How to Create a Plot Twist | Storytelling 101

A crossover, a joke, and a plot twist all have 1 thing in common:

• An unexpected turn.

With the crossover, you are dribbling one way.

One way.

One way.

Then you take a sudden shift with your body!

The defender falls.

With a joke, you’re saying one thing.

One thing.

One thing.

Then you suddenly make a fart noise!

The recipient is caught off guard, feels a flux of sensations in their body, and begins laughing.

With a plot twist, your story is taking one path.

One path.

One path.

Then suddenly, the hero becomes a villain!

The audience is shocked.

Harvey Dent

I’m going to give a spoiler for Batman: The Dark Knight.

If you haven’t watched the movie, but plan to, then quit reading this blog.

Harvey Dent was the golden boy of Gotham City.

He was a decorated lawyer who was putting some of the worst criminals behind bars.

He was the good guy.

But as the movie progressed, Harvey began experiencing a sinister transformation.

He lost the love of his life.

Burnt half his face.

And sought revenge on those who did him wrong.

A plot twist was unfolding before the audience’s eyes.

A hero was becoming a villain.

Harvey Dent’s transformation spawned the iconic Batman quote:

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

I Wasn’t Expecting That!

Think about a time you were subject to a plot twist.

To spot moments like this, look for a time when you said:

‘I wasn’t expecting that!’

Why is the ‘I wasn’t expecting that!’ statement so powerful?

Mainly because of the ‘!’

The exclamation point indicates pure surprise.

I will give another spoiler alert.

If you ever watched Shutter Island in theaters, then you’d hear a bunch of the audience members leaving the theater saying:

‘I wasn’t expecting that!’

The protagonist in the movie who seemed like an astute detective was actually crazy.

What??

He was just imagining things the whole time.

No way!!

When was the last time you said:

‘I wasn’t expecting that!’

Finding moments like this will allow you to be sensitive to plot twist opportunities.

Last Time You Changed Your Mind?

Spot a time when you radically changed your mind about something.

That’s a plot twist to your life.

I recall this one time when myself and a few buddies were hanging out.

During the meetup, one of the buddies began badmouthing mainstream news.

He said:

‘You can’t believe a lot of the crap you hear on the news. These people mislead!’

When I heard him say that, I was taken aback.

What?

This guy sounds like a conspiracy theorist.

In 2007, the information landscape wasn’t what we see today.

There were only a few players we could get news from.

Back then, what we heard on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX was seen as reality.

Added to this, I used to see my grandpa watching the news with the utmost concentration.

He said:

‘Khobor dhako.’

Which meant:

‘Watch the news.’

If you were a youngster who was looking to win the approval of adults, you’d watch the news rather than cartoons.

Then you’d be seen as mature for your age.

But fast forward to 2023.

I barely trust CNN, MSNBC, and FOX.

I view them as entertainment, not credible sources of information.

Nowadays, I see where my buddy was coming from.

You can’t always trust the media.

My views went from:

• Mainstream media can always be trusted -> mainstream media can rarely be trusted.

This is a plot twist that I faced in my own life.

Exercise to Create A Plot Twist

Throughout this blog, I’ve discussed a few different plot twists:

• I talked about how the good guy, Harvey Dent, turned into a bad guy.
• I talked about how the protagonist detective in Shutter Island was actually crazy.
• And I also talked about how I went from believing everything in the media to being highly skeptical of it.

Notice the common theme in all of these bullets.

We are going in one direction…

Then suddenly, we changed directions.

The fundamental quality all plot twists share is changing directions.

Exercise:

• Write a short passage with an unexpected turn.

Example:

‘Jimmy was his name. Jimmy Junior to be exact. He was the son of Jimmy Senior. Junior hated his dad. He always felt like he was under his famous dad’s shadow. Senior was hard on Junior. Whatever Junior did was not good enough. By the time Junior turned 25, he cut off all contact with his dad. Didn’t even go to his dad’s funeral. Junior was at peace with how his relationship with his dad turned out…. until he had a son. Junior’s son was a bigger rebel than he had been. Junior tried to discipline his son, but nothing worked. Each time Junior’s efforts to discipline his son failed, each time he understood where Senior was coming from.’

In this tiny passage, there was a son who hated his dad.

Until the son had a son.

After he had his own son, he began to understand his dad.

The change of direction went from:

• Hate -> Understanding

Try changing directions yourself.

If you feel brave enough, post your passage in the comment section!

A Plot Twist Makes the Story Memorable

Plot twists are the reason I love mystery movies.

I keep thinking this guy is going to be the killer.

No, this guy.

What about this guy?

Then I’m surprised to learn the killer was the person who I was least expecting!

If you want to watch a mystery TV series with a fascinating plot twist, I recommend checking out Harper’s Island.

Consuming content with plot twists speeds up your storytelling learning curve.

Watch.

Be surprised.

Notice yourself saying:

‘I wasn’t expecting that!’

When you can notice changes in directions, it becomes easier to seemlessly change directions.

For more insights into storytelling, be sure to check out my book, The Art & Science of Storytelling:

✨Ebook

✨Paperback/Kindle

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