Hey guys! Here we are again with another week’s post. I’m so excited that all of the posts have been on time this whole series. Hopefully I can keep this up through finals in the next couple weeks so that we can still receive all the post on time. So today we have a topic that seems rather simple but can sometimes be really tricky for beginning writers and published authors alike. So without further ado….
Ten Writing Commandments: Avoid Predictable Storylines
Like I said in the intro, this topic can sometimes be seen as a something really to avoid for all writers. But this is something actually really difficult to remember. If you forget this one occasionally it won’t be the end of the world but it does make your story a little less interesting to read for those readers who’ve been reading for a long time and have really honed those ‘guessing-what’s-going-to-happen-next’ skills which are sometimes very annoying for a writer but super entertaining as a reader. So because avoiding predictable storylines is difficult I’m going to give you both the short answer and the long answer on how to do this. If you read the short answer and you understand feel free to stop reading, just don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a J.M. Larsen blog member, or share on social media. If you read the short answer and you’re still confused, read on. I’ll continue to explain it to you.
The short answer: Use Plot Twists Effectively
The long answer: Plot twists are one of the most basic skills for avoiding predictable storylines. If you throw a twist into the story that your reader wasn’t expecting you’ve suddenly upped your writing skills by about 50%. However, some plot twists are used so often they aren’t really plot twists anymore, they’ve become story troupes. Be wary of these. If you think of something interesting for a plot twist and you can think of at least 5 books with a similar storyline to yours that did that same plot twist, think again. Come up with something else. You want your story to be unique and interesting for every writer, not a formula that every other writer in your genre or market has already written.
There are many different kinds of plot twists you can write. Plot twists come in all sorts of varieties and forms. You never know which is going to be the best. But I’m going to talk about my three, favorite kind of plot twists, how to create them well, and when to use them.
My first favorite kind of plot twist a character motivation plot twist. A character motivation plot twist is when a character has a change in motivation and the story suddenly takes a direction that the reader wasn’t expecting. Now, let me explain what this means. This does not mean that the character changed their character suddenly without forewarning to the reader. The best kind of character motivation plot twists is when, looking back, a reader can see all the signs that this character was going to switch sides or jump in front of that bullet or whatever shocking thing your character chose to do. A character motivation plot twist is not created by having a character, for no reason, make a decision that they might otherwise not created. That isn’t plausible. If you’re character isn’t the sort of person to sacrifice for others, there are no indicators that they are changing ever, and suddenly they step in front of a bullet for another character – it isn’t a plot twist. It’s just confusing. Character motivation plot twists are best used on occasions where the book is all about the character growing and developing. All books have a good healthy dose of character development but there are certain books where one of the main points of writing the story was to take a character and develop them. Character motivation plot twists are best used in stories like this.
My second favorite kind of plot twist is subplot plot twists. This are always super interesting. A subplot plot twist is when a subplot that the reader has only been half following become extremely important suddenly to the main plot of the story. These are sometimes difficult to create because often times readers are aware of all subplots and know that they have something to do with the story. What makes a subplot plot twist really interesting is when it becomes a part of the plot in a way that the reader wasn’t expecting. For example, say your main character is on some sort of quest to retrieve a certain magical item and the party of adventurers has to split at some point. The main plot is your main character but there might also be some subplot scenes with villain characters or other side characters. Perhaps we occasionally follow the exploits of a small side character who is lost in some caves. Somehow they wander into a cavern. The reader expects for this side character to find the magical item. To make this a subplot make them find something that reader wasn’t expecting like a time spell that ages the whole world back 5 years. You’re reader will think, interesting. And then later in the story maybe the main character is reunited with the party and finds the magical item and suddenly they are surrounded and there is no way for them to win. The side character can now cast that spell they found in the cave half a book ago. Subplot plot twist, time reverses and now the hero knows where to go to find the magical item without all the difficulties they had last time.
To create a good subplot plot twist, you really need to have one thing though. You need to have a book that has at least one subplot going on. It works best if your story is a series of subplots aligned with the main plot. I’ve found that high fantasy novels are really good at pulling off subplot plot twists because they have so many subplots that you are almost always shocked by what the side characters do. Haha.
My third favorite kind of plot twist is random event plot twists. Random event plot twists are when something completely unexpected suddenly happens to the characters, often this is done by throwing in an external event. Suddenly a sandstorm, brigands, or a new monster appear, throwing them into a new mess they weren’t expecting. These aren’t very hard to create but they do create for some of the most interesting twists if the writer is creative enough. Most writers, when I talk to them, admit that there is really only one time that they find to throw in random event plot twists, and that’s when they’ve hit writers block. Sometimes they don’t end up keeping those random event plot twists but they are often a good way to get the writing juices flowing again. And it it’s a good random event plot twist then keep it in your story! These can be so much fun. One writer that I spoke to said that whenever she has a writers block she throws in a zombie attack. She said that 95% of the time she is able to then figure out the plot and she goes back and changes the event. But in one of her books she actually kept the zombie attack and it ended up becoming the main climax of her story that led to the conclusion. Any book can have random event plot twists and I would say that about 75% of the plot twists that I read in stories are this kind of plot twist. They’re easy and fun!
So if you ever feel like your story is getting to predictable try throwing in a good plot twist. If you just need a little something, throw in a random event plot twist. If you have many different side stories throw in a subplot plot twist. And last but not least, if you have been hinting that your character was going to change the whole book, throw in that character motivation plot twist you’ve been waiting to make.
I hope that this week’s post helped. This is writing commandment 7 of 10. We’re almost there! The next couple of weeks I have finals so I’ll try to be one time with the posts, but I make no guarantees. Next week we have the eighth writing commandment. If you enjoyed this weeks post don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a J.M. Larsen blog member, or share on social media. Thanks for always reading. And don’t forget…
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
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