 Horror/Scary: March 21, 2018 Issue [#8807] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: The Twist Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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THE TWIST
I love stories with a twist. Giving the reader something unexpected is what makes writing and reading so much fun. But you've got to eliminate the obvious. When coming up with the climax to your story, discard every possible solution you can think of for your protagonist to succeed.
Then think of some more.
And discard those, too.
You’re trying to create an ending that’s so unforeseen that if a million people read your story, not one of them would guess how it ends (or how it will get to the end), but when they finally come to it, every one of those people would think, Yes! That makes perfect sense! Why didn’t I see that coming?
The more impossible the climax is for your protagonist to overcome, the more believable and inevitable the escape or solution needs to be. No reader should anticipate it, but everyone should nod and smile when it happens. No one guesses, everyone nods. That’s what you’re shooting for.
Also, avoid gimmicks. Readers want their emotional investment to pay off. The twist should never occur in a way that makes them feel tricked, deceived, or insulted. Great twists always deepen, never cheapen, readers’ investment in the story.
This is why dream sequences typically don’t work—the protagonist thinks she’s in a terrible mess, then wakes up and realizes it was all just a dream. These aren’t twists because they almost never escalate the story but often do the very opposite, revealing to readers that things weren’t really that bad after all (de-escalation). Showing a character experiencing a harrowing or frightening experience and then having him wake up from a dream is not a twist; it’s a tired cliché.
Until next time,
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DEAD LETTERS
Elfin Dragon-finally published 
Thank you for writing on the horrors of Depression. It does take so many forms and we who suffer from those forms are often saddened by the effect it has on our loved ones just as much as the effect is has on us. I know because, still, not all of my loved ones understand my type of depression. It makes for a difficult road. But certainly not an impossible one. Thank you once again. 
Osirantinous Capricornus 
I think a lot of people don't even realise they're depressed, and then people just might think they're moody or something. And there's always that fear that if you ask someone if they need help they'll just rip you to shreds for daring to think they might. By the way, thanks for using my favourite pic. I love it; it always makes me feel sorry for that creature. They look like they're full of horror and distress at themselves.
Danger Mouse
Hey Bill, As usual with you, this is an interesting newsletter. I am at some odds with it though. I have experience with the subject, subjective and objective. My beliefs about depression have changed over the years.
One of my favorite quotes is from Kurt Vonnegut — "A sane person to an insane society must appear insane."
I don't view depression as a sickness, it is a survival adaptation that our modern society likes to call sickness.
Acceptance is key, don't let others tell you how to be.
Hugs,
Vickie
Quick-Quill 
I don't know that I've experienced deep depression. I know there were years, I escaped into books and food and didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. Is that depression? Now I find it difficult to find books that hold my interest. They all seem so stupid. I pick them apart and don't finish them. Am I still depressed? I watch TV, do computer puzzles and read/review WDC, start a bunch of novels. Maybe I'm not so bad.
Prosperous Snow celebrating 
I like the metaphor of the haunted house, because that is how depression feels. Thank you for emphasizing that depression can be treated.
Patrece ~
Wow! Quite insightful. But yet it goes so much deeper, too. Great newsletter. You had me hook, line and sinker!
OOPS, meant to share this... "Follow Me To Your Peace." it provides a little more insight for those who aren't intimately familiar with depression.
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