Surprise Surprise
By Anna Elliott | August 18, 2011 |
The other driver said he sounded his horn; we never heard it. The first my husband and I knew, our two cars had collided with a crash that snapped us forward against our seat belts and rattled up into our skulls. We’d been pulling out into traffic and the other car had come flying at us around an uphill curve. We never saw it coming.
Now thankfully–very thankfully–everyone was fine. And it could have been so much worse, considering that our two girls (ages 4 and 2) were in the backseat at the time. But it certainly wasn’t the way I’d imagined our trip to the zoo that day ending. Not even the tiniest part of me had thought, Maybe today I’ll be in a car accident, when I’d gotten out of bed that morning.
Life is like that.
Actually, just two days before our car accident our landlord had made our jaws hit the floor with the utterly out-of-the-blue announcement that she wants to sell the house we rent from her and will need us to move out. By the end of this month, if we’re going to find another rental available for the coming academic year. I’m not kidding. Oh, how I wish I were kidding. But that’s the thing–life is like that. Full of curve balls and twists and surprises that you never in a hundred years saw coming. And I think fiction–the best fiction–should be, too.
And yet, how often are we truly surprised by the books we read–and I mean completely, utterly caught by surprise? How often have you read a book with a plot twist that you know the author meant to be an utter shocker–but that you could have predicted hands-down a hundred pages before it happened? Yeah, me too.
Why is that? Robert Frost once wrote: “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” And I think that quote really cuts to the heart of why it’s so hard to find a story whose twists and turns completely take you by surprise: it’s because the authors themselves were never surprised by the story they told. The author planned out the big surprise moments in his story ahead of time–and that planning leeched its way into his storytelling, so that what should have been a shocking twist was obvious from a mile away.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for planning in writing books. ALL for planning; my outlining while I’m writing can border on the compulsive. But I also think that at a certain point, we, as writers, need to let go, take a step back from the outlines and the notecards and the color-coded flow charts and just allow our stories and our characters to catch us by surprise if they can.
While I was writing my second book, Dark Moon of Avalon, I had pegged one character for a villain. It was only when I was a solid two thirds through the first draft that this character raised his hand and informed me calmly that he was going to turn out to be a hero in disguise. I’ve had more comments from readers about that character than probably any other–and I think it’s because he did take me so much by surprise that that surprise becomes the reader’s experience, too.
So if you’re approaching the end of the first draft of your novel and it’s suddenly feeling flat or in need of shaking up, you might try opening yourself up and asking what could happen that would really surprise you? What if your love interest turns out to be a two-timing jerk? What if the mother announced she’s actually a spy for the CIA? You get the idea. Not every surprise element is going to work for your story, of course. But you might find one that both takes your breath away with the shock of it–and yet breathes a whole new life into your story as a whole.
Anna Elliott is an author of historical fiction and fantasy. Her first series, the Twilight of Avalon trilogy, is a retelling of the Trystan and Isolde legend. She wrote her second series, the Pride and Prejudice Chronicles, chiefly to satisfy her own curiosity about what might have happened to Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and all the other wonderful cast of characters after the official end of Jane Austen’s classic work. She enjoys stories about strong women, and loves exploring the multitude of ways women can find their unique strengths. Anna lives in the Washington DC area with her husband and three children.
What a great topic- I couldn’t agree more. It’s usually the case when I read something that catches me by surprise I end up reading an author interview who recounts the same experience you did while writing. If we truly allow our characters to develop within the context of THEIR story and not ours, we should always be surprised.
Sara, that’s an excellent point–letting the story belong to our characters, not to us. I completely agree!
I can testify. It happened to me. In my latest, ‘Triangle’, I set up multiple possible perps and found the culprit was a person I had lauded as a semi-hero. Good post, Anna. Relevant.
Yes! That was almost exactly my experience, too. And I’m sure the culprit’s identity will be so much more surprising to the readers of your story, too.
