Plot Twist Story Prompts: Bad Choice

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, Truth Denial, here.

For today's prompt, have a character make a bad choice. The thing to keep in mind with any plot twist is that they're not always intentional. Such is the case with the bad choice plot twist, in which a character just makes a bad choice. Maybe they know the risks; maybe they don't; but they make a choice, and that choice turns out to be a bad one.

(Using Beats to Improve Dialogue and Action in Scenes.)

For instance, a protagonist approaches a fork in the road. They can go left, or they can go right. One way leads to a friendly town; the other way leads to danger. Unfortunately for our protagonist (but fortunately for our story), they don't know which is the better option. And they always (emphasis on "always") choose the way that leads to danger and turmoil. C'est la vie!

Of course, there are also characters who make bad choices knowing full well what the stakes are. For instance, the character who messes around with other people's spouses, or the character who overindulges in other pleasures, whether food, drink, or drugs. And the good thing about the bad choice plot twist is that it's very believable, since people make bad choices constantly in real life.

So have somebody make a bad choice, and see what happens next.

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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.