• Is it your plot or the direction you take it?

C

igaress4ngaa pearlmatthew0 Nicoismysenpai I apologize for the Kate answers.

I considered writing the “unique plot” chapter before this but decided to go with this first.

A lot of writers here are in serious need of this. Your plot doesn’t really have to be that unique to execute this perfectly. But before we get into plot twists, you NEED to get rid of your generic plots; the silly ones thousands of people have come up with that you follow down to the very detail.

Are you guys running some kind of brainwashed program I am unaware of?

It still baffles me how you do this but I guess ignorance can be blamed for this kind of thing. Because I have noticed (from personal experience and from chatting with other writers) that you need to branch out and look for ways to make your work stand out.

Someone who decides to write a novel one day and sits down to do their work without even bothering to research and find out how their plots perform among what has been done before… you can’t really call someone like that serious.

The only exception to this is people who really write for fun and what they like. For example, in the near future, I am itching to write a boarding school teen fiction; which has obviously been done many times before. But I will still write it because I love that trope and there are people who love the trope too.

The only issue is that it would be sickening for me to write something someone else has exactly written; especially when it’s from a popular novel.

THAT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE.

And in cases like these, plot twists are your saviours… that along with a strong opening.

Now that I’m writing this, it’s kind of hard to do this chapter without drawing attention to writing a unique plot, but I’ll strictly keep that till the next chapter.

Let us start with Teen Fiction.

To be honest and kind of bias, I was crazy about this genre until I came to wattpad. Thanks to this app, I literally hated all teen fiction and it’s only recently that I started rehabilitating, with published books I enjoyed in the past. Here, I’ll drop some recommendations you’ll enjoy; you can thank me later.

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors❤

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Fear My Mortality by Everly Frost❤

Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

Not In The Script by Amy Finnegan

Operation Prom date by Cindi Madsen

Prom Impossible by Laura Paulin

Rebel belle Series by Rachel Hawkins❤

Prefect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles❤

Some Boys by Patty Blount❤

The Academy by Emmaline Andrews❤

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade❤

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

I put hearts at my favourites.

Literally all of these books are amazing and so you know the funny thing…? Their plots are very different. Unlike the teen fictions here which hold very disturbing similarities. You should me more creative than this…

It is for this reason that Teen Fiction is a sickening genre on this app. Along with other obvious reasons… you know very well what I mean.

To me, it feels like a lot of you don’t give a shit about your readers and that you’re lazy. I know how appealing it is to follow tropes you enjoy but it might just be me when I say I don’t like writing something that has been done before. And I’m sure you know how much tropes and clichés vary.

Don’t schools have rules about students making out in hallways? Also, coming from my country, that is a really weird thing to do and my eyes actually bug out from my face when I read about thirteen to fourteen year olds having relationships… hold your horses, people!

Am I the only one here who reads teen fiction on this app and wonder “what the hell happened to all the adults?”

Students break rules all the time and bullying happens (sadly) but some books here take it out of proportion.

You are writing teen fiction which is seriously based on reality and if you want to draw out the correct emotions from teenagers, write properly! WHAT ARE THE ADULTS DOING FREAKING BEHAVING LIKE BLIND AND DEAF PEOPLE?! It feels more like they are just there for the teenager to have someone to call “Mom.” “Dad.” “Principal Fruitman.”

If you really like a trope and you still want to write something that will stand out, plot twists AND strong openings will be your weapons… hold on tight to those swords.

First, read as many novels in your genre as you can.

Second, browse on popular/cliché plots that have been used or overused in your genre.

Third, brainstorm. Do you know the first thing that comes to your mind may not be advisable to write? But still pen it down… who knows what can happen next.

Fourth, go to online forums (It’s painful wattpad had to demolish theirs) and ask about things relating to your genre to see what they think. You see, people, readers are wise and know what they want. Some answers may not help . . . and some might.

The fifth step is not compulsory but can be very helpful, I guarantee it. If you don’t happen to be an otaku, I’m sure you’ll still find nothing wrong with reading webtoon comics and manga. Believe me when I tell you that they are treasure troves. While reading many, I have picked up unusual things you can use in your novels. I can’t recall clearly so I’m unable to list them.

I seem to be overlapping with another topic so I’ll pause.

Now that you’ve done your research, let’s look at strong openings.

You want to write a wholesome romance teen fiction that will make the hearts of teenagers giddy and the hearts of adults–hopefully– swoon. Luckily, we all know the shitty starts to avoid.

1. Waking up to an alarm clock. Don’t say you can’t avoid it, it doesn’t hurt to take a different approach.

2. Spending details on breakfast, lunch, supper, and discussing about your dysfunctional family at the very start. Sorry, your readers are not robots who can input large info all at once. Also, haven’t we done this before?

3. Spending details on the everyday boring life of your MC along with filler chapters. I’ll smack you in the mouth if you tell me you don’t know why you are losing readers.

4. Breaking the fourth wall as if the character is speaking to your readers directly. Do not do this unless you plan on using it throughout the book. Only do this when you are experienced enough… not everyone can pull this off and you are just a budding writer; drill that into your head!

5. Literally stopping the story to have your dumb/foolish character EXPLAIN their relationships with friends to the readers. Do you take your readers as fools? We have seen Sally help you with stuff and spend time with you and laugh with you and YET you have the forking AUDACITY to explain to me that they are friends! What were they before, sister-in-laws? Enemies? Pet and master? Barbie dolls?

This is Sally, she’s my best friend. (Yeah, stupid. As if that wasn’t obvious in the first place.)

Lucy is a sweet girl, she’s very beautiful. (Yes, thank you very much. As this Lucy keeps appearing, may I see her sweetness instead of you telling me?)

