An Unpredictable (and Fun) Trick to Keep Your Plots Unpredictable

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy 

To write unpredictable scenes, try being unpredictable.

Plotting a novel can be a lot of fun, but it can also get a little tedious at times—trying to figure out the next step of a puzzle, crafting the perfect response to every choice your characters make, deciding when, where, and if you need a plot twist. When the muse is on your side the story flows quickly, but when she's not?

For those days, try treating your scenes like a game of chance to kick start the muse and keep readers guessing.

All you need is a single die or a random number generator, and the courage to think outside the box. This exercise is fun, but it can also send your scene in a direction you never anticipated—and might not want to go. And that's okay. You don't have to go where the Muse of Chance sends you, but at least try to think about how that direction might affect the story.

Surprise! Being Unpredictable, Even When You Don’t Know Where it’s Going

 By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Has this ever happened to you? You’re working on a scene, it’s going along fine, but it suddenly hits you that it’s so darned obvious where it’s going. And even though what’s going to happen is going to be fun, and there’s stuff there to intrigue and hook and do all the stuff a scene’s supposed to do, it’s still as predictable as a sunset.

This was me recently. And I hate this feeling because I like to keep reader’s guessing. I also find it’s no fun to write those scenes. Even though I know what’s going to happen, it’s a struggle to get through it. It’s not even written and it’s already boring me.

This is a blinking red warning sign for me that I need to shake things up. I’m being predictable and it’s time to do what the reader least expects. (Or won’t exactly see coming)