The Thing about Plot Twists

Ah. Plot twists. Evil authors. When everything is turning out to be okay. You can finally breathe again because it looks like they all made it out alive. But then...

The most innocent character gets stabbed out of nowhere. (Yes, I read a book like this once. So heartbreaking.)

Plot twists are hard to write. You can't just say, "I'll do the most unexpected thing!" Uh, no. You have to have a plan. No one can expect it. At the same time, it must be believable. I'm going to try to keep it as vague as I can, but this post will contain some mild spoilers from books I've read.

I was reminded of the brilliancy of plot twists when I finished By Darkness Hid, which I highly recommend. Oh wow. Let's just say... I did not see that coming. A book can have more than one plot twists, but there's always a big one that leaves the reader screaming, "WHAT?"

The big plot twists usually are two kind of happenings:

1. The truth turns out to be a lie. (Legend)
2. The truth changes. (Mocking Jay)

 The plot twist in Legend is that the government actually killed the important people in the main character's life. What was believed is a lie. However, in Mocking Jay, it's different. Brainwashed by the Capital, Peeta hates Katniss now and wants to kill her. Before this, it was well-known that Peeta loved Katniss. The truth changes.

Do you see the difference? As I said before, it must be believable. Peeta being brainwashed by the Capital and wanting to murder Katniss is believable. No one saw it coming in a million years. But the Capital is cruel and deadly, plus they hate Katniss. It makes sense that they would do something so unbelievably horrible.

To make sure the reader doesn't see the plot twist coming, constantly remind them of the lie or the changeable truth. That's one of the reasons I would have never seen the plot twist in By Darkness Hid coming. Up until the truth was revealed, the lie was in my face. I didn't see an alternative.

In a way, plot twists symbolize what life is. We might think we got it all figured out, but then something comes out of nowhere, throwing us off our game. They also remind us that God is in control and He has a reason for everything.

Francesca Battistelli's album, My Paper Heart, actually was one of the first things that got me into music. This is one of my favorite songs from the album.

Sticking to Your Story

Have this ever happened to you?

You're going on with life as it is and suddenly... bam! This amazing, wonderful story idea comes to you! If you're an writer, this is one of the best feelings: Getting a story idea you love! The feeling of excitement bubbles inside of you. So you brainstorm. And you write.

At first, it's great. Since you love the story, everything flows. Naturally, it comes from your brain to paper. A few chapters into your masterpiece, that's when it begins. It's probably the most common cause of story death.

The fire from the excitement of a new idea starts to go out. Three or four chapters into it, you stop writing. There might be no other cause, expect the fresh feeling isn't there anymore.

No author can deny writing a first draft is a hard thing to do. You have to come up with ideas, worry about the length, all while trying to stay true to the basic writing rules. Show, don't tell, etc.

When you think about it, what keeps the story alive in your brain? What makes you push through in the long hours of writing time?

Motivation.

If you just sat there and let the fire go out, it's not going to hesitate to fade. That's why you have to keep yourself motivated. It is difficult, I know, especially when you really want to get to the exciting part. Sometimes, actually writing is a piece of cake compared to actually completing your first draft.

Do what you have to do to keep yourself motivated. Use the best parts that you haven't gotten to yet. Remember, if you don't write, you're never going to get the scenes you want to write. That's what motivated me during my many first draft writing sessions.

Create a Pinterest board, or look at an old board you made. I recently got Pinterest and it's helping me consider the outward appearance of characters. Too often, I would forget about that.

 My personal favorite is making a  music playlist! It's easy to do on Spotify, plus free. Just think of songs that would go perfectly in your book's soundtrack. Listen to the song. Picture the scene in your head. This is seriously fun!

This might be the most important. Eliminate all distractions. Translation: Turn off the Internet. I can't count how many minutes I've wasted on Pinterest, or Instagram, or even my blog, when I could have been writing. What is more worth it in the end? Writing or checking social networks? I need to think of that question. Reward yourself when you're done writing.

It's more painful when you're really into the story and the flame starts to go out again. Take a break. Work on another story. I have been taking a break with my most recent book to get some fresh air. If all else fails, consider the time. It might not be the right time to write the story. That's what I'm thinking about right now.

Relax. Writing is fun, not stressful. It's a time to express your feelings, your words. Don't sweat. Remember, this is your first draft. It's going to be far from perfect, but it's worth it. It shapes your voice, helps you grow, even if you don't publish it. Stick to your story! I wish you the best of luck.

When you write a story, what's a few ways you stay motivated? Do you think about music while you write or picture songs going on with your story? What songs? Comment!

Happy summer!

5 Things that Will Keep your Reader Interested

I decided to write a writing advice post today about a few things I’ve noticed in books that have always keep me interested. I’m going to use  and Percy Jackson series as references since these books never failed to keep me turning pages.

1.       Cliff-hanger chapters. Obviously, this is a well-known tactic used everywhere. If you plan your story right, this isn’t that hard to do either. It’s not limited to just action parts. You can have one of your characters say something we’ve all been waiting to find out, or have something happen suddenly. Unlike other things, this can’t be overused.

2.       Someone is about to tell something we’ll have been waiting to find out and the conversation is interrupted. This happened many times in the Percy Jackson series. He was about to find out something and then some stupid monster appears out of nowhere. Subject is dropped. But if you do this, be sure to come back to the topic somewhere down the road.

3.       Memory loss. Someone in your story doesn’t remember something significant. The character can have full blown memory loss (as in he doesn’t remember anything), or he can just forget a certain important event. Be sure to give a reason why the reader wants to know what happened.  You don’t have keep it a strict secret. Put hints to possibilities of what could’ve happened here and there.

4.        A balance of action and personal conversations. Even if your story is action and adventure, you should still include personal conversation with the characters. Your action might be far from boring, but the reader still needs to care about your character. That makes the dangerous adventures more exciting to your reader. Why? Because they know about the character and they care.

5.       A personal risk. Whatever the main risk is, always add another risk to do it. That’s what kept my heart pounding during the first chapters of The Last Olympian. Of course, the main thing was: Percy must defeat Kronos or the gods will be overthrown and the world would end. Along with that, the know-it-all Oracle predicted that he was going to die while doing so. I LOVED Percy so this was not only heartbreaking, but I didn’t wanted to stop until I reached the end.

Hope these were helpful! Be sure to remember Memorial Day!