Ending with a Twist

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JuliePgh

I've made it through writing the entire novel, including the ending, have revised a few thousand times and want to put my story down to gain perspective except I can't because something in the back of my mind says I need to do the unexpected, the twist, in my ending.

My two characters started out as enemies, struggle through adversity, beat the bad guy, (I know it's cliche, but I've still had fun writing it and think it's well done) and are now willing, able and expected (by the reader) to come together in the end. I think the only right and satisfying ending is for them to come together. To do otherwise, would be shocking, and I believe make the reader mad, although I could keep them apart and justify it.

Does incorporating a twist mean doing opposite of what the reader expects, such as keeping my characters apart? Or do I forgo the notion and concentrate on bringing the main characters together for the typical "happy" and expected conclusion? Or do I add a last minute shocker (not a new plot or problem, but use of an old one), make it appear as if they're not coming together and in the last three or four lines, show that they do?
 

evanaharris

the best ending is the one that stays true to your characters. As regards "twist" endings, i'd venture to say that those are largely matters of plot and events, rather than characters.

Think of the Sixth Sense, or any other big "twist" movie. It's never because any of the characters are acting out of character, it's because something new is revealed to the character, or something, as a result of something pages back, happens, redefining the story.

But this could all be bullshit.
 

pianoman5

I suppose the old 'if it works...' adage applies as always, but gratuitous twist endings seem to be generally frowned upon.

It's mainly about the rhythm of a story in leading to a satisfying and plausible conclusion. A last minute hiccup can easily feel like one, and irritate rather than exhilarate your readers.

An analogy that occurs to my warped mind is a bout of passion. There comes a time, after the build up and setbacks (?) and denouement, when the appropriate thing to do is wind down and light a cigarette. (Tenderly apply a nicotine patch to one's partner? Make a cup of camomile tea?). A burst hot water bottle at this point does not add to the overall pleasure of the experience.
 

Maryn

Genre Matters

I'm not at all sure that a twist ending serves in most genres. It's required only in mysteries and thrillers, where the endings will feel flat without it. Even in those genres, though, the twist is not necessarily that the expected ending doesn't happen.

More often it's one last thing which almost keeps the anticipated ending from happening. The harried detective and the forensics expert (who's surprisingly attractive sans glasses and lab coat) fall into bed--only to have the killer/spy/zombie, who escaped, find and nearly kill them before being quickly recaptured.

What you don't see is the detective and the forensics woman fall into bed, only to learn that there's a reason they can't be together (maybe she's a he?). Even if you go back and plant suggestions to support such a twist, it leaves the reader dissatisfied, justifiably so.

Without knowing what specific genre your novel is, it sounds like it's about these two people overcoming whatever obstacles stand between them (namely, your plot) to come together at the end. To twist that into something that doesn't allow this to happen, for whatever plausible reason, seems like cheating the reader.

Maryn, who cheats at solitaire but never the reader
 

Jamesaritchie

Re: Genre Matters

The trouble with a twist ending is that it only works if the reader can look back and realize he should have seen it coming. The Sixth Sense is a good example. There were clues planted all through the movie, at least half a dozen, and once the ending was revealed and the shock wore off, you could look back and see all those cluse.

A twist ending must be revealed subtly long before it happens, or it's just an annoying ending. It's a tough thing to pull off properly, but if you can do it right, it's great.
 

Kate Nepveu

I think you need to really pin down why you're attracted to the twist ending. Are the characters grumbling in the back of your head that really, that other person over there is more attractive; are there loose ends nagging at you subconsciously; are you unhappy with the shape of the story overall; are you not feeling unsure that your treatment of the very broad plot line doesn't rise about cliche; or something else entirely. Maybe a twist ending isn't the way to fix it.

Alternatively, consider the "life goes on" ending: the current problem is obviously fixed, but something happens very close to the end to make it clear that these characters still are going to be doing stuff with their lives. The movie _Master and Commander_; the novel _Tigana_; the private eye settling down in his office after a hard case, when the phone rings--he sighs, picks it up, and thinks to himself that even after X, life goes on and people need help.

But really, I think you need to be very clear to yourself why you want a twist ending, first.
 

veingloree

People like happy endings, how about an unexpected naunce rather than an actual twist?
 

pina la nina

I'm not sure I see your ending choices as including a twist in the "Sixth Sense" of the word. Just because an ending is not predictable or hackneyed doesn't mean it's a twist, at least not how I'm thinking of the word and how I see some other respondants reading that.

I absolutely agree with allowing your characters to dictate what works for them. If its consistant, its likely to be satisfying. For me, just because custom dictates a male and female character to hook up, doing so when it violates one or both of their personalities just makes me hate the book. Hannibal Lecter and Clarice together? Wow, that just struck me as a horrible choice, betraying both of their true natures.

If your characters really are opposing types maybe a grudging respect is as good as it gets. They don't have to hold hands and whistle off into the sunset, and forcing them to do so might be nauseating to everyone involved. Keep them real. If they still get on each others nerves, so be it.

