Speaker 1: Somehow my bad versus good videos returned and today we're going to focus on plot twists so stick around. By the way my name is Brandon McNulty. I'm the author of Bad Parts, also the author of Entry Wounds, and welcome to my writing channel. Nothing lights up a story like a good plot twist and today we're going to focus on how to write them. We'll talk about different types of plot twists and what makes them work and then I'll give you some bad and good examples to illustrate what I mean. Now before we get into the meat of the video here's your spoiler warning. I'll be discussing the following stories today so be careful if you plan on seeing any of these in the future. But let's start off by answering the question what is a plot twist? And very simply it's a story revelation or a shocking event that changes the direction of the plot. It may also change our perception of a character and it resets the audience's expectations for the story. And just so you have an idea of what I'm talking about here are some common plot twists and most of these involve revelations or surprising events. For instance, you might reveal some characters' identity. Who is the killer? Who is the real villain? Who is under the mask? You might reveal a character's background. How did the character get to be the way they are? Was there some kind of lab experiment in the past or something like that? You might reveal a secret goal or plan that the character has. What do they really want? You might reveal the character's true motivation. Why do they pursue their goal? Is it a grudge, is it revenge? Do they want to protect someone? Or is it something else entirely? And you might also reveal special abilities or special knowledge. Then as far as surprise comes in as a starter, you might reveal a secret plan. What are you trying to do? How are you events go, you might include things like character deaths, the destruction of settings or important items, especially items like evidence in a mystery story, and you might also include other surprising events like when a character returns from a long absence or they discover new evidence or some other plot twist along those lines. Alright, now let's answer the question, what makes a good plot twist? And there are five things I came up with. The first is surprise and shock value. And when you're writing a twist, it's the writer's job to mislead the audience. You need to make the audience believe one possibility will happen, then you deliver the opposite or you deliver something completely mind-blowing, completely off the wall. Second thing is believability. You want to surprise the audience but you don't want to completely catch them off guard. You need to manage audience expectations and set up a plot twist with adequate foreshadowing. Then once the twist hits, you want to provide a solid explanation for why it happened. Third thing a good plot twist should do, it should impact the characters and the plot. And twist should have an impact on not just the audience but the characters as well. And when twists force the characters to react, that in turn changes the events of the story. Fourth thing is variety. You want to use different types of plot twists. And another thing to remember is that twists can be big or small. A few smaller twists can build the story's momentum until we hit a monster twist toward the end. And the fifth thing is timing. A good twist needs proper buildup. You don't want to rush a twist and you also don't want to delay too long and risk having your audience forget about the setup. You want to drop the bomb when it creates the most surprise and excitement. You want to set the plot to the point that if you're and emotional impact. All right, now let's look at four bad types of plot twists. And what I'm going to do, I'm going to explain each twist. Then I'm going to give you a bad example, and I'm going to explain why that example sucks. And then I'll give you a good example in its place, and I'll explain why that one works. But the first one we're going to talk about today is the forced twist. And what this is, it's a twist that's unearned. There's little to no setup, and it lacks believability. We get this sudden surprise that isn't properly foreshadowed, and then it's usually followed by a clumsy explanation. And typically, these types of twists, they disrespect the audience's expectations, and they usually exist for the sake of shock value. For a bad example, let's look at Star Wars Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker. And this takes place within the Star Wars sequel trilogy, which tells the story of the Resistance battling the First Order for the fate of the galaxy. In the first movie of this trilogy, we're introduced to a brand new cast of villains that includes Kylo Ren and the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke. Then in the second movie, Snoke is abruptly killed by the Force. And in the second movie, Snoke is killed by the Force. And in the third movie, Snoke is killed off by his apprentice, Kylo Ren, who then becomes the Supreme Leader and all but destroys the Resistance. The movie ends with a faint glimmer of hope for Rey and the survivors, and the audience is left to question what will happen in the trilogy's final entry. Will the Resistance rebuild and rally? Will Rey find a way to turn the tables? Will Kylo Ren abuse his newfound power and make a critical mistake? All of these are reasonable possibilities, but rather than working with the existing story threads, Episode IX opens with an out-of-nowhere revelation. It turns out that people hear a mysterious broadcast containing the voice of Emperor Palpatine, who is of course the villain of the original trilogy, and he