Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m joined by the fantastic Matthew Ward, author of The Darkness Before Them – book one in the Soulfire Saga, coming out from Orbit on the 7th November. With this, his fourth novel with Orbit (after the fantastic Legacy Trilogy), coming so soon, Matthew has very kindly contributed a fantastic post on the topic of surprises in fiction, something that as readers I think we’re always hoping for, and very happy to see. Whether you’re a reader interested in understanding why literary surprises work, or a writer keen for insight into how to make them work, there’s loads to enjoy here – so read on to find out more!
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Matthew Ward: We all like surprises, don’t we? Or at least, we all like the right kind of surprise.
In a novel “the right kind of surprise” – be it classed as a twist, a heel turn or whatever – is a much broader category than in real life. After all, in real life (discounting justifiable schadenfreude against public figures who make real life seem fictitious, given the nonsense they pull) it’s nice surprises all the way, thank you very much. In a novel, almost any surprise can be a good thing if properly constructed.
We read books to feel emotion, and sometimes – monstrous little creatures that we are – we’re not really that fussy about precisely what we feel, providing that a) we’re entertained and b) if it’s nasty, it’s happening to someone who isn’t us. We get to be elated, heartbroken, terrified, sorrowful, shaken and/or angry as appropriate (or inappropriate, because, you know monstrous little creatures) and all without putting ourselves in jeopardy or leaving our armchair.
But just how do you craft a satisfying Reveal? (Yes, I know Plot Twist is the more commonly used term, but we’ll talk about why that’s a bit narrow later on.) First of all, let’s take a look at…
The Goal
When you spring your Reveal your reader has to feel satisfied. Even if the reader feels bad for the character, the world, the fate of the lonely kitten sitting on the shore or whatever, you want them to feel good about their own experience. Even if it leaves them feeling hollow, they have to feel fulfilled.
Of course, this is broadly true of anything in a novel, but it’s vital here. If you’re layering one or more Reveals into your story they’re going to draw the reader’s attention – that’s why you’re doing it, after all! – so you really, really, really want to leave them with a good impression. The rest of the novel could be sublime, but if your Reveal falls flat then that’s what the reader’s going to remember.
The flip side of that, of course, is that if you nail your Reveal then you’ll elevate everything else you’ve written. No pressure.
So how do you get there? Let’s talk about…
The Rules
First and foremost, you need to Be Honest. When the big moment comes, your Reveal will fall flat if you’ve lied to the reader all this time.
This doesn’t mean you can’t…well…mislead the reader a little. If you’re writing in anything other than third person omniscient (the authoritative Word of God where the narrator knows and sees all) your characters can lie or their understanding of the world – as conveyed by their pesky inner monologue – can be wrong.
Even if you are writing in omniscient, you can cut away from the action at an appropriate juncture to conceal information. (Though unless you’re super confident, maybe don’t follow in the footsteps of certain fictional detectives by straight up not including vital information to cultivate your later Reveal.)
But regardless of how you bend the truth…anything that’s you – the author – talking? That has to be true. (From a certain point of view.) The whole point of a Reveal is to subvert expectations. That means setting up world building, characterisation and the like to support one seemingly inevitable conclusion while secretly laying out another waiting for you to whisk back the curtain.
The next rule’s a bit harder. You see, for a Reveal to feel really good it kinda sorta shouldnae feel like a surprise at all. In fact, The Best Reveal Feels Inevitable After the Fact. You want it to land so solidly that even with the benefit of hindsight your reader simply can’t imagine things having gone another way.
In fact, the gold standard iteration of this rule is The Reveal Shouldn’t Feel Like a Surprise At All.
Readers love working out what’s going on just before the book lets them in on the secret. It’s a rush of cleverness that can’t be beaten. But it all comes down to timing. Lay too many breadcrumbs and the reader susses your plan too long before the reveal and grows bored – you’ve only a finite amount of time before the Reveal is no longer a surprise, just an inevitability that’s outstayed its welcome. Lay out too few, and the reader won’t have enough clues to unpick what you’re setting up.
Last of all you’ve got to Make it Matter. Most often, this takes the form of the aforementioned Plot Twist, sending the narrative rattling off on a new set of rails. But remember what I said before about Plot Twist being a narrow term? Well, this is why.
A Reveal doesn’t have to matter to the plot to be worthwhile – character-based Reveals are entirely valid. Granted, these will often end up mattering to the plot, but not always.
“Luke, I am your father”, while forever altering what we knew about events a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, didn’t really alter the course of the plot in The Empire Strikes Back, as it was mostly over by then. But it matters to us because it matters to the characters. And we’re all here for the characters, right?
So there you have it, the art of crafting Reveals. Even if you’re not busy scribbling away on your own novel, hopefully I’ve shone a bit of a light on why certain storytelling reveals may or may not have hit home for you in the past.
In the meantime, I will gracefully(?) plug my new novel, The Darkness Before Them which has plenty of character and story reveals – but you’ll have to read it to find out what they are…
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Cat-servant and owner of more musical instruments than he can actually play (and considerably more than he can play well), Matthew Ward is the author of the Legacy Trilogy and the forthcoming Soulfire Saga. He’s also the architect of Coldharbour, and a roaming Creative Consultant and Voice Director in video game land, including Vermintide, Vermintide 2, Darktide and Aliens: Dark Descent.
He’s afflicted with an obsession for old places – castles, historic cities and the London Underground chief amongst them – and should probably cultivate more interests to help expand out his author biography.
Website: www.thetowerofstars.com
Twitter: @TheTowerofStars
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetowerofstars
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These are dark times for the Kingdom of Khalad. As the magical mists of the Veil devour the land, the populace struggles beneath the rule of ruthless noble houses and their uncaring immortal king.
Kat doesn’t care about any of that. A talented thief, she’s pursuing one big score that will settle the debt that destroyed her family. No easy feat in a realm where indentured spirits hold vigil over every vault and treasure room. However, Kat has a unique talent: she can speak to those spirits, and even command them. And she has no qualms using her power to her advantage.
Kat’s not a hero. She just wants to be free. To have her old life back. But as rebellion rekindles and the war for Khalad’s future begins, everyone – Kat included – will have to pick a side.
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Thanks so much to Matthew for this brilliant guest post – I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and that it’s left you with lots to think about in your reading and/or writing. Thanks as well for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour for The Darkness Before Them!
For more about The Darkness Before Them, have a read of this quick teaser interview with Matthew that I posted in August.
The Darkness Before Them is available to pre-order now ahead of its 7th November release date – check out the links below to order* your copy:
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*If you buy anything using one of these links, I will receive a small affiliate commission – see here for more details.