Thanks for this post.When starting to write a novel, I try to set things up so that more than one person can be the “bad guy” in the end–sometimes I have to backtrack and revise when I have a sudden flash of “wouldn’t that be neat?” but it’s worth the effort.
Appreciate your sharing, and glad no one was hurt in the crash. Good luck with house-hunting.
That’s exactly it, Richard–you can always go back and revise to make a new idea fit. Sometimes I cringe when I think of how much work the revision will take–but I always know that I’ll be glad I did it in the end.
Great post — and I love the Frost quote! I sometimes think some novels I read have too many (completely unrealistic) surprises. But as a writer who likes to plan and outline, maybe I need to remind myself of the Frost quote and be a little surprised and cry a little myself.
Julia, that’s really true–you don’t want to make your surprises too outlandish or leave the reader feeling outraged or cheated. I can think of a few books I’ve read with plot turns that were surprising but that I just simply hated. Tricky balance, for sure!
First of all, Anne, glad you & family are safe. Combined with the relocation news, this is quite a segway into the planning and writing of a novel!
Like your quote from Robert Frost & it certainly gives perspective.
Happy hunting for housing! My son, also, is in the process of looking for apartment in a busy city. This is that prime time pre-academic school start time of year.
Hope all have good luck!
Take care,
Patricia
Oops on the name, Anna!
My daughter is an Anne so I am used to that form of your name!:))
No worries! :) And thank you, we have actually found a new place to live–in the process of moving in now!
I love this! I’m a pretty compulsive planner myself, so I haven’t really surprised a great deal. Do you then go back and make sure that the surprise is hinted at, or that at least it’s consistent with the character? I think that would be my greatest fear, that I’d pick a surprise that isn’t supported.
Oh, and thanks for the graphic — it made me smile!
Cathy, that’s a really excellent question, and I’m going to have to be totally wishy-washy and say it depends. In the example I was talking about, I didn’t go back and drop hints, and I think that worked best for the story. But I can certainly imagine other stories or other surprises where you would want to go back and weave in a bit of foreshadowing.
Glad you & the family are basically okay – and sounds like a blessing in disguise to get away from a driveway that lends itself to accidents like that. Still, moving sucks. I’ve felt your pain.
Nice point though about the surprises. I’m nearing the end of a MS, and though I knew one character had been molested as a child, was surprised when she was revealing this to another character, who raised her hand and said, Me too. I had NOT known that about her, though in retrospect, it makes sense. This is one of the things that makes writing such a rush, sometimes. Thanks for the reminder.
Beverly, that really is exactly the biggest rush of writing, I agree–when your characters really open up to you and reveal things about themselves you hadn’t guessed at.
Yikes, Anna, so glad you are okay. Good luck with the move.
As for the writing, I’ve surprised myself on occasion, and upon looking back over what’s already written, noticed my subconscious had been there ahead of me. Love those moments.
Thanks, Jan! Yes, I definitely have had that experience, too–sometimes my subconscious is much smarter than I am. :)
Hm. That’s an interesting thought…
I’m glad your family is okay, and I hope you find a wonderful new home, but… isn’t that kind of the point? Those surprises came completely out of nowhere, and they weren’t so great. Similarly, if there isn’t a foundation for a twist in a novel, I’m not sure that’s such a good thing. The reader might feel cheated, the rest of the story undeserved.
(Ex. a villain who gets hit by a train, or a character who has debt problems but then solves them by winning the lottery.)
However, I AM a big fan of twists that make sense. Ones that I don’t see coming, but that if I look back on the story, I realize were being set up all along.
I think one way of accomplishing a compromise — the genuine surprise for the writer/story that doesn’t come out of nowhere for the reader — is to write it without pre-planning, the way you’re describing, and then go back and establish the subtle hints afterward.
But I dunno, maybe that’s just me.
Oh, and another way of accomplishing that same compromise is as Cathy and Jan said: finding out that subconsciously you were doing it all along, lol.
To be clear, I do understand and agree with your point: it’s entirely possible to over-plan a story, and thus negate its impact.
