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Writing Twists
Twisting the ending of a story is like putting icing on a cake,
a cherry on top of a sundae, or nuts in brownies. It is the
ultimate satisfaction.
I'm supposing that most writers go through the same learning
process that I did. In the early days, my first attention went
to the opening line, the plot, climax, and logical end. (Which
is the wrong order, but that's another article.) Twisting the
ending didn't occur to me for many years, and when I finally
did it, it was by accident. Now I like to twist almost every
ending. If you learn to do it once, you can do it every time
thereafter.
The skill of a twisted ending is in misleading the reader to
believe something different than what is really going to
happen. Sometimes the writers, themselves, don't know what
their ending is going to be. If that is your case, you will
have a lot of trouble twisting the ending.
Stop and think about where your story is going. What is the
logical ending? Next, think of an alternative ending that would
surprise the reader. Now, find a common denominator between the
two endings where you can make the flow similar, and then split
the story line off in an unsuspecting direction at the last
minute.
One good twist is to take the reader back to the beginning
scene of the story. This is called the loop effect. For
example: I wrote a story where a man sat in the doctor's office
and listened to patients giving personal information. Knowing
when a certain lady would not be home, he went to steal her
jewels for the sheer excitement of it. The loop ending says he
would end up in the doctor's office again, waiting to hear more
information. But another good ending would use irony. He could
have entered the house to rob it, and another thief slipped in
when his back was turned. The second thief thought the first
one was the master of the house and he shot him.
Another example of irony: A man rescues a wolf and makes a pet
out of it. The government decides the wolf is dangerous and
they take the wolf away from him. He files a lawsuit against
the government and wins. (Okay. We can call this a fantasy
story.) He gets the wolf back and the reader thinks the climax
has come and gone with the courtroom scene and the reunion with
the wolf. The reader is coming to the end of the book, just
half a dozen paragraphs left - and they learn that the man
takes the wolf for a romp in the snow and the wolf tears his
throat out.
Make your readers think they know the ending, and then pull the
rug out from under them. This is what made Alfred Hitchcock so
famous. When you watch his old movies, you'll never figure out
who did the dirty deed until the last scene. He was the master
of twisted endings. Since his day, multiplied thousands of
writers have learned to follow in his footsteps.
Have fun doing the twist!
by Deborah Owen - 11th November 2008
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Ms. Deb is the CEO and Founder of Creative Writing Institute.
As a non-profit organization and the first fully mentored
writing school on the net, CWI offer can offer writing classes
at a 40% discount. Drop in and see for yourself: http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com
Source: http://creativewriter.me.uk
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