Greetings, writers!
Stories rarely follow a straight path. There are unexpected events, like overwriting your draft diary right before it publishes when you think you’re creating a new draft, twists, and reversals of fortune.
One of my favorite stories about unexpected reversals of fortune is the story of Sai Weng.
Sai Weng was a horse trainer who lived on the border. One day, one of his horses ran away. His neighbors all came to console him, but he said, “How do you know it won’t turn out to be a good thing?” Later, the horse returned, and brought an even better horse back with it. His neighbors came to congratulate him, but he said, “How do you know it won’t turn out to be a bad thing?” His son went riding on the new horse, and was thrown, breaking his leg. His neighbors came to comfort him but he said, “How do you know it won’t turn out to be a good thing?” Still later, war broke out, and many young men were lost, but Sai Weng’s son couldn’t go to war: He had a broken leg.
(塞翁失馬,焉知非福. sài wēng shī mǎ, yān zhī fēi fú)
A twist should never be completely unexpected, or else the readers will feel tricked. But it must not be completely obvious, or it loses its value. A good twist is exhilarating, exciting, and can pack a powerful emotional punch, but how can you make it a surprise without it coming completely from out of the blue? First, it has to fit logically within the story so far. It must make sense for the plot and the characters. But more importantly, there have to be clues that it was coming. They should be just clear enough that an attentive reading may be able to recognize what’s coming before it arrives, and other readers who didn’t see it coming should at least be able to look back and see how the groundwork was laid.
Think of twists in stories you know and love. Can you spot the hints that may have foreshadowed them?
Tonight’s Challenge
Write a scene with characters from your work in progress or one of our stock scenarios in which the characters experience an unexpected turn of events, a plot twist, or a reversal of fortune.
Or, for an alternative challenge, write a scene involving these words, chosen at random: trousers, Freyr, jeopardized, sheriffs.
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