How to Incorporate Unexpected Developments In Your Writing
We continue the discussion on Unexpected Developments in Creative Writing and show how you can add them to your story.
Just recently I wrote a post on Medium where I talked about the concept of Unexpected Developments when writing a short story or novel. I also outlined the five different types of unexpected development scenarios that writers can easily add and implement in their story or plot.
In today’s post, I’m going to talk to you about when and how to add this element to your writing. If you are working on a novel or love writing short stories, I hope you will find this helpful.
I like writing short stories and in my experience, when it comes to energizing your story with sudden twists, surprise developments, and unexpected elements, there are three ways to go about it.
- Plan and write out all/any unexpected developments as part of the outlining stage.
- Trust your imagination and add them to your draft as you write your story on the go.
- Write your first draft without worrying about incorporating unexpected elements. Insert them during the second draft when you have a much better sense of how the story will unfold and where you can add these elements.
These options are of course not mutually exclusive. Personally, I use either point 1 or point 3 and sometimes a combination of the two, depending on the story.
I have never used point 2 because I just cannot write on the fly. I am a very slow reader and even slower writer (though not as slow as George RR Martin!).
When writing short stories, I prefer to outline the entire plot with all the tentative twists and turns included. Then I draft quickly, staying open to new ideas and possibilities.
Finally, I rethink the entire story for the second draft with new ideas for disrupting the reader’s expectations and catching them off guard.
The above approach takes longer but offers the most fulfillment, in my opinion, when the story is finished and I am reading it out loud.
How to Add Unexpected Element To Your Story
If you’re new to writing and want to add flair to your story using the concept of unexpected developments, do the following:
- Work up a primary plot line consisting only of the key story events and revelations. Don’t worry about adding unexpected developments.
- Once you have mapped out the main storyline, determine where complications can plausibly yet unexpectedly occur in the story and then add them subsequently.
- To conclude, double-check the overall plot for consistency and truth. You don’t want to add suspense at the expense of readers' belief in the plot.
As a writer, the hardest part when adding unexpected twists is that you have to write creatively in such a way, so as to cleverly heighten the drama of your story without the reader realizing that the big revelation is just around the corner on the next page.
A word of caution: Make sure that your surprise developments do not seem contrived and sprung out of nowhere. They should arise naturally from either the character’s nature or from the situation itself.
To conclude, the art of fiction is essentially the art of revelation. What will be revealed next about the principal characters? What new obstacle will be standing in the way of the protagonist’s goals? The key to ensuring their success lies in these surprise elements that keep readers turning pages.
