I loved the listener comment about how to do a plot twist incorrectly. It said something to the effect that the reader may throw the book away and say, “Lame, this author was wrong.” I think that people just starting out, especially if they’re discovery writers like most seem to be, will have a first draft that does exactly this. There is the issue of not foreshadowing properly, but also, there’s the issue of destroying too much of the plot and/or making the characters act against their nature to get your twist.

I find that one thing is effective both in avoiding this and finding a proper place to twist – learning to differentiate between a reader Assumption and a reader Expectation.

Good fiction, even that with twists, makes good on reader expectations. It won’t do to have a story that started out as a quest to kill vampires turn into a shoot ‘em up once the main character is betrayed by a minor character. In my opinion, the Sixth Sense twist, which was so minor, still worked so well because the story remained one of the child helping ghosts. The reader expectation is that certain primary questions posed by the plot are still going to be answered.

On the other hand, reader assumptions can and should be toyed with. When you watch a movie, you assume the characters in it not to be ghosts. You assume what sympathetic characters say can be taken at face value, even if you know that they might have motives that contradict it. You assume that bad guy/antagonist is motivated by greed, or some other base emotion, certainly he doesn’t think that he’s doing something noble. But these things are often ancillary to the underlying plot, at least, ancillary to what the viewpoint characters know of the plot at that point. And most importantly, the author has yet to make any promises about these things inherent in the plot. And so when child counselor turns out to be a ghost, you think, “Well, I was wrong AND Wow, what an interesting child who can see ghosts.”

http://inverloch.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php

Would be great if you could collaborate with Mr. Stackpole again some time.

I just read the eulogy on James Oliver Rigney, Jr.

You know, I’ve put my foot in my mouth before with glee and panache, in epic ways. But I don’t think I’ve ever gaffed this badly before *unwittingly.*

Allow me to retract any statements about the Wheel of Time series that I or some thieving fraud mimicking my screenname may have possibly written.

So how do you manage pacing?

Another good topic is researching your novel, especially for sci fi or ‘historical’ fantasy. I’ve got a project I put on hold last year because I kept rewriting it to match historical records, and I kept getting very, VERY deep into the histories to the detriment of work. How do you stay focused on the story when you’re researching it? Or do you not ever have problems with that, and I’ve just got to stop making excuses? ^_^

Lastly: This podcast was awesome, the series is awesome, and I hope you guys never ever stop talking. Keep rocking on.

http://mbarker.livejournal.com/74157.html

I’d like to request discussion of the following topics sometime:

- Point of view, particularly how to write close into the character’s head. (I’ve read OSC’s book, but thought it’d be good to hear from you guys.

- Voice, which was talked about a bit recently in the Q&A, but a fuller treatment

Thanks!

I love this podcast. I read and write next to no fantasy and sci-fi but still enjoy Writing Excuses because the themes are so universal. I think because I don’t know the genre it makes it easier to relate to than if I had the emotional investment in some of the author’s and books mentioned. Sort of like the way Fever Pitch is my favorite sports book even though I know nothing about English football.