Stuck? Having trouble figuring out where your plot should go next? Pick one of these plot twists and go with it!
*Pirates attack! With one story I wrote, I had plunked my visiting humans down in an alien civilization, with a complex political situation, had them interacting with the local dictator and a group of nomads...and then got stuck. So I had an army of roaming bandits assault the city. That livened things up a bit.
*Assassination! Somebody, one of your characters, anybody, gets assassinated in a public place. Who did it? Why? What happens next?
*Declare your love! One of your characters declares their love for another character, maybe one they didn't know they were in love with. Maybe one you didn't know they were in love with. Bonus points for the most unlikely pairing.
*Break something! A character gets into an accident and breaks a limb. How does s/he deal with it? How do the other characters deal with it?
*Treasure! Have a character find some treasure. Maybe it's as simple as picking up a twenty-dollar bill they find on the sidewalk. Maybe it's as complex as locating Lincoln's gold. Either way, it's sure to shake up your character's life, even if only momentarily.
*Adopt a pet! A starving animal shows up at your character's front door. How do they react? With kindness? With cruelty? Maybe the animal's not a cat or a dog...
----------
50,417 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 14 22
Oh, thank god for this thread. (Please, please don't let it die!)
*Character Bait And Switch! Someone is not who s/he appears to be. Is s/he a different gender? Different sexuality? Different race? Secretly already dead? A villain?!
----------The search has begun, this is page one. Man meet your maker, I give you... the Author. --The Author, The Academy Is...
50,491 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 14 25
In my story, a character who you think is good turns out to be bad near the end, but ends up deliberately helping the other MCs. That's kinda 2 twists, I suppose...
----------Novel: Thur's Utopia
Genre: Sci Fi (Dystopian)
Premise: A man and a woman go an a voyage to overthrow an evil dictator.
WON!
50,142 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 14 37
Protagonist and Antagonist discover they are related.
Truth serum! At the worst possible time, MC becomes unable to lie (with optional inability to keep herself from talking).
50,091 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 14 41
MC becomes sick and/or wounded at the worst possible time! OH NO!
MC's close relative dies at the worst possible time! MORE OH NO!
----------2007 - Stranger to the Rain - 10/50K
2008 - Hey Jude - 50/50K
2009 - Can't Go Back - 50/50K
Can't wait for NaNoWriMo 2010!
74,006 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 15 14
it turns out the milkman is NOT the MC's father! then who is? could it be the mailman?!
50,417 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 19 16
*Hey, remember that time...? Repressed memories surface! Your MC is not who s/he thought s/he was! Le Gasp!
----------The search has begun, this is page one. Man meet your maker, I give you... the Author. --The Author, The Academy Is...
50,091 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 15 47
Oh no, this threads looking depressingly short...
Your character wakes up, and realizes that the past few days were just a dream...that horrible thing hasn't happened yet!
Your MC's mother shows up (what type of terms are they on? is she dead?)
Your MC's main love interest dies! (Or maybe (s)he's just faking it. Why?)
Your MC's actually Superman! (Or Batman, if your MC's already Superman)
C'mon guys, keep it going...I'm going to need some ones that are better than this sooner or later (:
----------51,509 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 15 55
Yay for plot twists!
-A challenger appears!
-The MC gets shot in the back by an unexpected minor character!
-Lawyers start swarming carrying lawsuits with them!
-Every street vendor the MC has come across so far is part of the secret alliance of vendors and milkmen, dedicated to fighting crime/causing destruction!
-Someone rushes in the door and drastically changes the story's genre with a single sentence!
-Oh no! The villain starts blackmailing the MC for something they didn't do.. Or is it the other way around?
----------"What's the point of being cool if you can't wear a sombrero?"
50,142 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 16 19
After the villain is defeated, your MC is told that they defeated the wrong person! The villain's name is actually different by one letter and MC has been mishearing it all this time!
50,402 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 16 36
The devil appears in your story! Did someone make a deal with him? Is one of your characters the devil?
----------Fuel: LIQUID WIN
Attitude Toward Novel: Triumphant
Words Written At School: 2727
Times Caught At School: 0
Sanity: 0% (It's good)
65,274 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 16 51
I can see where this will come in handy for me later on so I shall add:
--A key character gets knocked unconscious (you name the reason) and falls into a coma shortly after retrieving some sort of information about (antogonist?). Bonus points if the person knocking them out was the love interest
--One of you characters becomes obsessed with some online game and decides that they can't leave to help the protogonist
(admittedly that one was a little lame)
--One of your main characters is kidnapped. Bonus points if it was by anyone NOT in association with the antogonist
--One of your main characters gets bit by something poisonous
well I'll try to think of some more later
----------15,864 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 17 15
--A bigger, badder villain comes in and kills the antagonist half way though the story! Oh noes!
----------50,142 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 17 20
Protagonist learns Antagonist is actually a decent person. Nothing else changes: Antagonist still wants to kill Protagonist, the two sides of the war are lined up against each other, Antagonist still killed Protagonist's pet, Protagonist is still holding Antagonist dangling over a cliff...
50,062 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 17 59
The MC runs into (literally) some one from their past that they never wanted to see again, who is this person? how do they both react? what happened to make them so distant with one another?
58,145 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 19 01
Best thing for me:
----------Kill a main character.
Sure, it hurts, but it sure makes for an interesting story!
Blessings,
Cassie
http://insidecassiesmind.blogspot.com/
50,152 / 50,000
Oct 14, 2009 - 20 37
The Law - Characters being loud, crazy, disruptive, or engaging in public shenanigens? Have the neighbors call the police on them! How do they deal with the consequences?
