The Power of Established Facts

Today I want to talk about an aspect of writing I don't hear people talk about much. Established facts and how they can be used to create great plot twists and subversions. So let's dive right into this topic.

Spoilers for Sherlock- The Final Problem and Doctor Who- Asylum of the Daleks.

What do I mean by established facts?

I'm sure there's a better term for it, or a fancy word I don't know. But basically, what I mean is facts that we take for granted, either because a character told us, or believes the fact themselves. But the hitch comes when it's revealed later in the story that the fact they told us is actually false and everything we think we know changes.

A good example of this is in Sherlock season 4's final episode, as we learn more and more about Sherlock and his childhood. Sherlock as a child had a dog named Redbeard, that his sister killed right before she was locked away. Because Sherlock says it's so, we believe him.

Until later in the episode, where it's revealed that Redbeard was actually Sherlock's childhood friend, Victor, who his sister left for dead in a well. Sherlock's memories had re-written themselves to spare him the trauma of this. Knowing that it was a child and not a dog completely changes what we knew about the conflict.

Using established facts

As you can see, having characters truly believe something that turns out to be false or twisted can be a powerful tool. Of course, this can also easily backfire on you, but we'll talk about that more in a minute.

Part of their power comes from the fact that the characters believe them. Characters are our viewpoint on the story. When they tell us something, we believe it, because we have no other evidence to go on. It can be even more powerful if it's a fact they accept themselves, such as the sky is blue, and so that belief filters through to us through their actions.

Then that one little revelation comes and everything shifts and is seen in a new light. Sometimes the revelation is something huge, but I prefer it when it's something small that effects everything else in a big way.

So how can you use established facts in your novel? First off, you need to decide what the revelation will be. You can't do a reveal unless you know what you're revealing. Make sure this is something that's important to the plot or the character, not just some thing shocking to surprise readers.

Then you'll want to figure out how to foreshadow that fact's later importance. You can't make a big revelation about a character that doesn't show up the whole book. You need to show us that character, let us get to know them, before you drop the bombshell.

Let's look at the Doctor Who episode, Asylum of the Daleks. This episode is where we first meet Clara, know at the time as Oswin Oswold. She helps the Doctor, Amy, and Rory escape the Dalek asylum remotely, only asking that they come help her escape too. Only when the Doctor shows up, it turns out she too is a Dalek, which her mind blocked out of trauma.

We meet Oswin about halfway through the episode. We always see her in a small room, which is where we assume she hides from the insane Daleks. We see her doing normal life stuff, even baking a soufflé. She believes she's human, and thus the characters and we do as well. Because, why wouldn't we?

During the episode, we see a lot of other people, dead and alive, that have been transformed into Dalek puppets, which helps foreshadow what we'll learn at the end. But we never think that Oswin might be one as well.

Because of all the foreshadowing, when the Doctor does discover that she's a Dalek, it's shocking, because we didn't expect it, but not overly surprising. Even Oswin didn't know. The set-up led to a perfect payoff.

Some pitfalls to avoid

First, don't do it for the shock value. Readers hate that, as they should. You want to subvert their expectations, not throw them off a cliff. Any plot twist you add should follow the logical path of the plot.

Second, make sure the character believes it. This is different from an unreliable narrator, where they deliberately hide facts from us. This is something the main character, and maybe others, believe. If they don't believe it, it won't have the same impact.

What's a story with a really good subversion to you? Have you used this technique yourself? Tell me in the comments.

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