Film Courage: What are the best ways to build plot twists?
Andrew Warren, Author/Screenwriter: I think you have to find what's organic to your story.
I do think you need to surprise the reader. I do try to sometimes when I think of a scene
I'll try to think “Okay this is the way the scene would go but what if we went
this way instead? I haven't seen that.” But I also think you need to be really honest
with yourself when you're doing that, does this work better because because
you haven't seen it doesn't mean it works and I do I would rather be effective than
I mean sure it's good I do try to create new things I do try to go in unexpected
directions but if you're going in a direction that's not satisfying I think you're sort of
you're writing for yourself and not for your readers at that point I mean as an example I
wrote a short story once about a a guy who is a werewolf and every time the full moon comes
out he chains himself up in the basement and he tranquilizes himself so they won't hurt anyone
and then he has this whole process of how he gets out of it the next day and then one day he
does all this but someone is still mauled in the town he's in and so it's sort of trying to figure
out well how could this have happened I know I was chained up I know I did everything and he's
trying to figure out what's going on and when you get to the end of the story you find out there's
another werewolf that came to town and to me I thought that was really cool but I remember one
of my friends read it and I was oh I was kind of disappointed because I really was I wanted to see
how he figured out how to get out I thought that was going to be the whole thing that maybe the
wolf side of him is becoming smarter something that along those lines and I had never even
thought about that but I it made me think that for him he found that story unsatisfying and I think
it's better to satisfy the reader when you can than be different for the sake of being different
you said you'd rather be effective than be novel yeah I mean I'd rather the scene works and that
the reader enjoys it and feels something from it than to be different for the sake of being
different I mean you can it's and sometimes it can be easy to be different in a very cheap way I
mean if you if you're writing a a spy thrower and you get to the end and the hero fails sure that's
different but it's probably not very satisfying to the reader unless you make that failure mean
something or matter or lead to something else that's interesting but if it's oh you thought
this would happen and instead this happens but there's it's disconnected from everything else
or it's not satisfying to the reader I think that that's being novel but you're not being
effective you're not you're not satisfying the reader you're not presenting a a compelling
story end every chapter on a cliffhanger or surprise ending I if you can without it being
forced I mean I always try to I think your goal at the end of the chapter is to make the reader
read the next chapter right so Cliffhanger is a really good way to do that but it's not the
only way I mean I think even if you've sort of resolved the drama of that scene you can sort of
give a hint that yeah he got through this but there's more coming or things aren't as safe
as they seem you I think you always try to leave with a little bit of I don't know what to call it
not really a cliffhanger per se but a a sense of danger kind of what you were saying before that
kind of mood that yeah he survived this but he's certainly not safe there's there's the story is
still moving would you put a surprise revelation to something that keeps people a little bit on
their edge of their seat but curious I think actually one of my editors said what I tend
to do and they they this oh I the way you end chapters I usually try to find something sort of
symbolic in the language that might be a little sinister if they've gotten through a big red car
chase and it's sunset I might say the sun dripped red blood across the sky as they vanished into the
horizon or something that where it's it's not really literally implying anything but it gives
you the sort of mood of danger and I remember an editor had said oh I really the way you end your
visual cues of of something sinister and how do you start the chapter varies yeah I mean I think
I think you want to try to get in late and get out right at the right time I mean try not to spend
too much time with Exposition I mean you need a little but I try to do the bare minimum and I try
to start I mean it sounds kind of silly to say but I try to start where it's most interesting I
mean if two people are in an argument I don't necessarily need to see what led up to that
argument I want to start with the argument if they're arguing about whether they should send
someone into this territory to get an agent out I don't need to see the girl walk up go in the
elevator walk into the office and sit down for the briefing and then get into the argument I want to
start with the argument should we go in and help this guy or not that's the point of the scene so
I think that kind of comes down to knowing what the point of the chapter is I mean I do
think that every chapter should have a reason for being there and when I say chapter it's kind of
interchangeable to me with scene I tend to write one scene per chapter but not everybody does so
each scene needs to have a reason if the reason is exposition and sometimes that's necessary I think
you need to make it as short as possible as quick as possible give them what they need to know and
move on is that something you've perfected over the years because in the beginning we want to sit
down and pour all of this out I don't know if I'd say I've perfected it I mean I think I was always
aware of it because I said I'd written screenplays and things beforehand and I do think screenplays
kind of teach you to be very economical with your language because you're so constrained by time
so I don't think I necessarily had a huge problem with it but I do I will say that
writing that first book I definitely would be more inclined to add things because I'm oh man
I don't know if I can make it to 80 000 words or a hundred thousand words whatever in my head it
was going to be so I'm all right I'll talk about this and I would sort of go off on tangents I I
think through editing most of the excess there was trimmed back but I don't even then it wasn't
massive I mean I think the difference between the finished edited book and the original manuscript
was probably maybe 10 or 12 percent so it wasn't a huge amount but I do remember that sense of
I don't know if I can write this many words I better talk about this and talk about this and
and then and then when you do it you realize oh no it's I actually don't have room for all that
I got to get to the point because and move on how important is setting up Clues I think it I
mean it certainly depends on what you're writing if you're writing a mystery it's super important
my stories I wouldn't say they're really Mysteries per se they tend to be more about
kind of this journey that King goes on in each one so it's I don't think it's
he's not necessarily trying to find out who killed suspect a or something that it's more about
you need to go find this guy and kill him or you need to go find this guy and
get this laptop that he has and I tend to somehow connect the goal to something that
happened in his past so as he goes on this Mission he's sort of reflecting on
something in his past that troubles him or that that he failed or that is a source of guilt for
him so they're sort of if not directly linked then kind of metaphorically linked if you're writing a
mystery obviously the clues are really important but I think in any case whether you're writing a
mystery or even with me with where I've sometimes I have a scenario where there's a double agent and
and someone is revealed to not be who you thought they were and usually that's planned out but there
have been instances where I've been writing a scene I thought this would be so much better if
this person was the traitor and the great thing about writing is you can always go back and add
in seed in those clues so if that's why I said before it's good to divert from your outline
sometimes and surprise yourself there's nothing stopping you from going back where you introduce
that character and maybe add in something that makes them seem a little shifty or add in a
motive that you didn't have before I think people tend to think of writing linearly and for the most
part part you do but there's nothing stopping you from jumping around and changing things.