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, Initiation Project, here.

Plot Twist Story Prompts: Who Am I?

For today’s prompt, have a character experience amnesia. To be honest, I’m surprised it’s taken us this long to get to one of the more popular plot twist devices, but I’ve probably been avoiding it as low-hanging fruit. That said, there’s a reason the amnesia plot twist is so popular and enduring.

(5 Things I Learned About Writing From Watching Soap Operas.)

First off, the character who experiences the amnesia is forced into a situation of trying to figure out who they are. This can be really interesting, because they may behave in a completely different manner in certain situations than they would have pre-amnesia. For instance, the amnesiac protagonist may find themselves fighting on one side of a conflict without realizing they were on the other side before their amnesia. So what do they do once they regain their memories and previous motivations?

Second, the characters who deal with an amnesiac have to figure out a few things. First, who is the amnesiac? Do they have any friends or family who care for them? Any enemies? Are they even really suffering amnesia, or is it all an act? These are just the tip of the iceberg for the supporting cast.

So have a character experience amnesia 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.