This isn’t a problem that’s exclusive to stories with the big, switcheroo, sucker-punch trick endings. To some extent, it can be a problem in any story. If the ending is in any way going to be a surprise, you do not want readers to figure it out ahead of time. The most obvious reason for this is that their figuring it out ruins the surprise. But, more than that, it can ruin the whole book.
>>Click here to read “How to Pull Off a Plot Twist“
That may seem a smidge over-dramatic, but think about it. Let’s use the mystery genre as an example. These are stories that almost always feature a trick ending since the whole point is that readers not know whodunit before the detective figures it out. But savvy mystery readers are really hard to fool these days. They read the clues just as quickly as the detective, and half the time they’re going to solve the mystery before they finish the book.
>>Click here to read “Genre Tips: How to Write Mystery“
In itself, readers’ figuring it all out isn’t the problem. The problem is that, from that point on, the authors of these stories are obliviously two steps behind their readers. The authors are still pretending no one knows what’s going on, which means they’re also milking the drama and the mystery of it all for all it’s worth. To readers who have already seen the light, that’s just annoying.
>>Click here to read “How to Be as Smart as Your Readers“
So how do you fix it? Well, aside from being aware of the problem, the best way to avoid it is simply to write so incredible an ending that readers never do see it coming.
