How to come up with plot twists and interesting endings?

[Kate]

When you call something an otome (romance) game, the players have certain Expectations.
More than one character to pursue romantically.
One on One scenarios to get to know each romantic pursuit.
Each romantic interest has their own personal problem to solve.
An overall plot problem that can only be solved by partnering with one of the romantic pursuits. (Often a formal party situation.)

If you don't fulfill at least the barest form of an otome's formula, the players that downloaded your game with the expectation of playing an otome will become frustrated with the game, and some will even feel cheated.

Wow, definitely going to note this one. I'm just thinking to make Otome, but I want to try breaking some formula I've found in most Otome (which is the lack of personality in main character, I found that most of them are Mary Sue, and when they are seduced a bit by the male characters they usually fall in very easily). However, the public seem not to dislike it as much as I do, because the game itself offers many good-looking male characters that throw sweet words at you that can make you giggling, also these male characters are usually not as bad as the protagonist in my opinion. In fact, I like that aspect, too.

So, I wonder if this protagonist formula is broken, will players find it strange and annoying? For example, you have a bunch of men already since the beginning, you can talk with them and raise their affection, but it has slow progress in romantic relationship. While I do like plot twist and such, many people seem to like the cliche one for this genre.

So, regarding the plot twist, complicated story and such, will people find it annoying and troublesome when it's combined to certain genre? I hope this is not OOT, by the way. If it is, then sorry, guys

That's kind of what I'm trying to do with mine, and I have a few of the same concerns.

Personally, I think that having romance and multiple choices available, with some "obvious" choices to raise affection, and some comical relief/humor as well as romantic actions true to the character's personality which helps break the Mary-Sue tradition (example: a gruff character says some sweet things to protagonist, but is at least respectful in public when the relationship is reached and he would obviously not say honey-sweet things in public like an ultimate master of sweeping the girl off her feet would.) is what you could take from otome, then begin blending other genres in. Tastefully, of course, like trooper6 said.

-That, to me, is all it takes to make any genre blend with another. Stay true to the most basic elements from the romance or the core genre, but make it blend with another. Mystery, suspense, drama, and romance could all be blended together well if you take the basest elements and really consider them/flesh them out within characters and plot.

[OokamiKasumi]

. . . I'm just thinking to make Otome, but I want to try breaking some formula I've found in most Otome (which is the lack of personality in main character, I found that most of them are Mary Sue, and when they are seduced a bit by the male characters they usually fall in very easily). However, the public seem not to dislike it as much as I do . . .

As one of the playing public: I dislike bland main characters. In fact I strongly dislike bland main characters because 'I' am not a bland person. I hate the very idea that someone lacking in a personality could gain the romantic interest of Any of the guys in the story.

I realize that the main character is often deliberately created bland to be an archetype character that the player 'steps into', but that doesn't work when the player has a strong character. It creates the Opposite affect -- that the player needs to be bland in character to catch any man's interest. NOT the message I want to hear.

So, I wonder if this protagonist formula is broken, will players find it strange and annoying?

Not at all. In fact, it would be Relief!

So, regarding the plot twist, complicated story and such, will people find it annoying and troublesome when it's combined to certain genre?

Not at all! Romance readers are not 'purists' as a rule. In fact, Romance book readers prefer their Romance combined with other story genres to give it flavor.

Erotic Romance
Futuristic Romance
Gothic Romance
Paranormal Romance
Historical Romance
Romantic Mystery
Romantic Suspense

The trick to combining genres is to make sure you have the core genre elements of BOTH genres present in the game.

[Ernestalice15]

That's kind of what I'm trying to do with mine, and I have a few of the same concerns.

Personally, I think that having romance and multiple choices available, with some "obvious" choices to raise affection, and some comical relief/humor as well as romantic actions true to the character's personality which helps break the Mary-Sue tradition (example: a gruff character says some sweet things to protagonist, but is at least respectful in public when the relationship is reached and he would obviously not say honey-sweet things in public like an ultimate master of sweeping the girl off her feet would.) is what you could take from otome, then begin blending other genres in. Tastefully, of course, like trooper6 said.

-That, to me, is all it takes to make any genre blend with another. Stay true to the most basic elements from the romance or the core genre, but make it blend with another. Mystery, suspense, drama, and romance could all be blended together well if you take the basest elements and really consider them/flesh them out within characters and plot.

The trick to combining genres is to make sure you have the core genre elements of BOTH genres present in the game.

Note that. So, I assume that when you combine these genres with core elements presented properly in the story and the game, players who like both genre will still like it, but in the same time, players who don't like one of them will avoid it.

I realize that the main character is often deliberately created bland to be an archetype character that the player 'steps into', but that doesn't work when the player has a strong character. It creates the Opposite affect -- that the player needs to be bland in character to catch any man's interest. NOT the message I want to hear.

Same thought here

Ernestalice15 wrote:
So, I wonder if this protagonist formula is broken, will players find it strange and annoying?

