So, what makes a good red herring? How can you trick someone into believing a lie, and then tell them that you meant to do it all along? How do you cheat someone out of their expectations, and then have you thank them for it?
Back in 2003, John Cusack starred in a phenomenal film called "Identity". It was the story of a group of individuals that were trapped in a hotel in the middle of the desert. And slowly, one by one, they are killed off. It is an awesome story, that keeps you in suspense the entire time. And the icing on the cake is a properly placed Red Herring that leaves you going "WTF?".
The Red Herring is *Spoiler Alert* the fact that all the characters are the different parts of a psycho-criminals multiple personalities. The hotel they find themselves in is part of the the killers mind, and the good parts of his mind work together to try and destroy the bad.
I think this is one of the best examples of a Red Herring because it is subtle, yet powerful, and a creative twist on a generic formula. The story in itself is not some completely unheard of, original, and powerful script. It actually was quite normal, rather run-of-the-mill in fact. A knock-off of more than one movie that had already been made.
That is the first key in my opinion for pulling this thing off. You have to work in a platform of familiarity.
So, what else is necessary when writing a Red Herring? What will make our story complete? Ironically enough the general rule of thumb when it comes to writing a Red Herring is to not do it in the first place. You run to great of a risk of leaving the reader feeling jipped, when the main character wakes up, and we find out that he was just dreaming. Nobody wants that in a story, unless of course it is the hidden ingredient that makes the story complete.
I would say that the next key for a well placed Red Herring, is to take the reader to a place they did not expect to go. And (this is essential), it must, must, MUST (did I mention must?) be a more enjoyable place than where they expect to end up at. In the case of Repo Men, the big surprise reveal left me wishing the actual ending had of been the one that took place. Just because the fake ending was so crazy and weird, it would have been awesome if the hero's had of been able to pull it off.
So my closing thoughts on the subject are this; write in familiar territory for your reader. Don't try to throw a loop on a story that is already throwing the reader for a loop. If it's an exciting, bold, new idea, than let it stand on it's own two feet. Take them to a place that is better than where they would go if you hadn't pulled the wool over their eyes. And lastly, be most careful about when you decide to try this. For young authors it is rare to get away with something like a Red Herring. Especially on a first publication, but then again, you never know what could happen...
If you faithfully follow my blog, you will see that it is dwindling in size week after week. This is simply because I am in a very busy time in my life. I am going to school, working full-time at a very demanding job, have a wife and three kids and Overshadowed is rapidly drawing near completion. It is an exciting time in my life and one I will remember for a long time to come. Sadly it makes blogging a little more challenging. I'm not saying this because I'm going to be quitting, on the contrary, I hope to expand the scope of this blog to include not only random musings on how to write better, but also things I am employing in my day-to-day life to try and help acquire new skills.
I have been convicted for not reading lately (college textbooks do not count), I finished off the Green Mile earlier this year and have not touched a book since. For a writer this is a dangerous idea, especially when one is finishing up a large project. So I went on my iPod and purchased a Brandon Sanderson novel. It's called Warbreakers and it is quite good. I don't normally have much of a taste for what I consider “traditional” fantasy novels, but this one is well worth the read. I will keep you updated on my progress.
I also have three separate short story projects in the works right now. Who knows, if you're good, I just might post some of them. I'll keep you posted.
'Til next time...
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