: Re: Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy I am writing a rather dark, grey fantasy story. It is supposed to feature a twist that turns the antagonist's goal to not to be evil at all (just misjudged)

The risk that you run here is that, in making the antagonist's goal trivial, you also trivialise the heroes' quest. 300 pages of blood, sweat, tears, agonizing combat, and heart-wrenching deaths later, your hero finally stops the villain... from introducing strawberry jam alongside the existing raspberry and cherry. Oh, the horror.

However - while your antagonist's goal might be trivial, or even acceptable to the protagonist, either their methods or the potential side-effects might not be. Introduce strawberry jam through a clever marketing campaign and a catchy jingle? Everything is awesome. Introduce it by blowing up other preserve factories? That puts us in a bit of a jam. Accidentally revive the neo-Nazi Strawberry-Supremacists while doing so, and kick off World War IV? Really not cool, man. This works quite well if the "twist" is that the protagonists initially thought that the "unexpected side-effect" was actually the antagonist's main plan all along - while the antagonist may not realise that they are the cause, or even be completely unaware.

The story then shifts from a straight "us-versus-them" narrative to "I agree in principle, but not in execution". Your protagonist and antagonist might start working towards the same goal, but from different angles, each trying to talk the other around to their viewpoint. "Your way is too slow", "your way is too reckless" - they may even team up for a short time, even while trying to sabotage each other. And, of course, it leaves them both open for a revelatory "oh no, what have I done", and a final sprint to reach their objective while also counteracting the negative consequences they have inadvertently spawned.

After all - they may say you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs, but you can get pretty damn close with soya milk and silken tofu.

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: Re: Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy I am writing a rather dark, grey fantasy story. It is supposed to feature a twist that turns the antagonist's goal to not to be evil at all (just misjudged)

More posts by @Karen856

: Is it bad to suddenly introduce another element to your fantasy world a good ways into the story? I'm writing a novel with many POVs, and this is a very flexible story. It started out with

: How can I effectively research for a high-fantasy setting? When you write in a modern day setting, you research the culture, climate, location and history of that setting. You can do the same

: Good ways to sort "rambly" notes? I know there is a name for this kind of "writing", but I just can't think of it at the moment. Basically, most of my notes are endlessly long ramblings

: Is it okay to put an inversion in a song lyrics? In the dark alley of my youth, light, it shone from the cloud-ladden sky. I've been listening to the chirping in the trees.

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