By Pamela Crane
Don’t you just
love it when you’re thirty pages into a book and can already predict the
ending? I don’t. While predictable endings may work for a happily ever after
romance, to me a captivating suspense novel should do just that—“suspend” us
until the very end! I don’t want to know the end until I get there.
A twist ending
is what I’m talking about here—where the story takes an unexpected turn,
throwing even the keenest of readers off track. There are several “types” of
twists a story can take, but the two main ones are a twist of events and a
trustworthy character gone bad (or a redeemed villain for those who love a good
tearjerker).
So how does a
writer execute such unpredictability while maintaining logic and realism in a
story? In my thriller The Halo Effect, I default to the character twist by using human nature to my
advantage, although subsequent plot twists snowball from this.
Human nature is
full of unpredictability. We all have secrets and dark sides. Don’t believe me?
Death Row is full of examples. At a recent trip to the doctor’s office, I met
the sweetest church-going elderly lady who had been convicted of killing her
husband. How’s that for a character twist? As they say, truth is stranger than
fiction.
The first step
in creating a twist ending is deciding who the villain will be, and who your
“red herring” is, the distraction from the true villain. Once you’ve decided on
that, you’ll need to build a believable yet subtle motivation for each
character to be the villain. Throw in hints—“hints” could be something like a
glimpse into each character’s troubled past—about the character’s flawed state
without being obvious. Meanwhile, you can maximize your red herring’s potential
evil motivations to further lead readers astray, such as revealing their greed,
jealousy, revenge… But avoid “telling” your readers too much. Let them see the
character motivations through their actions and heartbreak. Add in a little
sympathy. The more emotionally connected the reader is to each character, the
more you’ll throw them off your scent. This emotional connection is the key.
The more your
readers trust your characters, the less likely your reader will detect the
villain. Isn’t that true with real life? You never suspect the old lady
next-door who waves hello everyday and passes out cookies to your kids to be a
murderer. You trusted her, after all. Once you establish that reader trust,
you’re on your way to a thrilling twist ending when you turn it all upside
down, and your readers will thank you for rocking their world.
______________________________________________________________________
Pamela Crane is
a North Carolinian writer of the psychological thriller The Halo Effect and
wannabe psychologist,
though most people just think she needs to see one. She’s a member of the ACFW
and EFA, and has been involved in the ECPA, Christy Awards, and Romance Writers
of America. Along with delving into people’s minds—or being the subject of
their research—she enjoys being a mom and riding her proud Arabian horse, when
he lets her. She has a passion for adventure, and her hopes are to keep earning
enough from her writing to travel the world in search of some good story
material.Visit her at http://www.pamelacrane.com or
follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pamela.crane.52
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