A plot twist is a deviation from the suggested direction of a story, and when executed effectively, creates an element of surprise that intrigues the reader. Readers may not remember all the plot points of your story, but they will never forget a perfectly executed plot twist. So, if you want to make your story remarkable and memorable, give your readers a good "I love what happened in the end," and they would become die-hard fans. To help, I have compiled five incredible techniques that deliver that mind-blowing plot twist.

1. Make a Minor Character Prominent: You can effectively achieve this if you have your story planned out a bit before you start writing. During the planning process, you must have defined who all the major characters are, then start by making some of them look inconsequential at the beginning, and then, suddenly, toward the end, they become one of the main antagonists or deuteragonists. For example, the doorman — lost in the background — at a hotel where the murder of a notable politician had taken place turns out to be an accomplice in the murder because he had a score to settle with the politician and only becomes prominent at the grand reveal at the peak of the story.

2. Let a Deuteragonist Save the Day Instead: Usually, all eyes are always on the protagonist to save the day, so it would be a major plot twist if one of the sidekicks turns out to be the real knight in shining armor. An example of this is the Battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones; all eyes were on Jon Snow, rooting for him to kill the Night King and win the war for the living. But out of nowhere, Arya Stark appeared before the Night King and struck him a lethal blow that neither he nor the viewers had seen coming.

3. Kill off the Supposed Protagonist: This kind of plot twist works best at the beginning of the story. Here, you present a character to be very crucial to solving the conflict in the story, and before long, that character gets killed. Such unpredictability at the onset would arouse the curiosity of your readers and get them more invested in the story to know how it would end. A typical example is the death of Ned Stark at the end of the first season of Game of Thrones and the death of Robb Stark during the infamous Red Wedding at the end of season three. Also, Janet Leigh getting murdered in the shower in Psycho is a classic example of this technique.

4. Plot a Plot Twist Within a Plot Twist: This is a complex technique that is very effective and would leave your readers astonished. Here, you present a mild plot twist that leads to another more surprising plot twist. The first plot twist is a little surprise that aims to make your readers think they have finally figured out your story, only for them to be mesmerized with a bigger reveal they wouldn't have seen coming. A classic example is Old Boy. In the movie, Dae-Su finds out his high school classmate Woo-Jin was responsible for his imprisonment. But that leads Dae-Su to know that Woo-Jin had hypnotized him, and the lady he is in a romantic relationship with is his long-lost daughter.

5. Mask the Antagonist as the Protagonist: People are not always who they seem to be. This statement is true not only in life but in story writing and helps create a riveting plot twist. And there is no better application than masking an antagonist as a protagonist, a wolf in sheep's clothing. This technique deceives the reader and comes as a big shock when revealed toward the end. One effective way to apply it is by using a false protagonist as the narrator, as seen in Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.

Additionally, below are four tips to help you implement these techniques and create a plot twist that is organic, sensible, and delivers the desired effect.

1. Create a Diversion: The oldest trick in the book but works like a charm every single time: creating a diversion. Send the protagonist and readers on a wild goose chase with false clues that make them believe they understand exactly where the story is going. Then at the climax, reveal the right clues that point to the right suspects and narrate how every other hint is irrelevant. This trick, known as a red herring, is the bedrock of most mystery novels from Nancy Drew to Sherlock Holmes.

2. Let the Characters do the Talking: The foundation of every story is the characters. An interesting character makes an interesting story, and readers will follow everything a character says and does and everything that happens to them. So, let your plot twist be produced organically by your characters, let them display the tendency for who they turn out to be and the action they turn out to have taken. Otherwise, the plot twist will look forced. Also, let your characters be the ones to discover and express the plot twist; DON'T reveal it in the prose narration.

3. Predestinate the Plot Twist: For your plot twist to be effective, it needs to be plausible, and for it to be plausible, you have to provide a hint — best if they are more than one — early in the story that explains the plot twist. At your grand reveal, readers should be able to see that they had have been wrong all along and appreciate some occurrences they had thought were unnecessary or inconsequential. 

4. Don't Lower the Bar after the Big Reveal: After the big reveal, what comes next should not be a disappointment. The story is not over yet, so you need to follow the climax with an interesting denouement and resolution.