Should a reader have enough information to deduce the twist?

Question

When building a twist into the ending, should I leak enough information such that astute readers could predict the twist if they stopped and mulled it over or should I withhold key elements to guarantee it is a surprise?As a follow-up: Does a reader feel smart or robbed if they can see the twist?

Answer 1

As an avid reader and film lover, a writer (novels/poetry/short stories/screenplays) and filmmaker (writer/director/actor) this is a fun question for me to answer!

I think the most clever of twists in the best books and films are ones that most readers or viewers can't predict while reading or watching, but that they can trace back after it's revealed - connect the dots backwards, so to speak, leading to them to that "aha" moment and "oh, yeah, that makes sense." A twist must make logical sense within the plot and according to character traits, or else it feels like a cheap way out. (One of my favorite twists in films is the ending of the film "The Usual Suspects."

To answer your second question, depends on how easily the twist is revealed to the reader, and of course on the reader. Great twists are ones before which the reader/audience think one twist is coming, but then it ends up being something different.

Hope that helps!