Plot Twist?

Before I began writing my current W.I.P I knew exactly who my protagonist and antagonist were. I knew how they were connected and when and how I would introduce them. The setup for my story was obviously act one.

But, the preparation and this information left me with a bigger problem: how to keep my audience interested all the way until the end of act three. That’s 70 pages or about an hour and 10 minutes of screen time.

Since my audience would have already met the bad guy in act one, I feared that I gave away too much information too soon. So I had to figure out how to trick my audience to keep them interested in my narrative. Then I remembered the key aspects of keeping an audience engaged

• Conflict.
• Relevance.
• Theme.

In this case, its not about getting to the end of the story/destination; it’s more about how we get there and why we need to. Plotting a story should be interesting and challenging for both us and our characters.

As summer sets in a lot of people are planning on taking road trips. Many simply want to go from home to the destination, while others like myself like the little detours or pit-stops along the trip. They make the journey more interesting.

Easy paths in a narrative are boring, that’s why they need drama to keep us engaged. Life is full of drama, our stories should be as well.

Plot Twists?

Bad storytelling is like having a heartbeat that flatlines, there’s no life in it. Each ripple or obstacle in a storyline gives our characters purpose to continue on the journey. If things get too easy there’s no need to continue on in the plot.

Don’t let your story flatline. Screenwriting legend and teacher Scott Myers explains, “We WANT to see our story’s Protagonist struggle to overcome obstacles along the way. It makes for a more interesting read, the plot filled with twists and turns.”¹

Robert McKee notes, “The final cause for the decline of story runs very deep. Values, the positive/negative charges of life, are all at the soul of our art. The writer shapes story around a perception of what’s worth living for, what’s worth dying for.”²

The charge of these values should change from beginning to end, ideally from scene to scene. Each change of charge represents a change in character or a change in our story, and these lead to character growth.

Each change of charge is a turning point in our story. Turning points are necessary to keep our stories from flatlining. Screenwriters have several ways to accomplish turning points.

1. Roadblocks.
2. Complications.
3. Reversals.
4. Plot twists.

  Turning points are a great way to keep the momentum in our stories going forward, they keep our audience on their toes and interested in our narrative. Without turning points and obstacles, stories just coast along from point A to point B in a straight line, which is pretty boring if you ask me.

Obstacles?

In storytelling, we know the journey should take us on an adventure. Whether the journey is one of self-discovery, self-sacrifice, or fulfillment, the obstacles we encounter along the way make the destination worth it.

When a story is told correctly, the audience connects with it. We are challenged along with the characters. Ideally, we will grow, grieve, and love right along with our favorite characters as they overcome whatever obstacle blocks their way. Below are a few of my favorite movies with plot twists.

• A Very Long Engagement
• Seven
• The Prestige
• Jacob’s Ladder

Don’t make the journey to easy, it’ll bore everyone involved. Sometimes the biggest obstacle for a screenwriter faces in getting their scripts produced is the writer themselves—and that’s a plot twist.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

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¹  https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/complications-reversals-and-roadblocks-1515facefba

²  Mckee, R 1997 (Story) HarpercollinsBooks, page 17.