Plot Twist Story Prompts: Scandal

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, Don't Say It, here.

For today's prompt, reveal a scandal. There are so many scandals from which to choose: misdeeds with money, cheating on spouses, using AI to write a thesis paper, and/or so many other possibilities.

(Why We Must Not Cede Writing to the Machines.)

Scandals often have the power to rock those involved right down to the core, not only because there may be legal, political, or cultural implications, but scandals also have the power to change how others view the scandalized person going forward. And often with scandals, it doesn't even matter if the scandal is proven; once there's the potential scandal, everything changes.

Plus, scandals tend to impact more than just the primary people involved in the scandal. They can also make waves for co-workers, friends, and family. Enemies and/or competitors may seize on the scandal to their benefit (and/or may have even jumpstarted the scandal to begin).

So reveal a scandal, 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.