Cupcakes and Writing: Molten Lava

For me, cupcakes are kind of like my writerly mascot.  Well, so begins the Cupcakes and Writing series.  Each Wednesday another cupcake flavor will be compared to an aspect of writing.  Well, until I run out of flavors, or inspiration, whichever comes first.  If you've missed any of the last ten cupcake flavors and want to read them, you can check them out here.  Bon appetit! 

Molten Lava: Story Twists

Have I mentioned how much I like chocolate?  Well, I’m addicted to the stuff.  So if I can have a chocolate cupcake oozing out even more chocolate, well, then I’m in heaven.  My mouth is right now drooling at the thought.  But, usually I’m unaware that there is added bliss right inside the cupcake.  All I see is a chocolate cupcake, and I happily dig in.  And then, to my surprise, (and delight!) I find more chocolate oozing out, and I’m one happy woman.  I love that kind of surprise.

Have I mentioned that I love to read good stories?  Well, I do.  But if as I’m reading, something great and unexpected pops up, well then I’m in heaven.  I dislike those stories that are so predicable I know every thing the protagonist is going to experience and how the story is going to end.  But if there’s a twist, something I wasn’t expecting, well then I’m glued to the pages, and in awe of the author who was able to blind side me.  I like to be blind sided while reading. 

I hope I can do the same as a writer.  I like to think that the story I tell contains surprises and twists that weren’t expected, and that keep the reader glued to the pages.  In fact, I think that’s one of the differences between my latest manuscript and my first one.  My first one had no surprises.  It was too predictable.  And lame.  It’s a dry and crumbly chocolate cupcake, not at all appetizing.

The hard thing to balance when you throw out those surprise twists, is that you oftentimes want to carefully lay out a few clues as to what might happen.  You bury the clues discreetly, the surprise ready and waiting to emerge and bring new life and enjoyment to your story. You don’t want your readers to guess correctly what your surprise is, but you don’t want them to be like “Whoa, where in the world did that come from?”  You want them to think, “Oh, of course, I should have seen that coming!”  Yep, that’s a hard thing to balance indeed.

As a reader, how do you feel about story twists?  And if you’re a writer, how do you incorporate twists into your story?