But that's not the same thing as a twist like, "Wow this whole time you were my father! No way!!"
 

maestrowork

The ending has to be true to the story and characters, and it has to resolve the central theme/issue and tie the loose ends to satisfy your readers.

A twist at the end would only work if it does all of the above, and it must be plausible. You don't have to end the story with a big, shiny red bow, but it has to be satisfying to the readers and not make them think that they're manipulated or the twist is gratuitous.

The ending of "The Sixth Sense" works because it is true to story. In fact, the entire story is a set up for the ending. While manipulative, it is still true to the characters and story -- which is about the protagonist's love and loss and redemption with his wife. It is also believable because we've been led to believe that the boy could see dead people... etc. The ending is also satisfying and it ties all the loose ends when the protagonist says his final goodbye to his wife and moves on.

Don't end your story with a twist because you think a normal, back to 1 kind of ending may be boring. If you find your normal ending boring and not satisfying, maybe you need to reexamine your entire story and see why.
 

Man with twohanded sword

Shouldn't the Big Twist be about beating the bad guy?

If it were my story, I might consider one or all of the following:

-Resolve the romance just before resolving the main thread, so as to raise the stakes - e.g. now an entire future together is at stake. No romantic twist required because the romance contributes to the main conflict.

-Weave the resolution of both threads together, e.g. bad guy beaten by heroic measures motivated by love. The romance becomes the twist that defeats the bad guy.

-Bring the characters together over the bad guy's bleeding corpse, then in an epilogue resolve the main issue preventing the romance in an amusing or unexpected way. It doesn't even need to be a twist - e.g. The Bourne Identity.

YMMV
 

Jamesaritchie

Twist endings can certainly work, and work very well, if it's the ending that was called for by the characters and the story. But twist endings are also high on the list of things editors hate to see because far more often than not twist endings don't fit the characters or the story, and when this happens, it's a terrib;e thing.
 

LiamJackson

I would think of all the potential icebergs associated with fiction writing, few are more dangerous than the twist. Most of the mystery shorts that I've ever read were either doomed or elevated by the last three pages when the writer attempted to throw an off-speed slider instead of drilling home the heat.

(and I have NO idea of what inspired the baseball analogy/metaphor.)

However, a twist ending, provided it stays in harmony with the characters, is an excellent tactic. I also point to "The Sixth Sense" as a nice example. The reader/viewer wasn't left feeling cheated and I think that's the ultimate goal.
 

HollyB

This thread is so interesting!

I'm going make a comment as a reader -- many times when the book ends with some clever/malevolent/surprising/pick-your-adjective twist, for me, it's a throw the book across the room moment. "You mean I read all this way and then you duped me?"

As an example, the movie "A Moment in Time." Christopher Reeves travels back in time to meet the love of his life, Jane Seymour, and (beware if you haven't seen it, here's a spoiler) they're happily in love, giggling away in a innocent scene, and WHACK! with very little warning he's catapulted back to the present and can't get back to her. It was friggin' awful! (Maybe that's what the writer intended, but it HURT.)
 

maestrowork

Holly, the movie is "Somewhere in Time." I happen to think that the ending of that movie was fine -- it was set up that way, and the only logical conclusion. Yes, it wasn't a happy ending as we hopeless romantics would have liked, but to me, it was the true ending for the story, both logically and emotionally.

Another "twist" ending that works for me is "Five People You Meet in Heaven." It's really not a "trick" ending, but it was unpredictable because the readers were thinking one thing, when the author delivered something else. Again, it was a good ending because:

1) It was unexpected (duh!)
2) It was true to the story (nothing out of the left field)
3) It tied up the loose ends
4) It was emotionally satisfying
 

SimonSays

endings

I think it all comes down to believablity and being true to your characters. I once wrote an action - comedy and had planned to have the two main characters come together at the end.

But it would not, could not work - because these two people were just too different for them to wind up together happily-ever-after. It wasn't beliveable or true to the characters I created.

So I had to find another way to give the audience, and my main character a satisfying ending, without giving them the "Hollywood Kiss".

It was a real challenge, but I finally came up with something that was true to the character and would satisfy the audience.
 

alinasandor

It sounds like your story may be a romance. If this is true, I don't see a twist happening. One of the rules of romance is that the ending be happy. (See: Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant, pg.9 )
 

JuliePgh

My story started off as SF&F, then turned into what I believe is called Space Opera, and ultimately will be classified as Speculative for query letter purposes. You all have given me a lot to think about and I thank you. I'll be rereading this thread several times as I re-write my ending. I'm quite happy with my story up until the end, so I believe I need to write another ending or two (using different approaches) to see what works and what is, as everyone has stressed, true to my characters and story. Thank you again!
 

Jamesaritchie

Yeah, I think the ending to "Somewhere In Time" was the only possible ending that could have worked. It was telegraphed all the way through the movie, set up perfectly.
 

