Whether they’re massive shocks that come out of nowhere or subtle revelations that make me rethink my entire thought process, plot twists are my favorite part of books. The idea that an author can make a story so engaging that a sudden change genuinely surprises a reader blows me away and leaves me wondering why do plot twists work?
Assistant professor of cognitive science Vera Tobin helps answer this question by explaining that the main idea, among other strategies, contributes to the element of surprise in plot twists. Dr. Tobin calls this key concept the “curse of knowledge.” Though it sounds ominous, the curse of knowledge explains how our minds accept and perceive information in a story. Our interpretation of what’s going on can lead us to create our own version of the story based on what we understand, which can wind up “trip[ing] us up in a lot of ways.” How so? Our understanding of a story can set us up to expect certain conflicts or plotlines in the storyline. This is what makes plot twists surprising and effective — we expect one thing to happen and something entirely different actually occurs.
The distinguishing point in the idea of the curse of knowledge is that we can trace a particular plot twist if we go back and consider the story from the vantage point of knowing what happens. In retrospect, the plot twist makes perfect sense and we can be left wondering why we didn’t notice its build up all along.
As far as storytelling is concerned, authors use this concept to set up patterns in a story that leads readers to conclude one thing and have a “blind spot” towards another. This is why some authors use “red herrings,” or distracting pieces of information in their stories — they can mislead readers and contribute to the surprise they receive once the missing pieces of the plot are revealed. Shankar Vedantam, the host of the Hidden Brain podcast, takes a closer look at how authors and artists use this blind spot and their knowledge of what’s actually going on to surprise readers and onlookers. You can find it here.
But knowing the plot twist in a story, even before getting into it, doesn’t mean that the story becomes any less satisfying. While there’s something special in not knowing the end of a book, research shows that spoilers don’t necessarily spoil how we feel about a story. In fact, Dr. Tobin argues that knowing about spoilers can be even more satisfying than being surprised — having the “curse of knowledge” ahead of time means that we can be actively searching for clues that hint towards the incoming plot twist instead of having to go back and mull over the key bits of information that we may have missed.
Though there is a science behind the magic of plot twists, the feelings of surprise, shock and satisfaction they induce are undeniable. Catch me staying spoiler-free to preserve the full effect.