Plot Twist Story Prompts: Another Dimension

Plot twist story prompts aren't meant for the beginning or the end of stories. Rather, they're for forcing big and small turns in the anticipated trajectory of a story. This is to make it more interesting for the readers and writers alike.

Each week, I'll provide a new prompt to help twist your story. Find last week's prompt, Giving Chase, here.

For today's prompt, let your character travel to another dimension. This other dimension (or dimensions) could take a few different forms. First, it could be an alternate version of the same place the character came from, which is a popular trope in comics. Second, it could be a hidden world within the character's actual world, whether on an island or in a tunnel. Finally, it could be a completely different dimension found through some gateway, like a mirror or a wardrobe or a tornado (as a few examples).

(Adding Dimension to Characters: 10 Sly Character Development Techniques.)

Some characters may know they are traveling to another dimension. In such cases, they may be excited about the adventure ahead and have all manner of visions of what awaits. Of course, many characters in such a situation find the new dimension is different than what they expected.

Other characters may unintentionally travel to another dimension. Maybe they're exploring somewhere they've been warned to avoid, or they let curiosity lead them into a new reality. In these cases, characters may find themselves reacting to several new and strange beings and situations.

However the characters end up in another dimension, it's only natural for them to compare the new dimension with the one they left behind. And it's all too common they find that they wish to return, which is often where the conflict comes in this plot twist.

So send a character to another dimension and see what happens next.

*****

Have you hit a wall on your work-in-progress? Maybe you know where you want your characters to end up, but don’t know how to get them there. Or, the story feels a little stale but you still believe in it. Adding a plot twist might be just the solution.

Click to continue.