: Re: What is the difference between a complication/twist and a situation? I have recently read an article (The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, chapter 7) concerning plot twists, or complications.

I think the confusion around this example is because the problem is going to happen no matter what Ralph does, so his actions won't change anything. He will have to face living alone whether he writes the will or not.

Having not read the book, I can only guess that the author is trying to draw a line between things which can be changed and things which can't.

What if instead it read "Ralph's blind wife has fallen in love with another man. The [complication/twist] is that she wants him to write a love letter to her new boyfriend."

The thing being thwarted is "Ralph's love for his wife/Ralph's marriage." The complication is "the love letter." What Ralph could do here is write a bad letter, not write the letter, or write it and then try to win his wife back.

In the example given, Ralph's wife will die no matter what he does. That's why there's no "point of departure."

Load Full (0)

: No, you can only do that if you're making some sort of break or shift in narrative style. If the story switches to a dream, for instance, or if the characters enter a Fae realm or another

@Debbie451

Load Full 0 Comments

: If you can't boil down your novel into a logline (or "elevator pitch," which is how I learned it), then you may actually have a problem with your novel. You've provided the structure of

@Debbie451

Load Full 0 Comments

: "Literary criticism" and "editing feedback" are two entirely different beasts. Litcrit is about looking at an existing text and analyzing it. You look at the author's intent, you look at symbolism,

@Debbie451

Load Full 0 Comments

: In narration, stay in one tense. "She had green eyes" is fine, because your entire story is in the past tense — the "present-past," if that makes sense. If she had green eyes as a

: Re: What is the difference between a complication/twist and a situation? I have recently read an article (The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, chapter 7) concerning plot twists, or complications.

More posts by @Debbie451

: No, you can only do that if you're making some sort of break or shift in narrative style. If the story switches to a dream, for instance, or if the characters enter a Fae realm or another

: If you can't boil down your novel into a logline (or "elevator pitch," which is how I learned it), then you may actually have a problem with your novel. You've provided the structure of

: "Literary criticism" and "editing feedback" are two entirely different beasts. Litcrit is about looking at an existing text and analyzing it. You look at the author's intent, you look at symbolism,

: In narration, stay in one tense. "She had green eyes" is fine, because your entire story is in the past tense — the "present-past," if that makes sense. If she had green eyes as a

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top