10 Ways to Make Your Story UNPREDICTABLE (Writing Advice)

get ready cuz today we're going to talk about how to keep your stories unpredictable this video was requested by a subscriber of mine and it's an important topic because let's face it if you're telling predictable stories you're telling boring ones and we don't want boring stories definitely not on this channel So today we're going to run through 10 tips that'll help you keep your stories fresh and exciting tip number one is Big Picture originality and what this means is that if you want a story that is unpredictable start with a concept that is fresh and

original and and it doesn't have to set the world on fire it doesn't have to reinvent storytelling but just take some ideas and combine them in unexpected ways instead of telling a story that's been done a million times before something like cops chasing bad guys instead of doing that try something a little different try something like what the TV series Dexter did where you have a serial killer chasing bad guys but whatever you do remember that if you start with a fresh concept your story has a much better chance of staying fresh as it goes

tip number two create flawed or selfish characters nobody likes a character who does the right thing 100% of the time or they're always correct or they're always perfect or anything like that we want characters who are human who make mistakes and we want to see characters making mistakes in critical moments have your characters surrender to their darkest desires have them rely on harmful coping mechanisms and have them ruin golden opportunities remember messy is good when characters make a mess not only does that make the story unpredictable but it also creates conflict that the character has

to solve tip number three is to use misdirection and we often think about misdirection in terms of magic shows but in terms of Storytelling when it comes to misdirection we want to draw the audience's attention to a certain element or a certain event and then at the last second we shift things to another element or event if you've ever seen an action sequence where one character looks like they're going to get shot then the wouldbe shooter is killed by someone else that's a common example now this particular example has been done to death but you

can always look for fresh ways to work a misdirection into your story tip number four take unexpected detours now if you have a story in mind if you have a certain vision for it you probably know how your story will begin and how it will end and there's nothing wrong with that but if you are strictly focused on getting to that ending and doing it in the most obvious way possible you're going to end up with a predictable story instead what you want to do allow your characters to go on some detours along the way

this will shake up the plot and it will also allow you to explore your characters in Greater detail one of my favorite examples of this is from season 1 of squid game in the first episode the characters are dropped into this deadly game where dozens of people die and afterwards they're allowed to vote on whether or not the game should continue now there are still eight episodes left so we know that the story isn't going to end here and we expect that the characters will vote to keep playing but when the deciding vote is cast

it smashes our expectations and sends the characters home not only is this a nice surprise but it allows the story to explore the characters and why they need the prize money then by the time they return to the games we have a greater understanding of who they are and we care more about their Journeys tip number five create an unexpected third outcome too often I see story events where there are two possible outcomes and it's like an either or situation either the hero wins or loses either the couple makes up or breaks up either we

hide the body in the closet or the basement and the problem with this is that audiences see both options coming and therefore they're predictable and even if we go with the less likely of the two options it's still predictable it's still something that we see on our radar this is part of the reason why I found season 2 of squid game to be underwhelming in an early episode there's this drawn out voting session where the final vote is meant to decide the outcome it can only play out one way or another and the character votes

to continue the games nothing really surprising here thankfully later in season 2 there's another voting session and instead of the vote ending with the characters staying or leaving this one ends in a tie which is something we haven't seen before and it takes the story in a New Direction so remember if you hit a point in your story where your characters have a choice to make an either or solution think about the possibility of a third option if you do come up with a third option it can make your characters and your story look clever

tip number six Embrace random chaos and this is one of my favorite parts of the drafting process often times I'll be writing a story and then a random thought will pop into my head and I'll I'll say to myself okay I'm going to have some random dangerous thing happen like maybe somebody shows up at my character's front door with a gun or there's an explosion or somebody dies or some character acts completely out of character and the great thing about this is not only does it create an unpredictable moment but it also challenges me as

the writer to explain this unpredictable moment in the following chapters because if an explosion goes off then all of a sudden the characters have to investigate that explosion they have to figure out why it happened and this can lead to some exciting plot possibilities down the line tip number seven is to incorporate multiple plot lines I just did a video on this last week and I'll link it up here as well as in the description below but the basic gist of the video was that you want to have more than one Plot In Your Story

typically we're going to have a central plot which would be like the hero and the villain fighting over the main conflict and then you'll also have subplots which are relationship plots you might have a romantic subplot a mentor subplot a family subplot and so on and the thing is if you have mult multiple plots in your story you can have them overlap at Key moments and create surprising outcomes that light up your story tip number eight is to unleash a good plot twist and we all know a plot twist when we see one whether it's

a shocking reversal a shocking Revelation or something along those lines and the way to pull off a plot twist is by using a simple three-step method setup false comfort and surprise first off you have the setup and early on you need to play fair with your audience provide NE necessary details and clues that will lead to the big betrayal or Revelation later on also be sure to sprinkle in some hints along the way as you lead up to that big moment second you need to lure the audience into a sense of false Comfort make sure

they believe that Darth Vader killed Luke's father or that Norman bates's mother is the one murdering visitors or that Tyler Duran is a friend of the protagonist make us believe these things while dropping subtle hints to the contrary then boom step three deliver the surprise twist and when you do try creating a scenario where the audience and the character are shocked at the same time that way both the character and audience share the emotional impact and have to Grapple with the reality of the twist tip number nine is to cross the line and this means

making stories that are unsafe or controversial and if you don't mind potentially upsetting your audience you could really push the envelope and violate society's expectations for what is acceptable in a story certain genres do really well with this or certain genres do better than other in this case and I think part of the reason why I love the horror genre so much is because horror stories tend to be unsafe and they tend to explore ugly subjects or harsh truths subjects that you know other genres may not touch on one recent movie that comes to mind

here is the horror comedy terrifier 3 this one opens with art the clown celebrating Christmas Eve by killing an entire family including the children in gruesome fashion the scene sets the tone by showing that nothing is off limits and nobody is safe within this story now a lot of audiences walked out on this movie but at the same time many others enjoyed this bold approach to dark comedy and the franchise has been gaining in popularity ever since depending on the type of story you're writing this tip may or may not work for you but if

you can afford to make your story feel unsafe it'll definitely feel unpredictable finally tip number 10 is to remember that unpredictability requires variety now I just gave you a bunch of different techniques that you can use to make your stories more unpredictable but if you like one particular technique and you keep using that one over and over and over again if it's misdirection misdirection misdirection all the time eventually your audience is going to catch on and the effect is going to be diminished you don't want that you don't want to lose the battle so look

to incorporate different techniques over the course of your story test out different things at different times see what works see what keeps things unpredictable for you and for your audience so I hope this helps question of the day what is one story you love because of its unpredictability let us know in the comments section below thank you for watching if you want to support the Channel please pick up a copy of any one of my books and be sure to leave reviews on Amazon bad parts is great if you like small town horror it's about

people trading away their sick and injured body parts in order to get healthy again also be sure to check out my other videos like share and subscribe and as always remember to keep on writing