Plot Twists

A plot twist is a turn in the story that the reader doesn’t see coming, yet when it happens, the reader feeling things could not have happened differently. Nevertheless, no matter how well written a plot may be, there are some who just don’t get it. I used to think this was a function of poor writing or a lack of intelligence. I’ve since discovered it’s not necessarily either one. Though words on a page seem clear, there are those who look without seeing and listen without hearing.  

In order to draw readers into the twists and turns of a story authors must persuade the reader to suspend his disbelief; enter the story and get lost in it. The author is asking the reader to accept the his word as truth and follow him through the world he has created. This “suspension of disbelief” is, in reality, a suspension of self. It is a putting aside of preconceived notions in order to listen without prejudice. If the story is well written, it’s a simple task we do without thinking much about it.

Nothing will get us to put the book down quicker than an author’s world that threatens the naked self. If he tries to take us into a world we refuse to believe, we won’t go. When that world is hostile to our self view, we criticize the author; our defensive walls go up.

The story God wrote has an interesting plot twist. God became a man in order to repair their broken relationship and save all men. Like all bestsellers, the Bible has believers, critics and the indifferent.