Plot Twist Story Prompts: Giving Chase

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, Give Up, here.

For today's prompt, have a character start to chase someone or something down. Of course, a chase scene could involve running, biking, or driving a vehicle (like a car or spacecraft). But for a plot twist prompt, the overall chase is probably going to last longer than just a scene.

(How to Map Out Your Hero's Adventure.)

In fact, it will probably involve multiple close encounters and/or chase scenes. This is to draw out the suspense. If a character is caught within a page or a paragraph or a sentence from the beginning of the pursuit, then there's no real suspense or drama there. So this chase should last a while.

And remember that I said your character should chase someone or something. This opens up the possibilities a bit, because your character could be chasing success, fame, or money. Also, your character might chase a person for romance or some other purpose that is more of a psychological pursuit (as opposed to a physical chase). 

Keep in mind that the thing or person being chased may have no idea they're being pursued. That moment or realization may even kick your story into high gear as the character being chased starts actively fleeing.

So have a character give chase 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.