Plot Twist Story Prompts: Refuse to Yield

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, Even Less, here.

For today's prompt, have a character refuse to yield. The first example that pops to mind for me is the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail who claims that losing his arm in battle is "just a flesh wound" and continues to try fighting even when he's only hopping around on one leg. Of course, that's a humorous example.

(Character Conflicts That Mirror a Larger Societal Conflict.)

But this plot twist could also involve someone who owns an abandoned building being unwilling to sell to a prospective buyer. Or it could involve a renter refusing to leave an apartment they've lived in their entire life. Or perhaps a scrivener named Bartleby does not yield in his lack of doing anything (as in Herman Melville's classic short story, "Bartleby").

It's interesting to know what drives the unyielding character to be so stubborn, but don't forget to dive into how this refusal to yield impacts other characters. Maybe a character starts off trying to divorce their spouse but their refusal to yield eventually ends with murder (if you need the premise for a murder mystery).

So have a character refuse to yield, 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.