The Sloth Punch

    Last time I talked in general about filling your writers playbook with the basic tool set of your genre.  Mastering that skill set in itself will allow you to become a very solid writer, but there is always room for new ideas. Today I'm going to cover a "play" that you may have seen in a movie or television show. I'm certain it has a proper literary name, but I like to think of it as "The Sloth Punch" .  Years ago, there was a kids superhero cartoon. In one episode, a villain invaded their headquarters and proceeded to beat them handily.  The fight raged back and forth in front of this statue of a sloth in a superhero costume in an action pose.  As the last hero was beaten, the villain turned around and BAM! dropped to the floor unconscious. "Great job Captain Sloth!" said the heroes, for the statue was not a statue. It was a very, very, slow Superhero. "I may be slow" said Captain Sloth, "but I sure do pack a wallop."

    In the context of writing, a "Sloth Punch" is a plot device that starts early, but doesn't take effect until much later in the story. It rewards your audience for paying attention.  The alert reader or watcher gets this fun little moment where they know what's about to happen before anyone else.  Here's an example from a standard issue romantic comedy.

In the first scene we see a well dressed, handsome if arrogant looking businessman named Alan (the heroes romantic rival) getting out of a cab in front of a restaurant. He doesn't tip the driver.
Alan:  "Thanks a lot, asshole,I'm running  late now.  Look Abu, Achmed, whatever the hell your name is "
  Driver: "It's Ibrah-"

Alan: "Whatever, you all look alike to me. If your gonna drive a cab in this country, learn to  fucking drive ok? If I miss my reservation I'm going to call your boss and have him fire your sorry ass.  god! Why do we even let you people into the country"....and so on."

Then he goes into the restaurant, and he's all charming and the love interest thinks he's a great guy. He's not a great guy. Her dad owns his company and she's his ticket to the top Fast forward 90 minutes into the movie. The Heroine is going to get on a plane to Europe to take over the companies Paris branch. The hero and the rival are racing to get there before she takes off and make the big romantic I love you speech.

Alan runs out of his building and hails a cab. "To the airport, and step on it."
And the Sloth Punch lands. Of all the cabs in Los Angeles he had to get into this one right?
 Spoiler Alert: Alan doesn't make it to the airport.

A few minutes later, the post credits clip finds Alan on the side of the road in the middle of  the desert. (This Romantic comedy is set in LA) "Hellooo....Anybody...."

Here's another example from the movie Training Day with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke: This seemingly random event...

Seems like a filler  "Stuff that happens to cops" scene that gives Denzel a chance to throw some hard core tough guy dialogue around. It isn't until much later that this random event becomes absolutely pivotal

Bam! Sloth Punch.