Not at all. In fact, it would be Relief!

It's a relief for me, too, because I thought it's just me. Hahah

Thank you, all, for the replies. I think it was a nice survey to know what kind of Otome gamers and creators are there

[OokamiKasumi]

The trick to combining genres is to make sure you have the core genre elements of BOTH genres present in the game.

Note that. So, I assume that when you combine these genres with core elements presented properly in the story and the game, players who like both genre will still like it, but in the same time, players who don't like one of them will avoid it.

As I said before, Romance readers/players adore having other genres mixed with their romance. The other genres tend to be purists --they don't like anything at all diluting their favorite genre-- BUT...! I assure you, there are a hell of a lot more fans of Romance (otome) out there than people suspect. As long as you aim specifically for the Romance (otome) fans, no matter what other genre you add, you'll definitely get lots of patronage.

[dmasterxd]

Plot is overrated. Readers are going to forgive you for a simple story if the character and setting makes up for it. Maybe your story won't have the same kick to it, but readers will enjoy it nonetheless.

What you may need, more than a twist, is a conflict that the protagonist needs to fight. At least this is what is missing from the outline you wrote. Something that sparks interest and empathy for the character and gives it more depth.

Since you say that you aren't very experienced, I would go against a twist ending if you didn't plan it beforehand. Usually adding twists to a story that doesn't need it just diluites the experience. I find it a turn off when I read a simple story with good characters that I enjoy, and then a twist ending that has no sense to exist pops out. Sometimes you can foresee what happens froma mile away and that doesn't make a lot of difference in the quality of the work. Sometimes it even enhances the value you get out of the story.

But again, my suggestion is to focus on making interesting characters first.

Yeah this guy/girl pretty much has it right. So is the other poster who commented about how execution matters way more than being cliche.

[Mad Harlequin]

Yeah this guy/girl pretty much has it right. So is the other poster who commented about how execution matters way more than being cliche.

Individual mileage may vary.

[AmericaTheBeautiful]

I remember seeing something from the writers of Toy Story, their advice was roughly "write out 10 ways the story can end, the first ten that come to mind. Now, use none of those."

Keep in mind, not everything needs to end with a twist. There are some stories that were fairly straight forward but I still enjoyed. Because I wasn't there for the twist, but rather, how the characters reacted/were impacted by it.

And there are times where I have anticipated one but was still surprised they went for it (as I had thought it so left field I hadn't expected the dev to actually do it). And sometimes I never expected it.

The one thing I feel the need to stress, is any good twist must have evidence. If I play the story again I need to be able to say "hey, that thing that was just kinda there actually meant something!" and such. Giving no evidence is a sure fire way to not expect something, but it also makes it so the reader/player is completely blindsided and feels like the twist is cheap.

[Katy133]

A tip for writing a plot twist is to use misdirection. Set up the plot so that the audience thinks the plot twist is going to be one thing, but then it ends up being something else.

A good example I can think of for this is Hitchcock's Psycho. (spoilers, but I should hope you've seen the film or at least know what happens.)

Basically, Hitchcock's film contains two main plot twists:

1) The main character is set up to be Marion, a young woman who's on the run. We follow her story for the first 10-20 minutes of the film... Which is why it's such a shock to us when she is killed by the murderer early in the story. The POV then switches over to Norman (whom, beforehand, had been set-up as the sort of typical "boy-next-door" character).

2) We're set up to assume that it's Norman's mother who is the killer. It's never explicitly stated, but there are enough clues and cues to tell us that. So, when Norman tries to hide the crime from the police, we think he's trying to protect his mother. But then it's revealed that not only has his mother been dead for several years, but that Norman (our protagonist) is the killer. The intelligence of the script was not that there was a plot twist, but that we were made to guess the wrong plot twist.

Another example is using Chekhov's Law to set up a plot twist: Hide an important piece of foreshadowing by making it seem like an unimportant detail, or just a simple gag.

An example I can think of for this is from the novel, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. (Again, spoilers.) There's a scene early on where the Dirk (a detective who specialised in quantum-mechanics-based deductions) asks Richard (a computer programmer who's hired Dirk for a murder case) about Schrodinger's Cat. Dirk talks about it as if it were an experiment that could actually be carried out in a lab, and Richard quickly corrects him, saying that it's only meant to be a thought experiment and would be ridiculous to actually do. Dirk is noted to be listening to Richard with interest. The whole scene seems like it's there for 1) Humor, and 2) To show Richard that Dirk may be too incompetent for the job.

Later on, it's revealed that Dirk was freigning ignorance about Schrodinger's Cat, to see how Richard would react. Richard's reasonable reaction proved to Dirk that Richard's overly-logical mind (being a computer programmer) gives Richard somewhat of an immunity to ghostly possession... Which is good, since the murderer is possibly a ghost who possesses people.

If you set-up a detail as a joke, people will just assume that it was a joke, and that that was its only purpose.

Also, take a look at this article:
The Four Kinds of Plot Twists (Three of Which Suck)