How do you surprise a reader? How do you land a twist so hard that jaws fall open and the book falls from the reader’s hands and hits the floor?
That’s the first question I ask myself when I’m writing a novel. Of course, because I don’t plan anything, I don’t work from an outline, and I let my characters lead the way on plot, this question of layering in a massive twist becomes a more or less constant question in my mind.
I write a series about a former con man turned lawyer, called Eddie Flynn. Deception and misdirection are at the heart of this character and subsequently in the forefront of my mind when writing. Even though this is a series, they are written in such a way that you can pick up any book and you will, hopefully, have just as full a reading experience as someone who has read most or all of the books.
My new novel, Two Kinds of Stranger, deals with all our everyday interactions with those who are unfamiliar to us, both online and in everyday real life. What if someone was just as cunning and as manipulative as my hero, Flynn, but had a more dangerous and homicidal motive? What if they could hide their dark nature from us?
If I have a set-up like this, with these characters, I find it easier to discover my first twist in the novel.
Then a new question forms in my mind – what is the next twist? Because I know, if I can surprise you the first time, I’m definitely going to get you again before the end of the book. And just like a stranger you meet on the street, you shouldn’t trust a single word I say in my books. Because I’m just like that stranger – I’m trying to manipulate your point of view, your understanding of the plot and characters, and land that delightful twist.
I hope you enjoy Two Kinds of Stranger. And good luck looking for that first twist.
You’ll never see it coming.
Steve Cavanagh