was decisively killed in Episode VI. Now this news of his revival spreads across the galaxy, and Kylo Ren tracks down Palpatine, confirming his existence. Then shortly afterward, the Resistance gets confirmation as well. Somehow Palpatine returned. It cannot be. The Emperor is dead. Dark science. Cloning. Secrets only the Sith knew. That's it. That's the twist that kicks off the final entry in the sequel trilogy. Now this twist sucks for a number of reasons. First of all, it's revealed in an info dump. And this is just not the way to do it. You should be dramatizing your plot twist. Let us hear the broadcast. Let us see characters reacting to it. Another reason why it sucks is because it lacks proper setup. Now if Kylo Ren and the First Order had spent the previous movie trying to resurrect dead Sith Lords, this twist might have hit with some impact. Instead it comes out of nowhere and it feels forced. It's like they couldn't come up with a plot, so they just can't do it. It's like they couldn't come up with a plot, so they just can't do it. It's like they couldn't come up with a plot, so they just can't do it. It's like they couldn't come up with a plot, so they just came up with a twist instead. Another reason why this sucks is because of the lazy explanation we get. We're told that dark side users are capable of cloning themselves. But this feels like a weak excuse because we haven't seen it done in the previous two movies. There's no build up to it and then the explanation only makes it look sillier. Now for a good example of a twist that kicks off a story without feeling forced, let's look at Avengers Endgame. This movie follows Infinity War in which Thanos assembles the Infinity Gauntlet. He uses it to snap half of all life out of the Infinity Gauntlet. He uses it to snap half of all life out of the Infinity Gauntlet. He uses it to snap half of all life out of the Infinity Gauntlet. He uses it to snap half of all life out of the Infinity Gauntlet. And at the end of the movie, audiences expect that the surviving Avengers will track down Thanos, battle him and defeat him. And that's what we get in Endgame. But surprisingly, we get it within the first 20 minutes. The Avengers locate Thanos and they defeat him in a matter of no time. However, defeating Thanos doesn't solve their problems and in the aftermath, the Avengers have to live with their greatest failure before a new solution arises. And this twist works because it gives the audience what they expect in a surprise, in a surprising way. Going in, we knew the heroes would fight and defeat Thanos, but we didn't expect their victory to come so soon and feel so empty. And the twist impacts characters in surprising ways. Since they can't restore things to normal, they're forced to live in Thanos' new world. They're forced to face the consequences. And the twist also sends the plot in a new direction. It forces characters to visit the past in order to get a second chance. Second type of bad twist is the bailout twist. And this is an unlikely twist that rescues characters from deadly situations. Often times it feels contrived or lucky and it may involve deus ex machina, which is a situation where instead of the characters saving themselves, they're saved by bad writing. And one more thing to keep in mind with this, coincidences can be forgivable if they occur near the beginning of a story. However, they're unforgivable if they happen toward the end at critical moments. Now for a bad example, let's look at the movie Training Day. And this is a movie about a Los Angeles cop named Jake Hoyt who gets trained by a corrupt narcotics detective named Alonzo Harris. Early on, there's a scene where Jake notices a young girl getting attacked and he rescues her while displaying courage, toughness, and a willingness to sacrifice his well-being. The girl then runs off and she forgets her wallet and Jake hangs onto it hoping to deliver it to her later. From there, Alonzo tries to determine if Jake can be trusted with all the corrupt and illegal activities that he and his team engage in. Throughout the movie, Jake resists temptation, while failing to do so, and he's forced to leave the house. Jake is forced to leave the house, and he's forced to leave the house while facing down the pressure from his new coworkers. This ends up disappointing Alonzo, and toward the end of the movie, he leaves Jake to die in the company of gangsters. Jake tries to escape, but he's dragged into a bathroom to be killed. This should be a moment where our hero uses his wits and skills to save himself, but that doesn't happen here. Instead, the gangsters prepare to kill him until one guy finds the girl's wallet in Jake's pocket. This is when we get our twist. It turns out that the head gangster is actually the older cousin of the girl Jake happened to rescue at the beginning of the story. This lucky development buys Jake some time to explain himself, and after the gangster calls his cousin to verify the details, he decides to spare Jake's life. And this twist sucks because of the completely ridiculous odds. I mean, think about this. On his first day on the job, Jake saves one girl in a city of three million people, he decides to hang onto her wallet, and then when he's about to be executed, his would-be killer finds the wallet and happens to be the girl's cousin. I mean, this is like winning the Powerball five times in a row. It just shouldn't happen. And this also sucks because you have Deus Ex Machina going on here. The writer saves the hero with a convenient plot twist, rather than letting the hero save himself through grit or resourcefulness. And another issue here is bad timing. Sometimes you can get away with lucky coincidences at the