I was just presenting the cautionary counter-argument. :P
Kristan, I agree, too–you can’t have too many surprises that come at you completely out of left field and make the reader feel cheated. I think the foundation thing is key–but surprises can grow organically out of the soil of your story and still be surprises, if that makes sense. If the surprise idea hits you as the author and your gut is telling you it’s right, then chances are it’s because it’s firmly rooted in your story and doesn’t need to be over-hinted at and foreshadowed. That’s just my opinion! :)
Anna–
Great post, and not just because I agree with the heart of it. As a reader, the only surprise I don’t enjoy is having a character act out of character to fit a plot point.
I firmly believe the most compelling characters carry their stories inside them, waiting to come out; but you’ve reminded me that in storytelling, thinking deliberately about shaking things up can be a good choice even for non-plotters.
Peace, Mari
Mari, I completely agree–characters who act out of character just for plot convenience are one of my pet peeves! And that’s very well put–“thinking deliberately about shaking things up”. I think often that’s the way you manage to get your characters to open up and share the stories inside them.
Anna
I have to agree. Sometimes when I am writing a story the character keeps doing something I think is so out of character, and then that person turns out to be completly different from what I had planned. The stories do sometimes seem to have a life of their own, no matter how many coloured file cards we use for plots!
And as scary as that accident was – I think it will turn out to be a good thing somehow, along with the move. These things have a way of turning out that way – just glad no one was hurt. Love this post, by the way. Plenty of food for thought.
Hi, Anna! I’m glad that you and your family are safe. Life is so unpredictable and we should embrace every day with enthusiasm and hope that we can all be safe =).
The accident must still be traumatic for you but you have wonderfully used this experience as a good topic for us to ponder on, especially in the craft of writing. I really like this line from your post:
“But I also think that at a certain point, we, as writers, need to let go, take a step back from the outlines…”
Writers are used to organizing and outlining, but sometimes breaking free and being a little spontaneous could work wonders for us! How amazing it is if our stories are able to develop on their own. A true element of surprise for the writer and the readers too! Thanks for sharing, Anna.
I love reading and writing surprises — and you’re right — when they are initially a surprise to me, they turn out to be the best ones for whoever reads my work!
GREAT post! There’s some really interesting food for thought here and in the comments.
I think that maybe there’s a difference in how we can handle these surprises in short fiction as compared to novels. There’s sort of a tradition in short fiction of the “twist ending” story and it’s considered acceptable in those cases to have the last few pages or paragraphs completely change your understanding of what came before. (Not to draw too much attention to it, but my blog post linked below deals with a short story which has EXACTLY that kind of structure.)
On the other hand, with a novel, there’s a much greater level of commitment to a single plot/world and I think readers are more likely to feel tricked or cheated if something changes dramatically and it’s not handled quite carefully.
As a short-story writer looking ahead to his first NaNoWriMo, this is a great topic to be ruminating upon. Thanks!
I love being surprised in my writing! It always makes the process so much fun. Thanks for the article! My writing tends to be very loosely planned. Really, I feel like I’m watching a movie for the first time and desperately trying to capture each moment on paper. And, very glad to hear everyone is alright from your accident!
Sidenote to Michael, I’m a veteran NaNoWrimo participant! Welcome to the club! :)
Anna,
I love what you have to say here about trying to find the surprises within your own story and characters. Great ideas! I also love the comment by Exploding Mary — “thinking deliberately about shaking things up”.
I just read Tawna Fenske’s debut novel, Making Waves, and I think she did a great job at exactly what you are describing here. The novel is quirky and fun and filled with twists in character and plot that make sense, but are still delightful surprises. I admire how she managed to keep that balance (and make me laugh).
So so true. Excellent post. :D
I always love your posts, Anna, and this one gets to the heart about one of my favorite things about writing–what I call ‘the magic’. I’m sitting at my keyboard, with no real idea about what happens next, and all of a sudden I’m typing and my characters are doing their thing and using me as a conduit for telling the story.
I LOVE it when that happens. Even if it screws up my outline :)