: Re: Misdirection for suspense/plot twists - what's acceptable and what's dishonest? Note: I'm primarily asking this question because while Surtsey, the original asker of the question didn't actually

@LarsenBagley300

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All right, so there's some clarity coming out of the discussion with Ash, I think.

Matthew--I'd say that there are definitely rules for reveals. Reveals are the endpoints of misdirects. Reveals are the payoffs to the readers. They are the 'honoring of the contract.'

So. Requirement (boundary): You need to set the contract up front. (1)

How to set the contract?

Let's create an example on the fly. Let's say in a fantasy work that the ruling queen of the land is actually a space alien with no claim to the throne at all. We will reveal this somewhere in the second half of the book. Not the first chapter (not if it's intended as a reveal.) So, timing is another reasonable boundary. (2)

No, the first chapter or three will instead set the readers to see the queen as a legitimate ruler. The more strongly this is implied (use all three of narrative, action, and dialogue to reinforce the idea), the more the reader takes it at face value that the queen's legitimacy does not need to be questioned.

So there's another guideline. It is fair (not cheating) to use narrative, dialog, and action to misdirect. (3)

But. Hints should be dropped into the story, and some of these should be early as part of the contract. Some indication that aliens exist, some consequence of the queen being illegitimate. Anything about the final reveal that does not follow convention should be set up in some manner before the reveal. That's another rule. (4) Depending on the age range of the readers and how far from convention the story strays, more or less should be added. One could, in this hypothetical story, have legends of space aliens once ruling the kingdom, long ago. That would be too on-the-nose for some stories, but effective for others, I think, depending on how it is handled and the readership and etc.

I can't think of anything else offhand. But breaking any of those rules could be grounds to call foul. If the reader doesn't know this fantasy work has space aliens in it, and this is otherwise a typical sword-and-sorcery fantasy, then 'revealing' that the queen is a space alien with no claim to the throne breaks a rule.

Now, why is all of the above wrong?

Because it depends on genre. You can write satire or comedy and get away with breaking rules. As the Stranger in a Strange Land said, humor is a wrongness. If something is done well, even if it's done wrong, we'll enjoy it. If it's wrong in the right way, we will laugh.

Consider the vampire bunny in Python's Quest for the Holy Grail. That fearsome beast came out of the blue, there was nothing in the preceding story that hinted carnivorous bunnies with sharp nasty teeth awaited us. BUT, everything in the story hinted that the entire story would break all the rules.

So, my answer to your question is it depends on the exact story, and that story needs to exist in a rough form for a decision to be reached. Beta readers are valuable here. They'll spot the issues.

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