Comments on: The Best Plot Twists Surprise the Author First

By: Karen Albright Lin

Karen Albright Lin — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:36:22 +0000

A sex act became a murder.

By: PJ Hultstrand

PJ Hultstrand — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:59:50 +0000

Hey Rick,

Now I want to read your stories because of the twists in the plots. Especially to cyber baby story.

Every single time some character surprises me with a plot change or give me a surprise reveal I didn't see coming, it has always worked out. And readers catch these and is what they get the most excited about when they talk to me.

I have learned to trust the process and trust the characters.

My most recent surprise was with book 6 in my time-travel romance series. Had just finished book 5 where I got such a surprise ending that when I published that book, I had to keep going into book 6 and that one is already with the editor. And with book 6 I had realized in the last chapters that a minor character that had inserted himself in the story back in book 3 has finally reached his "reason for being there," and will die in this book 6.

I remember when this character came into the story I asked him "why" he was there. What was his purpose? It took time and three books to get an answer. It always works out.

Not sure HOW we do this fiction trick of ours, but yes, believe in the process and in the characters. It always works out.

By: Hailma M. J

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By: Patrick Tylee

Patrick Tylee — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 00:51:48 +0000

In reply to Vivienne. Vivienne, those are excellent examples. Thank you for sharing with us.

By: Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:03:02 +0000

I'm an extreme plotter; I compile an extensive list of WHAT belongs in a scene from the very beginning. I call that my 'scene kit.' But the HOW is often full of surprises, because I don't even think about it until that scene's turn next in line, when I start to figure out the details of making the scene actually do what is intended for it. For me, it is the best of both worlds, because I have very limited functional energy and time, and I can work with just a scene's worth of the story, without worrying whether it will all fit together. It always does, and I rarely have to go back to an earlier scene to add/change anything. Works for me! Plenty of surprises but no detours.

By: Vivienne

Vivienne — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 10:56:49 +0000

Yes,I've been surprised by my characters. In The Wolves of
Vimar series, book 1, a young thief called Thad refused to go with the men to clean up in the river after a fight. The women had already washed the blood off.
After threats, Thad revealed himself as a girl who had disguised herself as a boy and run away so she would be sent for training as a courtesan. I knew nothing of this!
And in Book 2, one character died from having been tortured, while in book 1, I also didn't know 2 characters would fall in love, nor that in Book 4, someone would be a traitor and cause the loss of an i portant battle.

By: denise

denise — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 07:37:24 +0000

I've thrown things at a character which changed how things progress--not quite the same thing.

By: PAtrick Tylee

PAtrick Tylee — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 23:33:26 +0000

In reply to Claire O'Sullivan. I can't read Chapter One of my Mostly Flame Burns without blubbering like a Kleenex commercial.

By: Patrick Tylee

Patrick Tylee — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 23:31:55 +0000

In reply to Diane Cursons. Bring her back as a ghost. Hmmm. Okay, that's something surprising. Just need to tweak it from Fantasy realm-ish to SciFi techiness. Nice!

By: Diane Cursons

Diane Cursons — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 17:50:23 +0000

Hopefully, she will have the decency to respect her Creator,and clue me in on just how the heck I’m supposed to bring her back for Book Five.

Final Thought: Surprise Me

Answer: Bring her back as a ghost.