Willow ,'Conversations with Dead People'
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I remember the columnist Jon Carroll arguing that there were only really three plot twists: (1) somebody's alive that you thought was dead, or vice versa; (2) somebody's a different gender than presented; (3) hidden parentage is revealed.
At minimum, that list is missing "It was only a dream!"
At minimum, that list is missing "It was only a dream!"
That's not a twist. That's a betrayal.
Why does it have to be?
Why does it have to be?
It's just bad storytelling. It breaks a certain convent with the reader.
Of course there's no reason why any element is bad in itself, but historically it's been a refuge for shitty writers who don't commit to the story they're telling or just want to pull a cheap meta rug out from under the reader. So it's considered to be in bad taste, and is usually one the first things you're taught to not do in a writing class.
Careful. I've taken a lot of writing classes, and no one has ever told me there's something no one should do.
The thing that sets a lot of great writers apart is that they can get away with breaking all kinds of "rules" and make it compelling, believable, and page-turning.
Which one do you believe "it's just bad storytelling" or "there's no reason why any element is bad in itself"?
Would you write a story that ended, "...and it was all a dream."?
Which one do you believe "it's just bad storytelling" or "there's no reason why any element is bad in itself"?
They're not exclusive. I do believe it's bad storytelling and should be avoided.
That doesn't that you couldn't subvert the trope or do something with it.
Not just that way, no. But look at The Wizard of Oz. Essentially, it was all a dream, and I don't see a lot of people complaining that they feel cheated because of it.
I'm just saying there's an exception to every rule.
I always hated the ending of TWoO, ever since I was old enough to watch it all the way through without getting scared of the flying monkeys. Especially since I knew the book’s ending was different.