Plot Twist Story Prompts: Antagonist Gain
Every good story needs a nice (or not so nice) turn or two to keep it interesting. This week, we’ll look at what happens when an antagonist levels up.
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, The Unknown Fear, here.
Plot Twist Story Prompts: Antagonist Gain
For today's prompt, have the antagonist of your story receive a new benefit. Maybe it's a weapon or a superpower. Or it could be a secret that the antagonist could use as leverage over other characters. A promotion would count if your story involves the workplace.
There are few things as boring for a reader than an antagonist who never has the upper hand, or at least the appearance of the upper hand. The reason for this is that the protagonist is never in danger of losing (whatever "losing" means in your particular story).
Also, remember that benefits come in different packages. For instance, a protagonist may escape an antagonist in a chase scene only to end up at a dead end (advantage back to antagonist). Once the antagonist receives his or her (or its) new benefit, the fun of figuring out what that means for everyone else can begin.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.