Creating the Twist
The best stories are those with a twist. To create a twist, simply plan what your story is and then create a false beginning to deceive the audience. This twist is what makes every story enjoyable because it changes the way the story initially appears and surprises the audience to keep the story going for another hour.
The first half of the story is the deception. The second half of the story is the real goal. In “10 Cloverfield Lane,” the hero thinks she’s trapped in a basement shelter with a lunatic. Only after she tries to escape does she finally realize that the air outside really is poisoned and she’s actually safer in the shelter than outside after all.
In “Don’t Breathe,” the first half of the story is about breaking into a guy’s house and stealing his money. Initially, the hero (and audience) think that the old, blind man in the house is simply an old guy with a lot of money. Suddenly, they realize this old man is very skilled at fighting, but they still think he’s just an old guy living by himself.
Suddenly, the twist comes when the hero (and audience) realize that the blind man has been pursuing his own malicious goal that involves keeping another girl prisoner so she can give birth to his daughter. Now the story has twisted from the blind man appearing like a victim to seeing that the blind man is actually an evil person with his own horrifying goal to pursue.
In “Die Hard,” we initially think the story is just about terrorists taking over a skyscraper and demanding a ransom of some kind. Only later do we learn that the terrorists are really thieves and their goal is simply to rob a corporate vault of bonds.
So when you create a story, break it in half and make sure the first half deceives the audience as to what’s really happening. You want the beginning to lead the audience into a false belief that they understand what’s really going on. Then about halfway, you want to twist the story so the story actually turns out to be something different.
By twisting the story, you maintain interest and essentially tell two different stories. The first story keeps the first half of the movie going and the twist keeps the second half of the movie going.
Twists are necessarily because it surprises the audience. Make sure your story has a twist to it. Your audience will appreciate it.
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