Zombie Invasion - Can't go wrong with a zombie invasion!
Prior Obligations and Responsibilities - Your MC would love to save the world from the aliens, but she has to babysit her younger brother that afternoon! Or something more important than that, presumably. Which does s/he choose? Can s/he manage both?
Treason - important sub-character defects to the villain's camp! Is their relationship with the MC broken forever? Will they rejoin the MC at the last minute, perhaps even saving the day?
Wardrobe Malfunction - Your MC has nothing to wear! Their armor is stolen, everything is at the dry cleaner's, someone has set their pants on fire. Why? What do they do?
53,096 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2009 - 21 02
Your MC or major secondary character develops insomnia or begins to have really bad nightmares halfway through the story, and never sleeps more than two consecutive hours for the rest of the the story, even if it lasts years.
Someone becomes pregnant (BP if the character is male, or there's some sort of Alien Baby angle).
Your character becomes responsible for some large and important event (choreography of the Oscars? fund drive to cure MS? local church bake sale? Battle of the Bands?) which is completely unrelated to his or her main drive, but is too noble/ compelling to give up.
RS
----------"When drinking tea and reading the paper, just drink tea and read the paper."
-- Zen Improverb
125,146 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2009 - 21 07
Ohhoho... this has just given me an awesome idea not only for a plot twist, but for the beginnings of an entire plot... >:D
----------My life is saved on the hard drive of my computer!
55,202 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2009 - 13 55
MC finds out that the antagonist has been meeting with his/her kid(s)
One I'm thinking of using but still not sure. Thought I'd give it up for grabs. =)
----------~Misha
"I can do all things through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13
"In many ways, the whole process of school reminded Jason of a grave burial. Or a funeral."
-Nano 09
64,345 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2009 - 14 54
One I'm using: At the climactic ending, the protagonist is shocked to discover that the antagonist was RIGHT ALL ALONG! (Although motives and actions still differ)
Unreliable narrator (good for 1st person POV) lie to the readers, deceive, twist, protect your MC from their judgment.
Someone who acts guilty IS guilty, just not of what everyone thinks they're guilty of.
Protagonist inadvertently destroys evidence against antagonist early on. Facepalms later on.
----------50,142 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2009 - 23 43
There is a terrible, awful, and necessary thing that must be done, and it can be done by one of two people: MC, or someone MC isn't sure will be able to do the thing.
1,336 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 01 08
MC discovers that his/her parents aren't actually his parents, and they took him in at a very young age because he'd floated into their yard in a balloon and nobody had any idea where it came from.
----------953 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 01 43
The MC and love interest are actually not in love or whatever, instead they both are married and have their own kids and they are really brother and sister! ...
A meteor strikes the planet throwing everything into confusion. The antagonist is completely forgotten and a whole new storyline begins! New characters, (maybe except the main and a few others), places, what have you.
The MC, you find out, is actually really gullible and is swayed by the antagonist when they monologue about why they are doing what they are doing. The MC turns and kills or hunts down everyone that played a significant part in leading up to the "final' showdown.
----------No one said it was gonna be easy! If it was, everyone would do it..that's who you know who really wants it.
26,693 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 19 14
Plus points if it's a silver weather balloon? :D
----------Military Sci-Fi (click banner!)
Times written during class: 2
Times dreamed about: 4
Missions Failed: 0
52,001 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 20 33
The Butler actually did it.
*ducks rocks* Sorry! It had to be done.
23,000 / 50,000
Oct 21, 2009 - 18 06
*ducks rocks* Sorry! It had to be done.
I just finished watching an anime where the butler ate the MC's soul at the end of the series. So don't worry, it's not too bad of a plot twist. xD
More plot twists:
-A spontaneous fire burns down the MC's house/headquarters. Bonus points if the MC started it.
-The protaginist is defeated for once. And not by the antagonist either. Maybe ninjas...?
-The antagonist joins a church and renounces his evil ways. -shot-
That's all I can think of for the moment, but I WILL be back. Mark my words.
----------"Each and every one of us still prays, hoping for evidence, looking for clues..."
30,090 / 50,000
Oct 22, 2009 - 19 42
Your character's significant other turns out to be identical twins posing as one person!
----------Nano 2008: Pantalones of Peril-WON!
Janno 2009: Untitled - lost 17,250/30,000
Nano 2009: Once Upon a Time (working title) - lost 30,090/50,000
50,142 / 50,000
Oct 21, 2009 - 18 46
MC discovers they're pregnant, and must now stop fighting [ninja army/zombie horde/resurrected Nazis/etc.] because of the danger of getting kicked in the stomach. Bonus points if MC is male.
55,202 / 50,000
Oct 23, 2009 - 21 14
It is revealed that the MC or other character was jailed in the past! For what crime? Maybe multiple characters have been jailed! Or the MC comes to find out that all his "friends" and associates were once (or maybe still are?) criminals!! dun! dun! dun!
----------~Misha
"I can do all things through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13
"In many ways, the whole process of school reminded Jason of a grave burial. Or a funeral."
-Nano 09
50,502 / 50,000
Oct 25, 2009 - 09 14
I've nabbed some ones off this thread :D I'm going to use *Adopt a pet! A starving animal shows up at your character's front door. How do they react? With kindness? With cruelty? Maybe the animal's not a cat or a dog... and The MC runs into (literally) some one from their past that they never wanted to see again, who is this person? how do they both react? what happened to make them so distant with one another?
----------