beginning of a story, but they should never happen toward the end. Now, for a good example, let's look at Terminator 2. Now, if you remember, the first Terminator movie is about a deadly machine that gets sent back to Earth in a flash. So, if you remember, that gets sent back in time in order to kill Sarah Connor. And she ends up being protected by a man from the future named Kyle Reese, and with his help she escapes danger and she eventually defeats the machine. Then, in Terminator 2, Sarah's son John is the target. We have a familiar scenario where a machine is sent back in time while another man from the future is sent back as well. Eventually John finds himself caught between the two, and then we get our twist. It turns out that both men are Terminators, and the one that we've been conditioned to fear, the T-800, is actually the protector this time around. And before long we learn that this particular T-800 was reprogrammed by John Connor in the future in order to protect his ten-year-old self. And this twist works because it's pleasantly surprising. If an audience comes into this movie blind, they expect the T-800 to harm John. Instead, the machine saves him, which creates emotional impact while also introducing a brand new breed of Terminator. And the twist also works because it's believable. It's reasonable that a T-800 could be reprogrammed in the future and sent back in time to save John. It's not some random occurrence. It's a planned one. Future John bails his younger self out. And one other reason it works is because of character impact. This twist introduces the T-800 as a protector, and over the course of the story, the machine acts as a father figure toward John. Third type of bad twist is the repeat twist. And this is when a story or series reuses a familiar twist without making it bigger or more surprising. And usually it has less shock value and impact the second time around, and it may feel lazy or contrived. For a bad example, let's take a look at Return of the Jedi. And how's that for a twist? You came into this video thinking I'd be beaten up on the Star Wars sequels, but you never thought I'd actually take a shot at the original trilogy. Anyway, the original Star Wars trilogy contains one of the biggest plot twists in film history, which is when Darth Vader reveals himself to be Luke's father. It's a top-notch twist that forces us to rethink the entire story, and it impacts the characters, the plot, the audience, everything. It's a bombshell, and it's the signature moment of the Star Wars franchise. Then, in Return of the Jedi, we get the minor league version of this twist. While Luke is on Dagobah, he learns that Princess Leia, his friend and former love interest, is actually his twin sister. He later tells Leia this before heading off to face Darth Vader, and during the final lightsaber duel, Vader grasps this knowledge and pressures Luke by threatening to hunt down Leia and turn her to the dark side. And this sucks because it's an underwhelming repeat. This is the second time we learn that a major character is directly related to Luke. And though it's not meant to be as dramatic as the Vader reveal, it still comes off as uninspired. It also sucks because it stretches the story's credibility. When the villain and the top supporting character both end up being related to the hero, things start to feel contrived. And another issue is the lack of story impact. Leia's status as Luke's sister doesn't really change much. It factors into the final lightsaber duel, and that's about it. Now for a good example of a repeat twist, let's take a look at Game of Thrones. And this show is of course famous for its plot twists, especially ones that involve characters dying, and we're going to focus on one here. If you remember, in season one, Ned Stark, he's the main character, and he discovers a dark truth about the new king of Westeros. And he tries to expose the king as illegitimate, but unfortunately Ned trusts the wrong people, and he gets himself executed in jaw-dropping fashion. And this comes as a massive shock because Ned was the main character, and he was the leader of the Stark family. Him dying just nine episodes into the series is unthinkable. Then in seasons two and three, Robb seeks to avenge his father. He rallies the North, he forms alliances, and he wins several battles against the Lannister army. Unfortunately, he also pisses off a grind-me-old swamp monster named Walder Frey. Robb had pledged to marry Frey's daughter, but instead he married the woman of his dreams. And in order to make things up to Walder, Robb offers another man in his place. So they set up a wedding, and then at the wedding, the unthinkable happens again. Shortly after learning that he's going to have a child, Robb, his wife, and his mother are all betrayed and killed by the Frey family in gut-wrenching fashion. And this repeat twist works because it's bigger and more shocking. In season one, we lose a Stark. In season three, we lose three generations of Starks. And the twist shatters the audience's expectations. After what happened to Ned, we expect justice, and we hope that Robb can avenge his father. But instead of triumph and justice, we see how one mistake can lead to total destruction. And the twist greatly impacts characters and plot. The Red Wedding sends shockwaves throughout Westeros, and it sends the story in a brand new direction. And the fourth type of bad twist is the obvious villain twist. And this is when the villain's identity is hidden, but it's easy to guess who it is. And usually there's not enough misdirection, or there are not enough potential culprits. And this twist may make the heroes look dumb for not figuring out the truth sooner. For a bad