Flawed Creation

i think that there are options between sudden shock and happy ending.

how about a bittersweet ending- for instance, the romance doesn't work out but they exchange postcards forever, or something.

i don't knwo the book, but i'm sure you can do something satisfying yet unexpected.
 

zerohour21

I've never seen the movies mentioned here. One of the movies that comes to mind is Fight Club, where the twist somewhere three forths of the way into the movie where (SPOILER ALERT! Don't read unless you either have seen the movie or have no intention of seeing anyway) Tyler is revealed to be the anonymous protagonist. That twist worked, and the movie was good right up until around the last couple of minutes, where the protagonist shoots himself in the mouth and actually survives for the sake of a somewhat happy ending. I'm just not buying that kind of ending, because lets face it, if you shove a gun into your mouth and blow out the back of your head and brain stem, you're going to die; there isn't much hope for you, and even if you survive, you would be a veggie for the rest of your life. So I'd have to say that forced happy endings are just as bad as forced twists or forced tragic endings. Sometimes happy endings do work and are good endings, such as in 8mm, but other times if it feels forced, then it feels wrong and just doesn't work.

Some of my stories do end in twists, but not all of them do. The types of endings vary depending on what kind of ending I feel like the story should have. I'd like to think that the reader would have the same reaction to the ending of my twist stories as they had when viewing the Sixth Sense (a movie I have yet to see, but the ending is obviously common knowledge by now), though people who have read the twist stories said they thought it was good, so I guess that is good. The twists at the end of those particular stories felt right and they did resolve the story, sometimes happily, other times not so happily.

Also, make sure that the twist actually makes sense and doesn't provide for inconsistencies with the rest of the story. A good example of this is the movie Frailty, which was a great movie, though not sure how much of a twist it was, since I could see it coming halfway through the movie almost. In any case, the problem with the twist that I have is that I am wondering how it is possible to not only be aware of, in detail, events you were not present for and were probably not told about, but also what was going through the other person's mind at the time he was going through all of this. These issues aside, the ending did resolve the movie and then there was another twist that I didn't see coming.

Keep in mind though that happy endings where bitter enemies fall in love can be lame, too. And hollywood does often time seem insistent on making the lead male and lead female characters fall in love by the end, which sometimes works, but sometimes shouldn't happen. For example, if they hate each other's guts, then they're not going to fall in love by the end. Perhaps they might learn to tolerate each other, but marriage seems a little far-fetched, don't you think?
 

Jules Hall

I'm just not buying that kind of ending, because lets face it, if you shove a gun into your mouth and blow out the back of your head and brain stem, you're going to die; there isn't much hope for you, and even if you survive, you would be a veggie for the rest of your life.

I've actually heard of a true case of somebody shooting themselves through the mouth with a shotgun and surviving relatively intact. It does happen, however unlikely it may be.
 

HollyB

I just finished a novel with a great twist at the end: Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane. I won't reveal the twist here, but let me tell you, I did NOT see it coming... but when I went back and thought about the novel, the 'clues' were there all along. Masterfully done, very interesting. Most of the time, with 'twist novels,' you can see it coming a mile away.
 

vstrauss

I just read the Lehane book also--first Lehane book I've ever read--and I agree the twist worked, though there are a few nits one could pick, such as why the staff of the hospital would go to so much trouble for just one guy...overall, though, it did fit, and I agree it was very well done.

The twist in The Sixth Sense did NOT work, IMO. While it didn't contradict any of the individual scenes, it completely unraveled the overall logic of the film.

I like narrative reversals and surprises...but as others have said, they need to fit the characters and serve the plot, and that's not so easy to do. Also, to try and make a twist out of arbitrarily defeating the reader's expectations--such as refusing to let the two romantic leads get together at the end, or depriving the antagonists of a final confrontation--will just annoy readers and make them feel cheated. If you're going to do something like that, you have to build the possibility in throughout the book, so the reader can look back through and say "oh yeah".

- Victoria
 

zerohour21

I've actually heard of a true case of somebody shooting themselves through the mouth with a shotgun and surviving relatively intact. It does happen, however unlikely it may be.

Even so, were they able to get up from it two minutes later and stand on their feet and walk around without much problem?

Back to the twist thing, like I said before, it has to work for the story, so if you must do a twist, be careful about how it is taken care of. Then again, some people enjoy twists regardless and hate the "predictability" of most stories and movies. You really can't please everyone no matter what you write or how you end it, so just keep that in mind as well while you are writing your story. Someone once suggested alternate endings for my stories to make them less "predictable" but the endings he suggested just didn't work or feel right overall.
 

wisdomquest

Sixth Sense borrowed twist, or ...? <SPOILER ALERT>

Anyone remember a movie call "The Others" - I think Nicole Kidman played the lead?

<SPOILER ALERT> Same basic premise as "Sixth Sense" - she didn't know that she (and her kids) were dead - thought the living were the ghosts?

Not sure if "Sixth Sense" was first or if "The Others" was ... but, haven't you noticed that there often seems to be a spate of movies ... and books too ... that come out around the same time with the same basic theme? <END SPOILER ALERT>

Is it universal consciousness or what? Weird, anyway.

-wisdomquest:snoopy
 
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