A writer (Dashiell Hammett, I believe) once said that when his story needed fresh air, he liked to introduce a gun into the situation. (I cannot find his specific words) He wrote crime/detective novels, so guns were a natural for him, but he meant to shake the story up. Guns are not the point. In other words, to keep the story from getting boring, let the plot make a hard-left turn. Here are just a few suggestions:
>Bring someone new into the scene. E.g. His ex-wife enters the room while he is with his girlfriend.
>Change the geography. E.g. The car goes off the road into an abandoned barn.
>Text message. E.g. Someone gets a text: I know who your real father is.
>Change the time: E.g. Rip Van Winkle wakes up 20 years later.
>Change the characters. E.g. Another old device: Surprise! I’m your wife’s twin sister.
>Change your main character’s behavior. E.g. Jekyll and Hyde, where he drinks poison.
>Change the weather. E.g. A sudden snowstorm.
>Okay, bring a weapon in. E.g. someone pulls a hand grenade.
These are just a few suggestions. Warning, make sure your gun fits the story and is fresh. This leads back to my favorite writing rule: Take the reader where the reader is not expecting to go.
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