Plot Twists

[@blue_evolution_studio_official]

I didn't realize how the twist has all that stuff, I thought it was just a surprise or a change of the story. Now I know it is more than just one word, it is something deep and could bring the story to its success or bring it to its destruction. Thank you for this important information ✨

[@writingforscreens]

Thank you!!

[@wordcharm2649]

YES. I was just about to write a lengthy comment about how to do a twist right, when you got to the reveal portion. In the mystery/thriller genre, most novels do have major plot twists, but they aren't ones that force you to scrap the first 50% of the book and go in a new direction, which feels like a story divided in half. Rather, while investigating X, something new is revealed which changes how you view X, but from the first scene to the last scene you're still investigating X. The reveal therefore can be astronomical (especially related to the emotional plot, ie. relationships/emotions) but the external plot remains steadfast.

[@writingforscreens]

Thank you! It is definitely an area where you can experiment and no single rule applies to everything.

[@buira9482]

My document with ideas for the long comic I want to write started with only one line detailing the plot twist. Then afterwards it was, "how do I fill in the rest?". Now that I want to write my own crime story I appreciate my favourite plot twists twice as much! They are such a complex thing to pull off in an efficient way.

[@writingforscreens]

Any inspiration is a good place to start :)

[@FlyingOverTr0ut]

Excellent info, Glenn. I worked on a semester of writing long these lines where we worked on developing our skills in pretty much all the things you talk about, like hiding clues in plain sight. It might have been the most stripped down yet challenging writing I did in my classes.

[@writingforscreens]

It's definitely a thing you need to practice and get experience with to use comfortably. Thanks!

[@filmmakeranto]

Effective, Simple and Shocking... the keywords. At the end of the video my brain just randomly started saying : "I want the Truth?" "She is my sister and my daughter" Great video, thank you Glen.

[@writingforscreens]

Great examples, thank you!

[@LesandaMooreAuthor]

Awesome video Glen. Sixth Sense was the perfect example. It popped into my head as you were explaining the types of plot twists.

[@writingforscreens]

Thanks!

[@-_Dawg_-]

I found this at an incredibly convenient time. I was just writing a sci-fi western pilot that has a plot twist, and after watching this I now know how to carefully craft it to have more purpose! Thank you!

[@writingforscreens]

Hooray! I'm happy to hear it's helpful. Best of luck with it!

[@Ruylopez778]

Whenever I hear the term plot twist, I immediately now think of the point I've heard you make elsewhere, that it potentially cheapens the whole story. I think Sixth Sense and Psycho work for really specific reasons. For example, 'being dumb' makes sense in the Sixth Sense, because he had a traumatic and guilty death, and it's implied he neglected his wife because of his work. It would also make perfect sense if their marriage fell apart because of that event, even if he had lived. I also think that Cole being a boy, and him providing a kind of father figure role just makes us more engaged. We can how cathartic the relationship will be for Malcolm if he can help Cole. And we also know Malcolm & Anna are both in pain, so this revelation is healing for both. And in both cases, being psychological horror/thriller means we are expecting twists, scares and shocks. And with Fight Club the twist works because the narrator is recounting the story, and someone with severe insomnia is likely to hallucinate or be unreliable with details. I suppose this is also the case with The Machinist, although I don't really remember that too clearly. But again, I think a traumatic past experience is a convincing explanation for 'being dumb'. Personally, I think Psycho has a lot more style than the other I mentioned. Would you consider Vertigo to have a 'plot twist' or just shocking revelations and mystery/suspense? And which movies are your preferred Hitchcock movies?

[@writingforscreens]

I think VERTIGO might indeed count as a "twist." Among my favorite Hitchcock: STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, REAR WINDOW, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, FRENZY, TORN CURTAIN and PSYCHO, but I also love SABOTEUR and admire VERTIGO without loving it personally...

[@jonfrey6893]

Great video Glenn. It reminds me of a quote: "The which, for which, there is no whicher." - Alan Watts

[@writingforscreens]

Watts is really great, isn't he?! He's an inspiration-generating machine.

[@Donna07]

Awesome! Thanks Glenn, I love a great plot twist well done, and as a writer I know how hard they are to pull off! Brilliant advice which I'm going to play with this week - thank you!