example, let's look at Incredibles 2. This movie opens up with the government cracking down on superheroes, which is bad news for the superfamily known as the Incredibles. But things get seemingly better for them when a businessman named Winston Deaver pledges to boost their reputation. Winston runs a media company along with his gloomy-looking sister Evelyn, who serves as the head designer and inventor. Evelyn is brilliant with technology, and she designs a number of cutting-edge devices. She also happens to hold a grudge against superheroes because her father died after putting too much faith in them. Before long, a masked villain known as the Screenslaver emerges and starts causing havoc. This evildoer uses technology to hypnotize people and spread chaos throughout the city. The Screenslaver is eventually captured and revealed to be a pizza guy who has no memory of his actions. Then, later on, one of the heroes recognizes that the pizza guy was innocent. And right as she's about to connect the dots, Evelyn forces a pair of hypnotic goggles on her and reveals herself to be the mastermind. And this sucks because Evelyn's design and attitude give off villain vibes. If you want to hide a villain, you're better off portraying that character as someone trustworthy, harmless, or incompetent. You don't want them looking suspicious right up front. Another reason why this sucks is because Evelyn's special skills tip us off to the fact that she's the villain. The movie introduces her as a tech genius. Then we see the Screenslaver who uses technology in order to commit crime. And the thing is, if you want to hide her, you need to include other tech-savvy inventors in the story. Give her an apprentice or someone similar who can keep us guessing as to who the real villain is. And another issue here is that the twist is revealed late. By that point, many audiences already suspect Evelyn because of her behavior. And had the twist come sooner, it may have caught more people off guard. Now for a good example, I'm going to break the first two rules of Fight Club and talk about the movie. Fight Club opens with a flash forward to the climax of the story, where the narrator is at the mercy of a man named who has rigged a building to explode. Then we jump back in time a few months to see how the narrator got to this point. Turns out he's a successful yet miserable guy suffering from insomnia. And in order to feel better, he visits support groups for people with cancer and other problems. Though he doesn't have any of these illnesses, being around suffering people brings him peace. At least until he encounters a woman named Marla Singer who visits the same support groups and makes him feel like a scumbag. Then, while on a flight, he encounters a man named Tyler Durden, a foolish, thoughtful, confident guy who's heavily critical of materialism and corporate jobs. Later, the narrator and Tyler meet for drinks before getting into a consensual fist fight with one another. And this leads to the formation of an underground Fight Club. Soon, the narrator moves into Tyler's rundown home and the two men bond together. Eventually, Tyler starts sleeping with Marla, which upsets the narrator and creates an awkward sort of love triangle within the home. Then, before long, Fight Club evolves into a widespread terrorist organization called Project Mayhem. Tyler oversees the group and begins spreading chaos. And after a group member is killed, the narrator realizes that he needs to stop Project Mayhem. He seeks out Tyler, but he can't seem to find the man anywhere until he has a chance encounter with a bartender. Who do you think I am? Are you sure this isn't a test? No, this is not a test. You're Mr. Durden. After hearing this revelation, the narrator then calls Marla and demands that she say his name. What did you just call me? Say my name. Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden, you fucking freak. What's going on? This forces him to acknowledge that he and Tyler are the same person. The narrator's sleep-deprived, mentally unstable mind created Tyler, and in doing so, it also gave birth to a terrorist network that he now must put a stop to. And this works because of the unreliable narrator. The narrator is established as someone who suffers from insomnia and mental health issues. He needs human connection and he creates an imaginary friend that he wishes he could be. Then he becomes that person. The story is carefully crafted so that the narrator and Tyler rarely speak to each other while others are listening. And when they do have conversations in front of other people, there's a good reason why nobody calls out the narrator on his behavior. And the twist is also foreshadowed throughout the story. Marla complaining about her hot and cold relationship with the narrator is just one example that hints at the Jekyll and Hyde twist. And one last reason why it works is plot impact. It forces the narrator to recognize his actions and try to put a stop to the terrorist network that is stretching beyond his control. So I hope this helps. Question of the day. What is your favorite plot twist from a story? Let us know in the comments section below and be sure to mark for spoilers. Thank you for watching. If you want to support the channel, please pick up a copy of either one of my books. Bad Parts is great if you like small town horror. It's about people trading away their sick and injured body parts in order to get healthy again. And then Entry Wounds is great if you like thrillers. It's about a guy who picks up a haunted gun and he cannot put it down until he kills six people with it. Check out my other videos. Like, share, and subscribe. And as always, remember to keep on writing.