Perhaps it’s not the secret sauce; perhaps it’s the reliable wheat burger bun: handy, reliable, essential, but you’re too focused on the burger and cheese to notice it.
“The plan must go wrong.” I first noticed this trope during a rewatch of Christopher Nolan’s TENET, one of my favorite movies. There’s a heist planned, and before he executes it, the protagonist recites to his teammate all the details of what he will do. In reality, this is Nolan’s way of informing us, the audience.
The first few steps of this plan go smoothly. But then, suddenly, he’s ambushed! On top of this, the artifact he came to get was destroyed.
After I noticed this trope in TENET, I realized it’s used all the time in books, films, and shows. It’s handy for keeping viewers on their toes. Imagine how boring a story would be if every single thing the main character said came true? Fiction should be unpredictable, like life.
Action Stories: The Plan Must Go Wrong
The Fiction Writer 