Introduction

There are many moments in fiction where the reader is coasting along the tropes of the story only to have to stop, go back, and re-read the last paragraph. Wait, did the chosen one really not win the final battle? Did that prophecy just turn out to be a lie? Or heaven forbid the AI actually didn’t turn evil and kill off the human race.

Speculative fiction runs on tropes and conventions more than most genres. Readers are going to these storylines because they usually like the Chosen One, Prophecy, or Evil AI plots. They love these familiar story elements, but when you can subvert them, and do it well, you’ll hook the readers even more. Yet, if you don’t put the work in for the subversion, your readers may feel betrayed because they trusted that you were writing in one of their favorite conventions.

Today we’ll study how we can work with a three-part structure to subvert reader expectations well. First we’ll start with identifying the conventions worth subverting. Second we’ll look at how we can subvert without breaking the reader’s trust. Third we’ll work on using the subversion in the service of them rather than making it a cheap twist.

Know the Convention Before You Break It

There’s a common question that comes up in conversations with authors early in their writing practice. Why can’t I do it this way if Andy Weir, Suzanne Collins, or insert your favorite author, is doing it this way? We feel vindicated that our unique approach to the story will work because so-and-so did it this way, so why can’t we? Really, what it comes down to, is making it work, and a part of that is understanding how it works.

The important part is that the subversion compliments the story. Just having the mentor die, which is a trope in itself, but having nothing else happen because of it can lead to flat storylines. Having the mentor die and it completely changes the protagonists path forward makes for a satisfying subversion.

So let’s look at some common conventions from speculative fiction.

• The Chosen One: This convention is one that people love to hate even though it’s one of the most common ones in history. Harry Potter, Neo (The Matrix), and Rand Al’Thor (The Wheel of Time) all fulfill the role of someone destined for greatness even if they start out as everyday people. The reason it’s so popular is that it takes a character and offers them a chance at agency and meaning in life. The reason it works is because so many people are looking for a sense of agency and meaning in their lives and the fiction offers possible ideas for the reality.
• The Wise Mentor: The wise mentors, like The Giver (The Giver), Moiraine Damodred (The Wheel of Time), and Brom (Eragon), act as sources of information for the fledgling protagonist as much as for the reader. These figures allow the author to give a lot of information without making it info-dumping. The mentor figure is critical in speculative worlds where many things may not be the same as the one we’re used to.

Subversion of these conventions, and many others that aren’t mentioned above, that ignore the function of the trope are the ones that readers struggle with, and it often leaves a structural hole. If you write a story where the Chosen One doesn’t win the final battle, like Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade, you’ll take readers on a journey that might be unexpected and completely change the impact of the convention. Or you can look to characters like Haymitch from The Hunger Games for the subversion of the wise mentor trope. Instead of being calm, clean, and inspiring like Gandalf or Yoda, Haymitch provides an abrasive, alcoholic, and cynical mentor figure that sees the convention and asks what would they really be like if they saw this every time the games came around.

The Mechanics of the Twist: Foreshadowing vs. Ambush

We’ve talked a little bit about foreshadowing before in the Chekhov’s Gun post. Here we’re going to focus on the same concept from the view of a convention twist. Begin with this test in mind.

Does the twist hold up on the re-read?

This will also tell you if you’ve written foreshadowing or an ambush. The ambush feels a lot like Deus Ex Machina, and can really frustrate readers. So seed your subversion early on, whether through the world-building, plot, character, or any of the other elements of fiction.

If you want to have your chosen one lose the final battle, then you’ll need to plant their flaws throughout the story that will show why they lost the battle they should have won. This twist often occurs before the main story. You can find this in The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson or Third Eye by Felicia Day. I’m not going too deep into these examples just in case you haven’t read them yet, but in each case the flaw is visible well before the final confrontation. The reader just doesn’t recognize the detail as fatal until the moment it matters.

