Plot Twists: Part 2

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The Unimportant Plot twist. Don't overlook this. I don't mean this section about a trivial type of plot twist. I mean to say this plot twist is the sudden process of an unimportant character, or object, suddenly becoming important.

This has the element of the last section, but I can safely say it is its own thing. These are wildly used in thrillers and mysteries.

Remember hotdog man, his luscious beard and gleaming eyes? There's hotdog man, selling his hotdogs on the side of the street. There's hotdog man going to the restroom in the office where your characters are extracting important information. There's hotdog man, inconspicuously playing fetch with his dog on a Sunday by the lake, where your characters happen to be. Boom, hotdog man is the true villain, all this time, though you probably led your readers to believe it was the cranky neighbor next door. No, it was old hotdog man.

A masterful way to pull this off is to somehow have the secret true villain appear at the most important moments and situations. And do not put much detail into his presence, just let your characters simply acknowledge his presence. Also, for sure, redirect the suspicions. You don't want your reader guessing at random people, which may possibly be the hotdog man, you want your reader guessing at what the clues seem to lead to. Maybe the clues are simply fake or purposely misleading, but the real clues need to be buried deep down in the book.

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