to make it better. Write this crap down and try to form their suggestions into your original plot twist. 

 Happy writing! <3
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