There’s nothing more disappointing for a reader than to see the surprise ending coming right from the start. The best way to prevent this is to disguise your plants when they’re introduced.
When you plant something that is going to be used later on, make sure it still makes sense and belongs in the present context of the story. This doesn’t mean just work out a reason to mention it, like having a character notice it or a conversation drift to reveal some bit of information, actually make the plant belong in the plot as soon as it’s introduced. This will make its later use more surprising since the true reason for it was masked by its first-time use in the story.
This also just improves the story’s flow instead of creating a speed-bump with information that doesn’t fit. Every piece of story should pull as much weight as possible. Be they scenes, characters or plots, always think multi-use, not single use. The more you can do this, the tighter your story will be.
A good example is the poison berries in The Hunger Games. They were actually eaten by Foxface and proven to be poisonous as soon as they were introduced (the idea of questioning the safety of berries in the arena was brought up twice even before this), even though Peeta didn’t know and thought they were good for food. After this, the final twist of the berries is disguised again when Katniss pockets them and says they might use them to trick Cato. This is happens just a couple scenes after the beginning of Act III, which is usually the cutoff for any climax plants, but because berries come up several times before (even the very beginning when Katniss and Gale are picnicking before the Reaping) it still works.
Comedy
The surprise pay-off of a of well placed plant is key in comedy. Take a look at this joke by Emo Philips.
I was walking home one night and stopped to watch three men working on a house. And the guy hammering on the roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In Morse code.
The plant “man hammering on the roof” is perfectly in context in the story, disguised as a bit of description, yet it is key to the punchline. It wouldn’t have had nearly the effect if it had said, “the man working on the roof… …in Morse code with his hammer.”
The proper use of a plant is vital to any good comedy because it’s only a surprise if it’s been well disguised.
Mystery
Clues, suspects and red herrings. These things make mystery stories heavily reliant on well placed plants. More than in any other genre, the audience is actively trying to figure out the answer, so you have to be extra careful to hide it. The pieces for the solution still have to be in plain sight or the reader will feel cheated when it turns out there was no way they could have solved it alone.
Even though Columbo is not a whodunit, mystery is still what keeps us watching. We know we’ve seen exactly how the murderer committed the crime, but still we want to see how Columbo will prove it. Whatever evidence he uses in the end, we know it’s something we’ve seen.
How, then, can the audience be surprised? It works because every piece of evidence was disguised when it was introduced. Either it was part of the murderer’s plan, or it was something that by its self is no proof so doesn’t seem a threat. Even if we have an inkling about what will get him, we’re not sure exactly how it will happen. Satisfyingly, the thing that clinches it is usually the thing that was the murderer’s strongest protection. When it was introduced, it was disguised as the murderer’s strength and it turns out to be his weakness.
Series
Any series that handles multiple story lines needs to have good plants to prepare the audience for the transition. Here the idea is not so much to trick the reader as to make the plant pull its weight in the current story line until it becomes useful in the next one. The British soap opera Eastenders is great at this (at least the episodes from the early 2000s that I watched).
One example was the transition between Zoe’s story of struggling with the idea of giving up her unborn child for adoption, and Sonia’s story of having giving up her own daughter five years before. Backstory needed to be reintroduced both for the benefit of new viewers and also to refresh the story in the minds of longtime viewers. It was done in a scene where Sonia tells Zoe about her choice to give her daughter up, and how even though it was hard, afterwards she was sure it was the right thing to do. This forwards Zoe’s story and at the same time gives Sonia a starting place in a new character arc when she later discovers that the adoptive parents were killed in a car wreck and her daughter might be all alone.
Most of these plants and pay-offs also have a structure of coming full circle. This is always very satisfying to readers and a great way to bring the climax of a story together.
Other kinds of plants don’t have to involve the main plot. They can establish a subplot, like showing the weakness of a supporting character and then having it challenged and overcome in the end. Whenever you show potential for conflict between two characters, that’s a promise to the reader. They’ll expect you to deliver with that conflict coming to a head. Make sure to always ask yourself what the reader might be asking themselves throughout the story and make sure those questions are answered before the end. Following up every lead isn’t necessary and can actually drag down the story, but every plant that ties in with your theme and through line should be addressed.
Plants and payoffs can be found in every good story. A story that doesn’t seem to fulfill its full potential probably failed to balance its plants and payoffs and deliver on its promises. When planning the climax, take a moment to look back at everything you’ve planted so far in the story, especially before Act III. Every character’s strength and weakness, every item, every piece of information. Write them out as a list of “game pieces” you can use to win the story. Readers love to be surprised but they also love to feel clever when they just knew that little detail would turn out to be important, and they were right.
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