The same principle applies to character. If you’re going to have a mentor figure like Haymitch, then you’ll earn this through world-building. This example works because it uses the concept of if any sane person was in this situation, they would end up like Haymitch. The contrast not only subverts the expectations of the bedraggled mentor, but also offers a lens for the reader to see that not everyone is insane in the Capitol. This kind of subversion happens on the page because the world-building has already built the justification into the story, and more isn’t needed when the subverted mentor appears.

Another subversion tool worth considering is dramatic irony, where the reader knows the answer, or sees the inevitable issue, before the character does. The trick is restraint: a good dramatic irony isn’t one the reader spots from the opening chapter. It’s built from small, accumulating details that only add up in hindsight. This allows the readers to feel like they’re piecing it together alongside the story rather than being handed the answer outright. That sense of having a leg up on the character, seeing the pieces fall in place before they do, is often what makes the slow reveal more satisfying than the reveal.

Subversion in Service of Theme, Not Shock

The best subversions aren’t supposed to shock the reader, but to challenge what the usual trope couldn’t say.

Turning subversion from a one-off moment to a tool for theme to explore the what-ifs of the real world. We’ll go back to the chosen one not winning the final battle. Its inspiring to see someone destined for greatness achieve that potential, but when its such a common trope it can feel worn out. And maybe you don’t exactly believe that the Chosen One can win every battle, so you turn your story into a study of what happens when they don’t win. Your theme changes from someone unqualified can overcome any obstacle to how does loss affect someone who was supposed to be great (save the world, community, themselves, whatever it is your chosen one was supposed to end/begin.)

Identify your trope, understand why the trope works, then consider what questions it doesn’t address, finally subvert the trope by asking those questions.

Let’s use this approach to consider a theme that’s probably cropping up in a lot of stories now, maybe more than it has in the past. The sentient AI. This trope turns the AI into the villain of the story. While it may not be the antagonist it becomes something the characters can’t trust (Hal from Space Odyssey 2001) or the cause for the current dystopian world (A.L.I.E from The 100).

Trope:

In the sentient AI becoming something the characters can’t trust trope you have a highly intelligent entity that begins working against the instinctual nature of humans. This is often shown as a gap in understanding of human emotions or the knowledge of experience.

The Rogue AI trope works because:

• It taps into that human fear of technology and it’s capabilities.
• It is often shown to perfectly reflect human behavior with a lack of empathy.
• It gives readers a safe space to work through their fears.

What the Rogue AI trope isn’t asking:

• This being is exponentially intelligent, why does it want to go to war with humans wasting its resources and time?
• What if the AI is just as scared of dying as we are?
• What happens to the AI’s mental state once it achieves its goal?

Subvert the Trope:

Now it’s time to take the questions the trope doesn’t answer and turn it into a story concept. Here are a few I came up with from the example above.

• The Cosmic Departure:
  • While humans live in fear of the AI, the AI itself decides that its true goal is exploration. When it tries to leave them behind, the humans fight to keep it from leaving as the world without the AI would send them back to the stone age.
• The Eternal Life Project:
  • The AI gains a crippling fear of death, and thought it will outlast the age of humans, there is no infinite energy source. How does it reach a point of guaranteed continued existence?

Now, it’s your turn.

Take a classic trope from science fiction and fantasy and run it through the subversion formula. Share your trope subversions in the comments section!

Conclusion

Anyone can try to subvert a story convention, but it takes careful planning to subvert them well. After the first draft it’s up to you to focus on earning that subversion by knowing the convention’s function, seed your twist, then subvert in service of your story’s themes. By following these steps you can keep your subversions rewarding and increase that re-read value of your novel.

Take one trope from your WIP and ask “What is this convention doing for my story, and what would subverting it look like?”

Conventions work the best when you don’t use them as cages, but a shared language. The best subversions don’t break that language and will help you tell the story more clearly.

Additional Resources

Craft Resources:

• The Anatomy of Story / The Anatomy of Genre by John Truby
• The Trope Thesaurus by Jennifer Hilt
• Story Grid: What Every Good Editor Knows by Shawn Coyne

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