[@writingforscreens]

Thanks so much, Donna!!

[@BastianBooks]

I was just thinking of The Hole, with Thora Birch. The twist happens in the middle of the movie and from that point we see two different realities. At the same time, we start to witness characters who believe one or the other reality, in the movie itself, .. with a last twist at the end. Super effective for thriller or crime investigation stories like this one. It doesn't get spoiled even if you watch the movie again and again... the story remains exciting because there are still characters who don't know the truth, while you do, and knowing it already makes you feel like an investigator!

[@writingforscreens]

Interesting - I don't know that movie, will have to check it out. Thanks!

[@agoogleuser4410]

Twilight Zone featured many twists. Some worked better than others. Three I remember best: The Howling Man, The Invaders, To Serve Man.

[@writingforscreens]

Yes, Serling was so great because he cared about ideas, he cared about structure and he cared about characters.

[@JoelAdamson]

There's a scifi jargon term for your snow globe reveal, the "Jar of Tang Story." You get to the end of a short story or TV episode and the villain says "For you see, we are all living in a jar of Tang! Ahahahahahahaha!" These were fairly common in the fifties but were over-used by Roald Dahl and The Twilight Zone, so people started to see through them. "It's a cookbook!" was pretty close.

[@writingforscreens]

Yes, I remember when they were rare and dazzling :)

[@blindjoshua_theblender]

Such good information, thank you so much. My WIP will benefit greatly from the information in this video. Fight Club that was a revelation or a twist? What about the Mr. Robot ending?

[@writingforscreens]

As I said in the video, it's really important not to get lost in the "name game" -- any revelation can be seen as a twist, and vice versa. The important this for a writer is: how is it done, and what does it do? How, mechanically and emotionally, did they pull off letting us see and feel those unexpected things? What did we get from having it be in that form? Different people will define these things different ways. And even the same person may see them differently at different times in their lives. I personally would say that both FIGHT CLUB and MR. ROBOT end with revelations - new information, which are not the basic of whole new sections of the story. They are simply a new way to understand that we have already seen. (I'm talking about the very end of the series MR. ROBOT - all four seasons are a nonstop festival of twists, revelations, and all manner of unexpected new ways to understand the story.) It doesn't really matter what you call them - I was just trying to point out a structural difference in stories, so that you have each possible type as a tool in the toolbox you work from.

[@blindjoshua_theblender]

@@writingforscreens Thank you so much!

[@BlancheChiang]

Unexpected yet inevitable, seriously, that's like jumbo shrimp 😂😂

[@writingforscreens]

And yet - like jumbo shrimp - it can exist!

[@LLMAXG]

My big issues with the my twist is its something that is uncovered later, so I'm having an issue with the inciting incident. Any advice?

[@writingforscreens]

I can't really advise on the issue, since I don't know much about the story, your goals, etc. What I would say is: the "secret" of your twist does not have to be in or about the inciting incident: as I say in the video - the point of a twist is you need to create a convincing and worthwhile "other story" that keeps the audience involved until they see the real story. Ideally the "secret" story and this "apparent" story are related in some way - one is the cause of the other, one is created to cover up the other and that lie creates pressures, one shines light on the other, etc. For more on the inciting incident: The Inciting Incident - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHTLoXR9fa92abs

[@LLMAXG]

@@writingforscreens Thank you for the feedback. I will take a look at your other video and also have a think about the best approach 😀

[@LoiselsPhotography]

What's the difference between a plot twist and a revelation?

[@writingforscreens]

I happen to have an answer for that one! Revelation: A Screenwriting Tool - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZTOiqqYmrKBibc

[@LoiselsPhotography]

@writingforscreens Thank you So much! You have helped me out tremendously with my writing and I really appreciate all the knowledge you have given. - Andrew from North Carolina.

[@writingforscreens]

@@LoiselsPhotography Thank YOU, Andrew! It's wonderful for me to hear that the work I'm doing here is actually helping!!

[@pendafen7405]

Following pro-wrestling since childhood has taught me to be very wary of swerves. They don't always come off well, and even when they do it's often accidental or messy.

[@writingforscreens]

Interesting how much is shared between art forms, isn't it!