Plot Twist Story Prompts: The Rendezvous

Every good story needs a nice (or not so nice) turn or two to keep it interesting. This week, make plans for a rendezvous.

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, Helping Hand, here.

Plot Twist Story Prompts: The Rendezvous

For today's prompt, have your characters make plans for a rendezvous. This is such a powerful plot point that an entire story could be built around it. However, the rendezvous can be one twist of many as well. So the rendezvous is a strong but flexible tool in the writer's plot toolbox.

First, there's the planning part of the rendezvous. Two or more people decide they're going to meet. But why? Is it for a fight? A party? A date? Pleasure? Duty? Figuring out the why is the first step in setting the tone for everything that follows. Is the build up to the rendezvous one of suspense? Or excitement? 

Speaking of build up, the next consideration for the rendezvous is when it happens. Is it the same day? Next week? Next year? Later? And what happens between? Are there obstacles between setting the rendezvous and actually having it? And then, where does it take place? And what's the fallout from the rendezvous? If it even happens. 

As you can see, there's so much that can go into this one if you let yourself get carried away. So have your characters make plans for a rendezvous and see what happens next.

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If you want to learn how to write a story, but aren’t quite ready yet to hunker down and write 10,000 words or so a week, this is the course for you. Build Your Novel Scene by Scene will offer you the impetus, the guidance, the support, and the deadline you need to finally stop talking, start writing, and, ultimately, complete that novel you always said you wanted to write.

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.