Readers pay attention when they don't know what's coming next.
When someone asks, "What's a story with a great plot twist?" your mind probably conjures one of the classics. Soylent Green. The Sixth Sense. Fight Club. The Lottery. Even Newhart.
You no doubt have your favorites. Stories that shifted and turned and blew your mind.
A great plot twist is a wonderful thing, be it in the books you write or the ones you read. Readers revel in that unexpected event or revelation that changes everything they thought they knew and takes the story to a whole new level. They delight in the surprises that make them think, "wow, that was awesome. I never saw that coming." (And then they tell all their friends).
Trouble is, knowing you want a plot twist is a lot easier than coming up with a good one.
There's no formula for devising a great twist, because every plot is different and any number of things can work in a novel.
My trick for twisting my plot is pretty simple:
My trick for twisting my plot is pretty simple: