Plot Twist Story Prompts: Even Less

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, Good Guy Bad, here.

For today's prompt, have time or chances run out even faster. You know the drill: Someone is trying to disable a bomb or self-destruct mechanism when something happens that causes the countdown to cut in half. Ouch!

(3 Ways to Create Tension in World-Building.)

Of course, having a countdown, whether it's a matter of seconds or weeks, already increases the tension in a story. But this plot twist injects an extra bit of adrenaline into an already tense situation. Because your characters were likely facing a difficult situation that suddenly feels (nearly) impossible.

But this plot twist doesn't have to just apply to condensing time. It could be that a character is given five arrows to shoot a target that will free their friend. But then, something happens (character drops them off a cliff, they break in half, or whatever) that reduces the five arrows to just one. Even if the character is a good shot, the tension increases dramatically.

So have time or chances run out even faster, 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.