6. Treating your female MC like an introverted idiot! “I’m so ugly but take a look at that ass and sexy curves.” (No kidding. Why not explain your deformities and have ACTUAL characters look at her in a different view. You can’t have her telling us she’s beauty and the beast at the same time. What happened to character voice and portrayal? If your character thinks she is ugly, LET HER SIDE WITH IT. Then you can show us how OTHER CHARACTERS point out her flawless face or smooth curves, cause our MC has freaking low self-esteem when she’s actually pretty!!!!) I am spitting flames at this point. There are times in my life I have thought myself ugly but during those times, not once did I think myself beautiful and a lot of people do this! We cannot be ruminating about our imperfections and suddenly go “But still, look at that bootay!”

I would be too busy panicking about my pimples to focus on my ass!!!!!!!!!!
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Where are writers like you coming from? Averts gaze like I haven’t done it before. P.S. I’m just as guilty.

I can’t list everything but I shouldn’t be doing the work for you. A lot of this is obvious!

Let’s say you want to start your novel, why can’t you start with where the magic begins?

I AM YET TO SEE A WATTPAD NOVEL DO THAT!

I’m lying. A few novels have done this perfectly.

People would be more interested to see Ana transfixed with the hot guy holding her gaze than Ana sleeping through a boring class.

Guess what, I would close the book immediately and won’t even bother waiting till I see a plot twist. Cause teen fiction readers open your book to see the magic of the romance and the dysfunctional life of Ana instead of one boring study session.

Why can’t you just do this simple thing?

You need this when you are writing something that has been done thousands of times. You do not have the luxury to be following the same starting point. Do you like graves that much?

Next, we have the story itself… this is the part where things change…

I won’t be discussing love triangles because I despise it and have no way of navigating through that. Bottom line, you guys probably don’t do it well.

Can’t the love interest be a normal teenage guy for once? Just because a guy is rich does not make them boyfriend material. You should be aware of the trill of reading how he struggles to the MC’s attention against a rich stud in school. Novels like that, when done well, are more appealing.

Again, it is disgusting how you make your MC bold in the name of foolishness. There is a fine line between standing your ground and stupidity. I have bold friends and I am shocked at how you portray your bold MC’s in novels. A lot of them are borderline stupid.

That is not bold or strong minded, people.

I remember reading a book in which the MC was kidnaped and I already established her as an idiot when she started telling me, the reader, how bold and upstanding she is and how she doesn’t let people have her way with her. Dear writer, can’t you show us her character and not let her tell us? Thank you? Why do you treat your reader like simpletons that can’t identify characteristics of a person through their actions?!

Do you know what this kidnapped woman did at the slave auction? She threw a fuss, especially spitting her captors in the face and not even reading the situation or how she got there like a reasonable human being trying to think their way out of a problem. If not for the plot armour, the slave traders would have shot a hole through her brain like they did with the girl before her; seconds before deciding to throw her own tantrum.

Wow. *Claps* That’s one smart lady there. Bold too. I don’t mind the fact that she can’t show her boldness in a more appropriate situation but this is fine… There must be some holy angel guarding her in the face of bold danger.

And this MC had the same audacity to tell us how bold and brave she was while she did such foolish actions. Bravery is not about pounding your chest like a moron when you’re supposed to manoeuvre through the obstacles before you.

I stopped reading at that point because the novel was just ridiculous and I couldn’t take it anymore when I met the male lead. He turned out to be a simple idiot too.

You have to make your start as intriguing or as un-boring as possible to have a firm hold on your readers. It is only then that they will wait long enough to see the plot twist. The plot twist can be subtle or just as jeering, but most important of all, it has to be least expected.

A lot of you fail at this point and I don’t think anyone is to blame. The only problem I think is that you should really stop relying on your very first intuition; unless you are one of a kind with an insanely creative brain. I say this because MOST of your very first intuitions actually comes from books you’ve frequently read, or recently read. And if those thoughts of yours have occurred in so many books, it is obvious how un-unique it is.

Sometimes, it can actually help to mix two or more common things together to get that positive plot twist you are looking for. For example, a girl finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, imagine how shocked a reader or she might be when she finds out her mom is the one shaking up with the guy. Her real mom, not a step mom. Ew, I know. But just bare with me. This, along with the fact that she still has a dad in that house has created a problem for the protagonist on its own. She’s devastated her mom is sleeping with her teenage boyfriend and she doesn’t know how to bring up this subject with her dad. Or better yet/or worse, she throws a tantrum and the family knows about this terrible thing. Then you may take the plot from there.

I’m not sure if this has been done before, but I doubt it's that common or popular.

But still, that plot twist should have been enough to shock you. Anyone would have been expecting another teenager or even her own sibling. But for it to be her mother 😬😬😬

Plot twists can go from being simple to being complicated and they all work. Don’t be afraid to try new (proper) things. It’s called think outside the box.

For example, a girl has a crush on a guy, they become a couple and the girl finds out he’s a murderer who plans on having her as a next victim. Hmm… I’m not sure this is plot twisty enough and my creativity for teen fiction is kind of dry. But I hope you get the point.

STOP DOING THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE SO MANY TIMES.

Instead, try to think of many possibilities or routes the story or scene could take. A plot twist is even more intriguing if it spells actual danger for the MC (sorry, I’m bordering near fantasy and paranormal. I don’t do too well with normal tales.) But for those of you who write other genres, especially ones that involve the supernatural, you actually have a wider range than normal fiction.

It’s obvious you can do anything with the plot of something unnatural. To the extent of even creating your own races.

I’m sorry I couldn’t give a detailed idea or review on plot twists because I’m not that special either and I have the same brains you have. So it might take a while for you to decide what works for both you and your readers. Also, don’t forget the fourth suggestion I gave above; ask people what they would like to read.