Revealing a character's thoughts without giving away a plot twist

BrhannadaArmour thumbnail
Posted: 8 months ago

I thought it might be fun to discuss plot twists and how to keep them surprising. Specifically, when a scene's dramatic tension is in a character's thoughts, and that character knows something that should only be revealed after building up to a climax, the writer has to negotiate a trade-off between omnisciently revealing thoughts to the reader to create the mood and keeping the reader in the dark for suspense.


I wrote this fan fiction recently: just one scene which is a conversation between just two characters. I enjoyed the challenge of phrasing thoughts that seem natural when the reader doesn't know the twist, but which are also consistent with the twist.


https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/5333913

https://www.indiaforums.com/fanfiction/3855


After you read it once and find out the plot twist, you can go back to read the character's thoughts again and see how they fit into the context of the character knowing what you didn't know at first.


I welcome anyone's analysis of this and anything else about the story. You can post in the story's topic or comment in the fan fiction book, or tell me here.


The story is in English, but the dialogues are in Marathi - written in both Devanāgarī and Roman alphabets and translated into English.

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BrhannadaArmour thumbnail
Posted: 8 months ago

For any readers unfamiliar with the Marathi show Piratīçā Vanavā Urī Peṭalā, this YouTube playlist can give you an idea of who the characters are and what has happened up to the July 22 episode, where my fan fiction takes off.


https://youtu.be/WxdEDObwkck?list=PL_HFs3UrtvQTTfiQWjMoISIwk89ZsPJ5J


Characters (in order of mention)

  1. Savi Waghmare - robs the rich and rescues the poor (alias Savitri Ganesh Çorage before marriage to Arjun, nicknamed Miss - now Mrs. - Vaśilā - Miss Network by Arjun, alias beautician Sapna veiled to rob Teju's wedding)
  2. Arjun Kavathekar - autocratic and brusque heir to a sugar factory in Kavathe-Bhairavgad, where Savitri is his secretary, recovering from suicidal depression (nicknamed Tirasaṭa - Cross by Savi)
  3. Priya Kavathekar - Arjun's beloved younger half-sister, a College Second Year student
  4. Gangaram - a wrestler whom Bāḷāsāheba Dhole Patil paid to maim Arjun at the inaugural match of a kustī pit
  5. Balaram Kavathekar - Arjun's slightly older half-brother who wants Arjun dead
  6. Sharada Waghmare - Savi's "Mother Māulī" who is unaware of her daughter's crimes, is being treated for a brain tumour, feels grateful to the stranger (Arjun) who took her to the hospital when she fainted on a trip to Mumbai, and coincidentally visited Someshwar with friends just when Arjun took Savi there for a honeymoon
  7. Sushama - Arjun's college classmate who spotted him and Savi on their honeymoon in Someshwar and obviously still has a crush on Arjun
  8. Vidyadhar Kavathekar - Arjun's oldest half-brother, a philanthropist, respected as an elder and a well-wisher by Arjun and Savi
  9. Vishvambhar Gadak - embezzler and money-launderer, maternal uncle of Arjun's half-siblings, blackmailed Savi to marry Arjun and trick him into signing over the inheritance
  10. Bhalachandra Kavathekar or "Bābā" - recently deceased father of Vidyadhar, Balaram, Arjun, and Priya, husband of Krishna'i
  11. Shyamal - an actress who poses as Savitri's Mother Māulī (alias Sharada "Shyamal" Çorage) in front of Arjun and his family
  12. Naresh Bagalgote - a young swindler who idolizes Savi as his older sister, mistaken for her boyfriend by Arjun
  13. Devendra Phadake - Arjun's former secretary, now in charge of Arjun's power plant construction project, considers himself Savitri's older brother
  14. Bāḷāsāheba Dhole Patil - a rich man of Kavathe-Bhairavgad, resented Arjun's ban on bloodsports at religious festivals, conspired with Balaram to harm Arjun, died suddenly after Savi rescued Arjun from Balaram's hit men
  15. Krishna'i Kavathekar - Arjun's loving stepmother, mother of Vidyadhar, Balaram, and Priya, sister of Vishvambhar, chose Savitri for Arjun
  16. Divakar Çorage - Vidyadhar's classmate, long dead, whose sister Savitri claims to be
  17. Dipu Mane - Savi's uncle and partner in robbery, Sharada's distant cousin (alias Dipak the cook at Arjun's house "Bhima-Sadan")
  18. Çamaki - Savi's neighbour-friend and partner in robbery (alias Suvarnalata - Dipak's daughter, alias Madhuri Nagçore to dance at Teju's wedding)
  19. Nanda Kavathekar and Nimbalkar - Vidyadhar's wife, considers Savitri a beggar, pilferer, fraud, and seductress
  20. Teju Jagatap Bhosale - Arjun's friend Dipesh's sister, whose wedding Savi, Dipu, and Çamaki planned to rob
  21. Dipesh Jagatap - Arjun's friend for whose sake Arjun considers Teju his sister
Edited by BrhannadaArmour - 7 months ago