I love thinking about all of this, Erin! Thank you for a great post and the shout-out! Yes, twistiness seems to have become the main benchmark, especially for the big publishers and I've found myself both loving the challenge of writing them and pondering why the need for twistiness (or the way it works in some books) also bothers me. A few of my most most-disliked bestseller reads--not gonna name names publicly!--were incredibly famous for their twists, i.e. the entire book seemed to lead ONLY to the twist, and in the case of those books I didn't believe in the characters or the overall arc so the twist only annoyed me. When a novel is working completely aside from the twist, and THEN the twist adds both surprise and depth, it's a fun reading experience. (I also sometimes worry about blurbs and promo that promise twists. Won't the reader be disappointed if they came ONLY for the twists if the surprises aren't jaw-dropping?)
Thanks also for sharing why you turned to mysteries and suspense in the first place. I find myself mulling this constantly--how propulsive questions and PLOT help both writer and reader. Suspense is such a powerful engine (or Trojan horse, as I tend to think of it).
yes yes! I finished a book yesterday where the twist was a surprise but it relied too much on the character acting out of character in a way I didn't buy and I was MAD. But then I was like, writing a book is so hard, five stars lol. Also, how have we not met in person yet?
I’m the sort that figures it out right away but for me the whodunnit is not the interesting part- I like watching the characters figure it out. I want people to care about the characters not the reveal- there are some readers who are so focused on the reveal that I feel like, why don’t you just read a summary of the book if that’s all you want?
I love this! We don't just want the summary. Also I feel like this is another post waiting to happen--how a writer balances the dramatic irony of the reader knowing but the character not without making the character look dumb. I am endlessly intrigued by this!!
one thing I want to do at one point is write a mystery where quite deliberately the main character is literally very dumb. the entire point would be him NOT seeing clues the reader does and them feeling agonized that he's about to walk into various dangerous situations.
I'm stressed out for him just thinking about this! I would read the crap out of this book. Also, A Step Past Darkness is next on my kindle and I'm so excited!!
Erin! I love this and, yes, I always think the same thing: "If you consider every freaking outcome, you’re bound to be right." I'm just as much a "Whydunit?" reader as a "Whodunit?" reader. I'm excited for your next book!
My daughters make fun of me for this, but ... When I read mysteries/thrillers, I typically read 1-2 chapters, then flip to the end, find out what happens, and then read the rest of the book. From my point of view, if knowing the Big Twist ruins the book, then (in my opinion!) the story isn't that great and I probably won't bother reading much more. I read for fascinating characters and deeper understanding of relationships, not just plot. Like a few others have remarked, the whodunnit is less interesting than the whydunnit.
Loved this post, Erin! I've been thinking so much about twists the past couple of years while revising (and revising and revising...) my novel, and I love hearing how others think about and employ them in their own work. And I also cannot stop trying to figure out the twists as I'm reading, but I there's nothing I like more than being fully blindsided by a twist that seems so obvious once it's revealed. It's fun to think back and try to trace the breadcrumbs I missed the first time around!
I love thinking about all of this, Erin! Thank you for a great post and the shout-out! Yes, twistiness seems to have become the main benchmark, especially for the big publishers and I've found myself both loving the challenge of writing them and pondering why the need for twistiness (or the way it works in some books) also bothers me. A few of my most most-disliked bestseller reads--not gonna name names publicly!--were incredibly famous for their twists, i.e. the entire book seemed to lead ONLY to the twist, and in the case of those books I didn't believe in the characters or the overall arc so the twist only annoyed me. When a novel is working completely aside from the twist, and THEN the twist adds both surprise and depth, it's a fun reading experience. (I also sometimes worry about blurbs and promo that promise twists. Won't the reader be disappointed if they came ONLY for the twists if the surprises aren't jaw-dropping?)
Thanks also for sharing why you turned to mysteries and suspense in the first place. I find myself mulling this constantly--how propulsive questions and PLOT help both writer and reader. Suspense is such a powerful engine (or Trojan horse, as I tend to think of it).
yes yes! I finished a book yesterday where the twist was a surprise but it relied too much on the character acting out of character in a way I didn't buy and I was MAD. But then I was like, writing a book is so hard, five stars lol. Also, how have we not met in person yet?
I’m the sort that figures it out right away but for me the whodunnit is not the interesting part- I like watching the characters figure it out. I want people to care about the characters not the reveal- there are some readers who are so focused on the reveal that I feel like, why don’t you just read a summary of the book if that’s all you want?
I love this! We don't just want the summary. Also I feel like this is another post waiting to happen--how a writer balances the dramatic irony of the reader knowing but the character not without making the character look dumb. I am endlessly intrigued by this!!
one thing I want to do at one point is write a mystery where quite deliberately the main character is literally very dumb. the entire point would be him NOT seeing clues the reader does and them feeling agonized that he's about to walk into various dangerous situations.
I'm stressed out for him just thinking about this! I would read the crap out of this book. Also, A Step Past Darkness is next on my kindle and I'm so excited!!
aha thanks! the kindle MIGHT make it hard to see just how long it is!
Fantastic post, Erin!
Erin! I love this and, yes, I always think the same thing: "If you consider every freaking outcome, you’re bound to be right." I'm just as much a "Whydunit?" reader as a "Whodunit?" reader. I'm excited for your next book!
Whydunit not whodunit! That's brilliant!!
I loved this, Erin!
My daughters make fun of me for this, but ... When I read mysteries/thrillers, I typically read 1-2 chapters, then flip to the end, find out what happens, and then read the rest of the book. From my point of view, if knowing the Big Twist ruins the book, then (in my opinion!) the story isn't that great and I probably won't bother reading much more. I read for fascinating characters and deeper understanding of relationships, not just plot. Like a few others have remarked, the whodunnit is less interesting than the whydunnit.
Loved this post, Erin! I've been thinking so much about twists the past couple of years while revising (and revising and revising...) my novel, and I love hearing how others think about and employ them in their own work. And I also cannot stop trying to figure out the twists as I'm reading, but I there's nothing I like more than being fully blindsided by a twist that seems so obvious once it's revealed. It's fun to think back and try to trace the breadcrumbs I missed the first time around!
Breadcrumbs!! Yes, I love those too and being like, how did I miss this?? It's so hard to balance as the writer, but a delight as a reader.