this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2025
20 points (100.0% liked)

writing

22019 readers
1 users here now

"There's no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you"

-Maya Angelou

Welcome to c/writing!

This is a space for all kinds of discussion referring to writing. This could include the structure and style found in different types of writing, authors worth talking about, different genres, trends, etc.

This is also a space for users who wish to share their own writing for feedback. This could look like independently posting excerpts of poems/prose/plays or it could be replying to one of the writing prompt threads. Brainstorming and worldbuilding ideas are welcome too!

Ideally, this will be a community where we work together to become better writers and appreciators of writing in all its forms.

All that said, please note that Code of Conduct still applies here. Please apply content warnings where applicable and spoiler material that might be inappropriate.

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
20
About plot twists (self.writing)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by darkguyman to c/[email protected]
9 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've a researched a bit about writing plot twists properly. The conclusion I came to was simply: Twists shouldn't be too predictable but they shouldn't be completely random either. There was also this method a writer used which was simply: 20% of the audience should figure out the twist LONG before it's revealed and about 80% of the audience should figure it out JUST before it's revealed. These are all great advice but I'm struggling to apply them properly. Thing is: I often have a hard time thinking from the audience's POV. I'm not struggling with writing twists themselves but rather the foreshadowing/hints. I'm curious, how do you all incorporate your hints into the story? How many hints are there? How do you exactly employ hints, via dialogue? Via a character's actions? Via small visual details? Do you employ hints in only one way or several? Simply put, I'm trying to ask the following: How do you all put hints/foreshadowing of a plot twist into the story?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago

Even pretty obvious hints can be hidden in plain sight if the red herrings are interesting and well-thought-out enough in their own right. It's also fun for the reader to pursue false leads and have a chance to see ahead of time that they don't offer an adequate explanation.