Plot Twist Story Prompts: Being Watched

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, Public Transport, here.

For today's prompt, make your character realize they're being monitored in some way. Perhaps, they're being followed by people in suits with sunglasses whenever they leave their home. Or maybe the phones are bugged. Or there are tiny cameras inside their residence.

(8 Tips to Writing Unreliable Narrators.)

Regardless of the way a character is monitored, the moment they realize they're being watched can be earth shattering. And it can lead to some interesting reactions. Does the monitored character immediately give away that they know? Do they play it cool as they figure out how to use the situation to their advantage? And who is monitoring the character anyway? And why?

Of course, keep this in mind the whole time: Is the character really being watched at all? Or is it all in their head? Especially with first-person narratives, this uncertainty dynamic can add an interesting tension to the story that may or may not be revealed by the end.

So make your character realize they're being monitored, 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.