So, you're writing a story, and you have a perfect idea for a shocking twist that will leave the reader's jaw hanging as they suddenly realize the true meaning of everything they've just read! You evil genius, you!

Except...

well, readers are pretty smart, and let's face it, shocking twists have been done before. You're now pretty convinced that they will see your twist coming a mile away, perhaps even from the opening sentence. How would you rather handle it?

LOL. Herring's my name. Red Herring. But that's just me. /whistles innocently/ I try it out on my betas. If I can fool 'em, I can fool everyone! /okay, maybe not everyone./

Go off in a certain direction for long enough that people think they KNOW what the twist will be. Only make the turn at the last moment when they're least expecting it.

Sometimes, my twists are so out there I feel it isn't fair if I don't drop a bunch of clues so that some people will pick up on it. Then, I end up drowning the reader in the clues its not a big twist when it happens. (This is much easier if its a short story and the reader hasn't wormed it out of me during the last 50 parts. Michael is still 99% sure Lois will turn up pregnant in Wrong Clark, EVEN THOUGH I've told him, repeatedly, she isn't pregnant in this story.) Finding the happy medium is the one. Sometime you hit it, sometimes you end up with pancake on your face. /shrugs/ Can't win 'em all.

If I'm convinced that the twist is something the readers will expect, I'll either abandon the story or come up with a new twist. My stories are all quite short (too short to insert many red herrings) and many of them live or die by their twists.

Joy,
Lynn

p.s., Interesting poll.

I chose other ... cause it pretty much depends. LOL. Short stories with a twist ... go for it, I guess. Longer stories ... definitely put in millions of red herrings.

Agatha Christie was a master of this - her best example is "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd." I imagine it felt obvious to her as she was writing it because she knew what she was doing - she could see all of the clues she was leaving. As a reader, when the twist was revealed, I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it. I reread the whole book again from that point of view to see what I hadn't seen before. Brilliant! So write your story anyway. Have a beta or two read it without spoiling the surprise and see if they picked up on the clues too quickly. If so, see if there are lines here or there that could be reworked to help disguise the twist better. But most importantly, just enjoy the pleasure that comes from the process of writing. We'll all be here to enjoy your creation.

Write it anyway! And throw in whatever red herrings my evil muse comes up with in the process.

I always appreciate the double twist. Let 'em think they know what's going to happen and then totally blow their minds. No Way Out was a great movie example.

I once did a demonstration for a bunch of 12 year-olds. I had three glasses of clear liquid and a box of baking soda. As soon as I unpacked the soda a kid in the front row said, "I know what's going to happen. I know what's going to happen." And kept it up. So when I stirred a spoonful of the baking soda into the first glass and it turned GREEN he was the most surprised of the bunch. Then when the second glass foamed over even he appreciated the trick.

Isn't that why Lois ends up with RED during the ARGH / Wanda Detroit arc? Because he's a red herring?