Plot Twist Story Prompts: Business Time
Every good story needs a nice (or not so nice) turn or two to keep it interesting. This week, it’s business time.
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, Epiphany Moment, here.
Plot Twist Story Prompts: Business Time
For today's prompt, have two or more characters complete a business deal. I know, I know; nothing says excitement more than a business deal, right? But then again, business makes the world go around in many ways and can lead to big time consequences in a story.
Consider two best friends who always seem to be of a like mind. Then, they decide to start a business together and maybe things go fine at first, but eventually one wants to save money while the other wants to invest (or wants to invest in things like social events and parties). Soon, the two like-minded friends are turning into enemies.
Or the business deal is for something nefarious (an assassination or drug deal). Or it's for something seemingly innocuous but with mysterious circumstances. In the thriller movie The Commuter, Liam Neeson's character is asked to locate (and only locate) a person who does not belong on the train he's riding, and he'll receive $100,000. But there's much more at stake than that initial ask.
Also, don't forget that business could be the thing that brings people together as well. In a romance, maybe a realtor likes a homebuyer, contractor, or appraiser. In some ways, it's business that led Count Dracula to target Mina in Bram Stoker's classic horror novel.
So get down to business and see where that business takes your story.
*****
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.
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.
