Reversals
Reversals
A reversal is an ancient storytelling technique, similar to a plot twist. (Its not on the chart, please don’t be confused.)
A plot twist a writers technique which should surprise the reader and should be different from what was expected to happen. For instance, in fairy tales dragons are supposed to be threatening to princesses - but if the princess doesn’t show fear and tames the dragon, that’s a plot twist. Another plot twist would be if the damsel in distress got herself out of danger and didn’t need a knight in shining armor to rescue her.
A reversal is to take the expected standard and reverse it often from the expected bad into something good. For instance, the trouble making kid grows into an adult who becomes the town sheriff when the expectation was for him to continue to be a troublemaking outlaw just like the rest of his family.
The difference is that the reversal elements rely on culture’s analysis of what’s good or bad. This underlies the importance of culture in telling stories. Stories have been used to teach since time began. Reading these stories today, we have to know the realm the story exisists and what’s normal for them. This helps us understand their worldview and helps us decide if we want to accept that worldview as our own.
Many of us know some version of the Prodigal Son or Child. A person usually a late aged teen or young adult asks their parent for their inheiritance early, and then proceeds to spend it carelessly - often doing the things that the parents warned them not to do. They eventually run out of money, come home to their parents in shame and say, “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve to return as your son or daughter, can I work for you as employee, just so I can have something to eat?”
The parent accepts - but insists their child still remain their child. They are not employees, they are their children and much loved children who are welcomed home.
The source material for this story is in the Christian Bible and its told by Jesus of Nazareth. But that’s not the original story.
The original story is that the child returning in shame and asking humbly for a job, was rejected by the parents. And that story was told by the relegious leaders of the era, who used it as a shaming control mechanism to keep people in fear. When Jesus started telling that story to his original audience, they all knew what was coming…. and they got surprised!
Jesus pulled a reversal. He took the expected, culturally acceptable turn of events and flipped them into a redemption story. As you heal and find yourself less stuck in the bad things, you are going to realize that the healing process was and is going to be your reversal story.
For a reversal to happen in fiction…
Cultural expectation + plot twist + bigger story that changes hearts and minds = reversal
Here’s a story where I have a reversal:
You haven’t met him yet - but one of my favorite characters to work with is Mason Jaymes. He’s the rejected illegitimate son of a war criminal, who overturns and reverses the entire evil legacy of his father… not by might or power, but by the courage to stare trauma and evil in the face, and then stand against it with empathy toward survivors. This is a fictional reversal.
For a reversal to happen in your healing journey…
Working through the pain of what happened + defiance of limiting beliefs = healing from traumatic life experience
You’re not going to reverse what happened to you, as in going back to the person you were before the trauma. But you are going to go from wounded to healing in progress - and that’s the reversal.
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer
Share Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger
Thanks for reading Chronic Writer by VintageInkSlinger! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
