You'll never guess the ending (actually, you might)

It’s 2009. My girlfriend and I are living in different cities, so we only see each other once or twice a month. 

Before one of her visits, I give her a call and say,

“Patricia, when you come over to Madrid this weekend, bring something nice to wear. I’m taking you somewhere special, and I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh. Ok.”

A few days later I take her to this  fancy restaurant in a lovely old house with vines climbing up the walls. Inside, it’s all candlelit and someone is playing the piano. It’s super romantic.

Halfway through the meal, the waiters start singing an opera. That’s my surprise:

It isn't just a fancy restaurant. It’s also a music school and everyone who works there is being trained as a classical musician–which I thought was pretty cool, but Patricia doesn’t seem very impressed. In fact, she seems a bit nervous. She isn't talking much and she’s picking at her food.

“Is everything ok?,” I ask.

“Yes. Sure. It’s great.”

So I leave it at that.

But a few days later, she admits she’d been acting strange that day, and tells me why:

“I thought you were going to propose! I kept waiting for it, I even thought you hid an engagement ring inside the food and I was afraid I'd swallow it, but then nothing happened…”

I think she’s crazy, but then I ask some of my female friends and they all tell me the same thing:

“You idiot. You've been in a serious relationship with a woman for years and you tell her you have a surprise for her. Of course she's gonna assume you're going to propose, you moron!!”

I must admit I didn't see that coming.

But perhaps the real surprise is that, when I actually propose a few months later, she still says yes 😅

Did you see that coming?

When I tell people this story, most of them agree I’m an idiot–which I know might not be far from the truth… 

But I also know that if I stopped the story right after the phone call, most would not be able to guess the ending. It’s not that obvious then. 

As the story progresses, it becomes more and more “guessable.” There was no shortage of clues: 

• Asking Patricia to wear something nice

• Talking about a surprise

• Taking her to a fancy restaurant 

• She’s nervous

• She’s picking at her food

• Something seems to be wrong 

That’s called foreshadowing, and it’s something that improves most stories. 

Unexpected but… 

During the story, the surprise should be “unexpected but guessable,” as the writer Nat Eliason calls it. You might actually get it just before I (as the character) understand it, which is always great fun and makes you feel brilliant. 

Once it’s out there, though, it has to be unexpected but obvious. All the breadcrumbs you left need to make absolute sense so the reveal becomes satisfying. 

The challenge is to make the surprise guessable enough that your reader can take a stab of what is coming, but not so obvious they see it from a mile away–or so obscure they have no idea how it ended like that. The way you do that is by including simple details that could mean more than one thing.

Take a look at all my clues again: maybe I just wanted to do something nice for my girlfriend, and maybe there was something bothering her. Perhaps she’s upset with me, or even about to tell me she wants to break up. None of that would seem out of place.

So as you include foreshadowing details in your stories, ask yourself: 

“If my character is going to do or learn something later, how would that start? What would be the first signs? And is there anything else those clues could mean?”

Do that right, and your characters might still feel like idiots - but your audience never will 🤘

-Francisco 

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Getting clarity through your story to stand out from all the other coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs out there 

2. If you dream of speaking on the Red Dot, take this Scorecard and instantly discover how likely your idea is to be accepted by a TED-style organizing committee

3. If you (or your team) got any storytelling challenges, I’m sure there’s something we can do together ;-)

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