When I was a wee lad and just getting started on my writing journey, I was enamored with the twist ending.¹ Every single story I cranked out as a kid ended with a sort of "Monkey's Paw" twist I imagined would really knock people for a loop and establish me as one of the greatest provocateurs of modern writing, right up there with O. Henry and Rod Serling.²
Blame it on those afternoon "Twilight Zone" marathons that used to run on local TV. I eventually grew out of the need to make every story a celebration of crazy plot twists-though I still love a good twist, especially if I'm the one who thought of it.³ One reason I grew tired of the trick was how often it failed.4
TWISTS ARE TRICKY
Twists fail a lot because they are delicate things. A good twist requires that you surprise your reader, but also that you don't cheat your reader-you have to give them enough information to make the twist feel like something they missed and not brand-new information they couldn't possibly have figured out on their own.
And even if you work hard to play fair, you're sometimes tripped up by your own blind spots. This can happen to any writer, no matter their track record or career stage. Consider the classic film The Shawshank Redemption, written by Frank Darabont (based on Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption). The twist (spoilers!) in the story comes when it's revealed that a falsely convicted prisoner named Andy Dufresne has escaped via a tunnel hidden behind a poster on the wall of his cell-a tunnel he's spent more than 20 years digging using a tiny rock hammer.5
Denne historien er fra September - October 2023-utgaven av Writer’s Digest.
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Denne historien er fra September - October 2023-utgaven av Writer’s Digest.
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Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.
Climate change is one of those topics that can throw novelists—and everyone else—into a fearful and cowering silence. When the earth is losing its familiar shapes and consolations, changing drastically and in unpredictable ways beneath our feet, how can we summon our creative resources to engage in the imaginative world-building required to write a novel that takes on these threats in compelling ways? And how to avoid writing fiction that addresses irreversible climate change without letting our prose get too preachy, overly prescriptive, saturated with despair?
Kids' Author Meg Medina Inspires Readers
WD chats with the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.
The Horrors of Grief
Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.
The Mystery of Growing Up
New York Times-bestselling author Jasmine Warga tackles a new genre with her signature blend of empathy for her readers, agency for her characters, and the belief that art is the great connector.
Education
Even if it's not your thing, you're probably familiar with the term dark academia.
A Do-Over Romance
Karin Patton, the first-place winner of the 24th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Awards, shares a funny story about secondchance love and a brief Q&A.
Everyday Wonder
How to mine awe from the mundane
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Unveil the hidden beauty in the facts and transform your nonfiction with the power of wonder.
Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder
How to get in touch with Little You and create big new work for today.
Agent Roundup
22 agents share details, about what kind of writing will pique their interest and offer tips for querying writers...
