THE FIVE TYPES OF TWIST ENDING

10/13/2014

Back in May, when I did a talk at the Bristol Comic Expo - namely, My Future Shock Hell: Breaking Into 2000 AD (And What I Learned While Doing It) - I concluded with a promise that I’d post some thoughts on twist endings. Not only those that occur in 2000 AD’s FUTURE SHOCKS, but in pretty much every form of storytelling there is, from short stories to screenplays. So here’s a quick bit of study on what twists are, how they work, and how to identify the five different types

A twist is a moment of revelation within a story that throws into question all that’s gone before. Often appearing at the conclusion of a story, it’s essentially a specific type of action or ‘beat’. Aristotle called it the ‘peripeteia’ (variously translated as ‘reversal’ or ‘sudden change’), referring both to the sudden downturn in the protagonist’s fortunes that occurs in tragedy (such as Oedipus’ realisation that he’s married his mum) and the sudden change for the good in comedy (such as the lovesick Duke Orsino in TWELFTH NIGHT realising that his favourite page-boy is actually a girl in disguise).

Whether for good or ill, the peripeteia means an abrupt reversal in the protagonist's circumstances. Aristotle pointed out that the reversal occurs in conjunction with ‘anagnorisis’ (variously translated as ‘discovery’ or ‘recognition’), the actual moment at which the protagonist uncovers a hitherto unknown piece of information. In other words, it’s that bit in the movie when the main character realises they’ve just murdered their dad, married their mum, or that they were a ghost the whole time. This is also the point at which the character might fall to their knees yelling, ‘Nooooooooo!’ – and it’ll probably be raining...

You can read a revised and updated version of this essay over on my FREE Substack newsletter Agent of Weird

20 Comments

Graham

11/11/2014 08:43:21 pm

Great post. It looks like the Roald Dahl story about the greenhouse you were thinking of is the John Collier story "Back For Christmas". It says here on the internet that it first appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1956 (with the plot involving a wine cellar rather than a greenhouse), but the story was re-used for an episode of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected in 1980.

Alec

11/11/2014 10:20:00 pm

Thanks, Graham. Yeah, I saw that story first on the Tales of the Unexpected show then again on Alfred Hitchcock. So I guess the Collier story got adapted twice. Assumed it was Dahl. Love both their work. Thanks again.

Matt Badham

2/18/2015 08:26:08 pm

That is a very well-written and informative post. Thank you for writing it, Alec.

2/22/2015 08:27:22 pm

You're welcome, Matt! And thanks for the re-tweet.

Nigel Mitchell link

7/12/2015 03:11:32 am

What a great article. I've always struggled with endings in general, and twist endings are hard to do. Most articles on twist endings just say essentially, "Do an ending the reader won't expect" as if that wasn't obvious. This breaks it down so simply and easily, and even the categories of twist endings, that I feel like I can do a billion twist endings now. In fact, I just came up with two story ideas! Many thanks for this. I'll be tweeting it as well.

Alec Worley

7/13/2015 03:34:22 am

Glad you got something out of it, Nigel. Thanks for reading and for the Tweets! If it gets you thinking about structure in a different way, that's ace! All I'd add is don't, don't, DON'T treat it like a recipe book or a formula. Develop your own ideas and come back to the blog if you get stuck. Don't cling to these ideas. (And that's all they are: ideas.) Once you've crossed the river, don't carry the boat on your back - and other applicable Zen sayings. ;)

Louise Mullins link

8/14/2015 07:09:35 am

I was becoming stuck on my third thriller, which I needed advice on. I wanted to know where to go with the idea of a triple twist plot that would work and satisfy. Your advice has been the best I've read so far. Thank you for taking the time out to help us writing folk. I now know how I can achieve it, and make it completely believable.

8/23/2015 08:28:38 pm

Hey, Louise. You're super-welcome! Good luck with book four. ;)

Geoff Collins

10/6/2015 02:29:14 am

This is a nice summary of "twist types". Very helpful, wish I'd read it earlier. I published a twisted piece a while back (shameless plug, Google "Geoffrey Collins The Meet SQMag) and the hardest part was hiding the twist while leaving it in plain view. If you take the lazy option and just withhold information from the reader, they feel cheated. You kind of have to write an story that would stand on it's own merits so that the reader becomes engrossed and doesn't see what's coming. Not as easy as it sounds!

Dan Steel

12/12/2015 03:10:46 pm

This is a great piece of analysis, thank you. You probably know this already, but the idea of two "roles" in creative activities, (as you put it "writer-you" and "editor-you") is well founded in psychological research on creativity, and some disciplines deliberately separate the two (like music recording where you will typically mix down two weeks or more after recording) because the two roles are in tension which can lead to block.

