Faye's advice is pretty solid. Let me add the following. Spoilers for various stories that are well past the spoiler statute of limitations to follow:
1. If the the twist is going to undermine the assumed premises of the plot, you will have to put in much more work. Sixth Sense has a twist that works because it works within what the story establishes as being true about the world: Bruce Willis being dead all along works because the film establishes the ability of the dead to communicate with Haley Joel Osmont as true. By contrast, The Village has a twist that doesn't work because it relies explicitly on undermining the premise of the setting - 19th century village menaced by monsters. The monsters turning out to be faked does not undermine the premise much, but the village not being in the 19th century at all undermines it completely, and in a way that the film does not foreshadow.
2. As a corollary to the above, placement of a twist within an arc's structure can give more or less leeway in terms of what you can get away with. If a twist is part of establishing the premise of the setting - think The Matrix, in which the reality of the setting is presented as a twist in and of itself - then audiences and presumably players will be more willing to accept it. A twist presented near the end of an arc can cause all sorts of problems if you have not laid appropriate groundwork for it.
3. Distinguish between twists and plot complications to avoid confusing the two. I don't actually consider "Surprise he had a backup weapon" in the circumstances described to be a twist, because it's just continuing a sequence that had already occurred: characters were fighting, one was thought to be disarmed but wasn't, fight continues. It's a complication - a thing that made a previously expected course of action more difficult.
A twist is something that would unexpectedly change the way the audience of a plot viewed everything that came before or could come after. Rather than hewing to expectations, it alters them. These can be very small actions like pulling out a dagger, or noticing that everything in the room around you has a name your suspect used in telling his story, or saying "I did it thirty-five minutes ago" as you reveal your evil plan, but if it doesn't then dramatically shift perception of the narrative, it's a very slight twist at best.
4. Recognize that after several decades' worth of various forms of fiction abusing sudden twists, often badly, that we are all quite used to them and expect them as a matter of course. Playing a problem straight can often be more unexpected to your audience than trying to "surprise" them with a revelation they already expect.
1. If the the twist is going to undermine the assumed premises of the plot, you will have to put in much more work. Sixth Sense has a twist that works because it works within what the story establishes as being true about the world: Bruce Willis being dead all along works because the film establishes the ability of the dead to communicate with Haley Joel Osmont as true. By contrast, The Village has a twist that doesn't work because it relies explicitly on undermining the premise of the setting - 19th century village menaced by monsters. The monsters turning out to be faked does not undermine the premise much, but the village not being in the 19th century at all undermines it completely, and in a way that the film does not foreshadow.
2. As a corollary to the above, placement of a twist within an arc's structure can give more or less leeway in terms of what you can get away with. If a twist is part of establishing the premise of the setting - think The Matrix, in which the reality of the setting is presented as a twist in and of itself - then audiences and presumably players will be more willing to accept it. A twist presented near the end of an arc can cause all sorts of problems if you have not laid appropriate groundwork for it.
3. Distinguish between twists and plot complications to avoid confusing the two. I don't actually consider "Surprise he had a backup weapon" in the circumstances described to be a twist, because it's just continuing a sequence that had already occurred: characters were fighting, one was thought to be disarmed but wasn't, fight continues. It's a complication - a thing that made a previously expected course of action more difficult.
A twist is something that would unexpectedly change the way the audience of a plot viewed everything that came before or could come after. Rather than hewing to expectations, it alters them. These can be very small actions like pulling out a dagger, or noticing that everything in the room around you has a name your suspect used in telling his story, or saying "I did it thirty-five minutes ago" as you reveal your evil plan, but if it doesn't then dramatically shift perception of the narrative, it's a very slight twist at best.
4. Recognize that after several decades' worth of various forms of fiction abusing sudden twists, often badly, that we are all quite used to them and expect them as a matter of course. Playing a problem straight can often be more unexpected to your audience than trying to "surprise" them with a revelation they already expect.
Verad Bellveil's Profile | The Case of the Ransacked Rug | Verad's Fate Sheet
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
