Welcome to Micro Bookends 1.43. I’m throwing in a wild card this week, so feel free to open your story with anything beginning with PLOT (PLOTS, PLOTTING, PLOTINUS…). Have fun:
A plot twist is an unexpected change in the direction of the plot of a movie, novel, television series or other narrative form. When a plot twist comes at the end of the movie, it is known as a surprise ending, and often completely changes the audience’s interpretation of earlier events. Revealing a twist to someone who has not seen the movie or read the book can ruin the experience for them. The movie 50 First Dates reveals the plot twist from The Sixth Sense.
According to Taste of Cinema, the top seven movie plot twists are (don’t worry; no spoilers here):
- Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back
- The Usual Suspects
- Planet of the Apes
- Les Diaboliques
- The Sixth Sense
- Psycho
- Citizen Kane
Sir Alfred Hitchcock, director of Psycho and master of the plot twist, was born on this day in Essex, England, in 1899. He made cameo appearances in 39 of his 52 movies, such as leaving the pet shop with his own dogs in the opening scene of the The Birds, and throwing away litter in The 39 Steps. Hitchcock was nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Director, but never won. In 1968 he was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which is awarded by the Academy to ‘creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.’ His acceptance speech is the shortest in the history of the Academy Awards:
Thank you… very much indeed.
Join me in a celebration of all things Hitchcockian with this week’s photo prompt:
The Judge
Judging this week’s contest is Karl A. Russell, winner of MB1.42. Read his winning story and what he has to say about flash fiction here.
What?
A story of between 90 and 110 words starting with PLOT* and ending with TWIST and incorporating the photo prompt.
Who?
Anyone, but especially you!
Why?
Why not! Because it’s fun. Because it’s a challenge. Because the winner will receive their own winner’s page, their story on the winning stories list, a ‘Who is the author?’ feature to be posted next week, entry into the ‘Micro Bookend of the Year’ competition, and a copy of this year’s winning stories compilation.
When?
Now! Get your entry in BEFORE 5:00 am Friday (UK time: http://time.is/London).
Where?
Here!
How?
Post your story in the comments section. Include the word count and your Twitter username (if you’re Twitterized). Don’t forget to read the full rules before submitting your story.
Anything else?
Please give your story a title. It will not be included in the word count.
Please try to leave comments on a couple of other stories. It’s all part of the fun, and everyone likes feedback!
Remember, only stories that use the bookends exactly as supplied (punctuation, including hyphens and apostrophes, is allowed) will be eligible to win.