12/14/2015 07:44:14 am

Cheers, Dan. I had no idea about that psychology you mention. Will have to look into that... Good to know we're on the right tracks. ;)

Benjamin Smith

5/7/2016 10:08:33 pm

I would love to see if we can get some FiveThirtyEight style empirical analysis of these twist types. I'd love to know if there are definitive correlations when twists are used and, say, their overall critical reception, or even just which twist type is used with the highest frequency. How early in the script, etc.

5/12/2016 12:41:00 am

Thanks for reading, Benjamin! Analysis might be interesting, although a couple of issues spring to mind. 1.) You’d have to assume my definitions are correct and universally applicable – which they’re probably not, merely one set of definitions out of a zillion. 2.) The findings – for me, anyway – would be of no use creatively. As with all this stuff – from Save the Cat to Robert McKee – it’s an editorial tool not a creative one. Robert McKee’s theories might help you define and solve a problem, but they won’t help you write your story. You can’t drive a car with the roadmap pasted to your windshield, right? Paradigms were a real comfort when I started out. They helped me span that terrifying abyss between idea and finished story. But mistakes give you valuable experience points. And the more I’ve gained over the years, and the more my instincts have sharpened, the more I feel I’m moving away from all the paradigms – much as I still love reading about them. ;)

liam

11/28/2016 09:54:10 am

its good and helpful

11/28/2016 09:56:17 am

its good

Taylor Clark

7/17/2020 06:20:40 pm

Hi! I happened to come across your post after searching for a way to end my first novel and I would like some insight from you. It's ironic that I'm making a book but i'm not a fan of reading unless someone recommends or makes me read something-- that's where you'll come in. (Warning: this comment is really long)

So to explain what i'm working with, I have a sort of twin plot where two separate important situations connect to create a "spine" for the story. What i'm doing now is building a "skeleton" so I know what i'm going to write before I actually write it in detail (aka. build the muscles).

What's going on mainly is (A) was cursed by a parasitic demon when he was young (easy to contract, hard to get rid of). (A) then became a "parasite" himself and take over other people's bodies to cover his identity (Or take it more simply as a "Forced Catfish irl"). (A) is in disguise as (B) ((who obviously had a life before (A) took over so he had to adapt without any previous memories))

(A) figures out (B) was friends with only two people: (C) and (D).

Simple Plot One: (A) is trying to find out how to get free from his curse without the demon finding out as they are sharing one host body: (B). All this without people finding out it's not him.

Complex Plot Two: (A) builds a tension filled relationship with (C) who thinks he's still (B), who she wasn't close with at first. Both (A) and (C) fight this relationship for separate reasons. But
(A) is simultaneously building a friendly but awkward complicated relationship with (D) who also thinks he's (B).

I had a plot twist planned honestly before I found you actually. It's where in the majority of the story, you'd assume (D) was jealous that (C) liked (A) and not him, so that's why he's all salty or what not. What was actually going on is that (D) was in a secret gay relationship with (B) before (A) took over. (D) thought he was being ignored or played with because he wasn't acting like he was before.

Okay okay, now to the point. Towards the end of the story (A) is free and in his normal body, (C) knows the truth about (B) and (D) is now dead beside (B) in the afterlife. Here's where I want your view:

What should happen next?

Sorry for the long comment again but I feel like I made gold with this story. I won't be too forward with the information when I actually form the novel so people will have to put the pieces together when they read. I look forward to hearing from you! :D

7/20/2020 10:43:30 am

Hi Taylor!

I’m afraid I can’t tell you what should happen next, however your characters certainly can!

I often struggle with the second halves of stories where all the various plot threads need to tie up into a conclusion. And the solution always – ALWAYS – comes down to listening to the characters.

So my advice here would be to go back and figure out your characters’ arcs, that is, figure out where each character starts the story and how have they changed by the end (and what price do they pay if they don’t). I’d definitely recommend reading K.M. Weiland’s book Creating Character Arcs.

Think through their various perspectives too, how they see the world and deal with what life throws at them.

Overall, think of it like you’re looking at a map. Your characters’ arcs are the roads and their perspectives are how they’ll get there. Trust your characters and they’ll give you your ending for sure.

Hope this helps
Alec

7/20/2020 10:53:45 am

Wait yes I actually do have a reasonable ending in mind now. It was kind of gathering dust in my brain archive but now it sounds almost perfect. Thanks Alec

Thecla

9/1/2020 03:11:17 pm

This is a very insightful piece. I truly enjoyed reading every line. Weldone!

Donna link

5/1/2023 09:14:59 pm

I can assure you that character is king in my opinion both as a writer and a reader. queen, etc. If I don't feel like I'm meeting someone who feels real, no matter how exciting the action or fascinating the plot twists, I won't be motivated to read more.

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THE FIVE TYPES OF TWIST ENDING

You can read a revised and updated version of this essay over on my FREE Substack newsletter Agent of Weird

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