Screenwriting : Coming up with a twist in your Story by Rafael Pinero

Hi Raphael, I don't really have an answer, because I've been concerned about the same thing. It changed a bit when a friend gave me notes on my latest script a few days ago. She pointed out several spots in the story where she was surprised, expectations were subverted and she was delighted. To me, the events felt obvious. Pedestrian even, but that's because I've been living with them so long. If you're focused on what the characters need, then make it difficult for them to do the thing they really need to do to change, I think many of the twists pop up naturally. Thanks for the question. I'm anxiously awaiting other answers, because I'd love to have some new tools in my bag of tricks.

Actually I don't know all endings when I begin a script. This is part of the journey through it and what keeps me writing as I can't wait to figure out how it will end up. Hence, sometimes it is a twisted end, sometimes it is an open end and sometimes a very clear end - depending.

Throw obstacles in your characters way right until the end. I think that helps with my endings.

Hey everyone, thanks for your replies, I don't think that you have to force a twist because it would never work, but I don't think it should be naturally engrained, because then it wouldn't be twist.

@Jeffrey. So there you go, you got notes from your friend and she was surprised, maybe you've got that special talent of coming up with great ideas that just feel natural to you. Maybe there's no technique Jeffrey, and now I envy you... LOL

You're right Owen, I misunderstood...

I wonder how M. Knight Shyamalan sometimes comes up with great Twists.

Maybe you think too much about and make it a rational decision where to twist the story. If so, slip into the characters (each of them) while writing and FEEL as they feel. I think then the twist will not look constructed. Furthermore, each problem you have will become bigger the more you think about it. Just relax and all will come naturally.

You are right Lili, I do spend too much time worrying and thinking instead of writing and that's a big problem.

I feel a good twist works when it explains or reveals a huge side of the story that's previously only been eluded to. They also have way more impact when they mean something quite profound. I believe some good thriller writers work backward to create the biggest turnarounds.

A twist isn't something that happens at the end, it is something that has been there all along but the writer has skillfully created a diversion so that the audience hasn't noticed it up until the point where it is revealed. THE SIXTH SENSE is a good example. But what you may be talking about is a reversal: and good screenplays are filled with them. When we think one thing will happen, but instead something else (also logical) happens. This is done by creating the expectation that A will happen when B has an equal (or even greater) chance of happening. There's a great bit in MISS CONGENIALITY where Sandra Bullock and Benjamin Bratt are in a really romantic situation and he leans closer and closer to her and you know they are going to kiss, but he steals her candy bar and leaves. These two have been getting closer to romance throughout the movie, so kissing is what we expect. But she's entered in a beauty pageant and can't gain weight, so taking away her candy bar makes equal sense (maybe more sense, since that would be part of his job). A good script is made up of a bunch of moments where the audience thinks they know what will happen next, then something else happens. That keeps it interesting and unpredictable. I know the end of my script, but I want to make the reader think it happens spontaneously and doesn't happen in the way they may have imagined it happening.

Blake Snyder has a really good structure for finales buried somewhere in one of his books. In it he recommends this moment called the High Tower Surprise, this is where you twist the finale so that, while you know the protag is going to win, the way they actually do it is a bit of a surprise. It also means they have to dig even deeper to earn their ending. It's actually a really common device in finale battle scenes but can be applied emotionally in any story.

Rafael, @William Martell comment is spot on. This was done expertly in The Sixth Sense. And to a lesser degree Source Code, which revealed the twist half way through.

LOL! Owen, I did not know that! Thanks for the heads up. That was the best thing I ever took from his books!

William is dead on. Some of the best twists also include the main story arc intertwined with the emotional character arc.

This brings up a question that plagued me.. okay, maybe just a bad cold, but I've thought about it: what constitutes a "twist?" What is the usual method to create one? I'm told that I do it quite well, and I nod sagely and say, 'Of course, but I can't tell you how I did it." I had a thought that perhaps it's only an orthogonal event or decision that forces the plot line into a different path. Something that causes a mental and/or emotional misstep. Kind of like what I do: tripping myself up on a low nap carpet.

@Lawrence I would also call it a 'surprise' or the 'unexpected'. This you should create by not telling everything about a character (like in the 6th sense to take this example again). It does not make sense if you simply let your character make a choice that nobody expects and understands when it happens - except if you have a good explanation later which will be again then a surprise and the solution for the twist. But I want to add another point. It is always important that in the end - twisted or not - the audience will be kind of relaxed. You know it from the comic Lucky Luke. He saved the world, rescued a beautiful woman, won a fight and was smarter than these Daltons and no matter how exciting his adventure was, in the end he rides away as the poor and lonesome cowboy. So, the audience can take a deep breath and go back into their real lives. I think this is a point which should never be underestimated.

Sixth Sense's biggest strength is that if the twist didn't happen, we still would have had an exciting, satisfying movie. With the twist, it's almost like we got two good movies at once. One about a boy who sees ghosts and another about the man trying to help him. Maybe that's how all good stories are? It's not just the protagonists movie, right? Which information that would alter our view of the world can be held back, while keeping things interesting? Then, release that information when it will maximize impact.

Thanks Elisabeth.. Very good coaching there. Gave me a great idea for a short story, but with only the one withheld piece about him. Same character I'm playing with, but for the short film I have him reading a copy of how to play poker (Doyle Brunson's book ) or I think it was Peterson's book Never be lied to again... Then he appears as an enforcer for the mob who knows when people are lying. Maybe encourages a few (OS screams?). You can guess the punchline: he can read minds. I could do that as a short, I think.

@Jeffrey Shutter Island was also in the same category. It was a good movie without the twist but elevated with the twist. It forces one to watch it again.

Exactly Jeffrey, sixth sense is a great film even if you take out the twist at the end. Thanks for all your opinions, this thread has been pretty helpful in many ways, I do still think though that in order to have an interesting twist, it has to be with very well planned story with a very well planned outline or treatment, before jumping into the actual writing of the script. But then once again, just Lima Lili said, you could spend your days trying to come up with the twist of your story and not really write a single word in your script. And I think that's what's happening to me.