Some people enjoy surprises, others not so much.
It comes down to what the surprise is and how it’s delivered.
An unexpected attack? Not a welcome surprise.
A big cake and friends meeting you at your local on your birthday? Usually welcome.
The same is true in storycrafting and storytelling, me thinks.
Readers enjoy a surprise in a story and a story which surprises them.
And there’s a catch; the surprise must be foreshadowed for the reader to enjoy and appreciate it. I’ve written previously about stories in which the writer essentially pulls a rabbit out of their hat or offers a deux ex machina to make the story work, which essentially causes the story to fail because the reader isn’t properly rewarded for their time reading.
If you reveal a gun on page two somebody must use it by page five
You may have heard “If you reveal a gun on page two somebody must use it by page five.” This is an example of foreshadowing. The gun is foreshadowed, therefore must be put to some purpose in the story, otherwise what’s it doing in the story? What purpose does it serve other than demonstrating the writer is Toing and Froing and not in control of their story?
The other side of this is whatever is foreshadowed must be critical to the outcome of the story. Plotters tend to follow this far better than Pantzers do. They must; they have a plot point route they need to follow to complete their work.
This is also where surprises come in. The bad surprise is when the writer does something to finish the story and the reader finishes the story going “WTF? Where’d that come from?”
You never want a reader going back through a story pissed off because you did something they never saw coming in order to complete the story.
Similarly, you never (at least I never) want a reader to figure out a story’s conclusion long before the conclusion. I remember reading an Agatha Christie novel as a child (less than ten years old), getting to page 40, and knowing who did it and how it would end. I asked my mother, she confirmed, and I’ve read maybe one or two Christie novels since.
They bore me. Too predictable.
My readers feel the same way (so they tell me).
So I foreshadow outcomes in my work and not blatantly so. I want my readers to go “Oh, didn’t see that coming” and simultaneously feel “Yeah, that’s good” because the surprise fits with what came before, points to what comes after, and in retrospect all the clues were there, they know they were there, and like a good magician, I misdirected them.
Surprise!
Enjoy!
Think I’m onto something? Take a class with me, schedule a critique of your work, or buy me a coffee.
Think I’m an idiot? Let me know in a comment.
Either way, we’ll both learn something.
Get copies of my books because it’s a nice thing to do, you care, you can follow along, and I need the money. My latest is my fiction anthology Tales Told ‘Round Celestial Campfires Volume 2
FWIW, I hold a Creators RoundTable the last Thursday of every month from 7:30-8:30pmET. Watch past RoundTables. Register to participate.
Wilderness House Literary Review EIC Steve Glines and I (Senior Fiction Editor) hold monthly open chats with authors interested in a) writing for us, b) improving their craft in general, and/or c) increasing their chances of being accepted by other markets.
Meetings are held via Zoom on the last Friday of each month from 9-10amET.
So, want to know how to write for us? Want to know what gets our attention? Want to know how to write better for whatever market you’re interested in? Join us for our next “Meet the Editors” Zoom session. Seats limited! Sign up and talk with us. We’re relatively easy going and fun to be with.
Last item, finding these experiments useful? Strengthen my ego and link/friend/follow me.
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