Plot Twist Story Prompts: Going Too

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, Prophecy Made, here.

For today's prompt, have a character join another character on a trip. The character who is being joined probably planned on taking the excursion on their own, because it's dangerous, mysterious, or "not a big deal." But the joining character (or characters) feels they should go as well.

(Mapping the Journey: Christopher Paolini Shares Early Map Drafts.)

This situation often happens when the leaving character is trying to sneak off to face some peril that they don't wish their companions to face. However, a good friend catches them as they try to leave and assert that they're coming too. And so, a new path is forged by a new grouping of characters.

Another situation is when the leaving character is trying to go do something dangerous or mundane, possibly with the intention of leaving for good. However, there may be a character suspicious of the leaving character's intentions and wishes to go as well (to keep an eye on the leaving character). 

In this latter situation, the leaving character could earn the suspicious character's trust, or they could live up to all the suspicions (and even lead to some new drama via an escape or murder). Of course, if the leaving character does bank some trust, it may all be part of a longer-term strategy of letting everyone down.

So have a character try to leave on their own, and then, have another one join them.

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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.