Should I worry about my story being too predictable

[Chronitis]

I've been thinking as of late if the plot for my comic's story (when it actually gets started) is going to be too predictable. Do you have any tips on how to avoid predictability?

[MinNCompany]

I don't think it's necessarily the predictability you need to worry about. Rather than predictability, you should focus more on whether your story is engaging/interesting to read or not..

A story can be engaging and predictable. I would still read this.
A story can be boring and unpredictable. I would not read this.

If you're that worried about predictability, I would suggest reading up on tropes/cliches and find ways to circumnavigate them in your plot.

[shazzbaa]

Trying to subvert expectations constantly just for the sake of BEING UNPREDICTABLE can be just as tiring to read, honestly.

Like Min said, I don't think it's necessarily a problem if folks can see or guess what's coming. If you're watching a movie and a thing happens and you yell "HAHA YES!! I KNEW IT!!!" then that's a good kind of predictable. It's when a thing is happening and you sigh "ugh, saw that coming" that it's bad for the story.

Like, if you have a story about a werewolf trying to hide his condition from his friends, and it's really obvious he's a werewolf but the story keeps trying to make it a dramatic question of "what is so and so hiding???" then you're going to get frustrated, and the reveal might be anticlimactic, because you "saw it coming." But if the story embraces that, giving you enough information to figure out he's a werewolf and then teasing that, mentioning the coming full moon and letting the audience get worried/excited because they know, building up to a reveal that they know is coming and they're looking forward to, that could be really effective and fun!

Sometimes the joy of reading a thing doesn't come from being surprised at the things that happen, but looking forward to seeing how the characters will react. It's when they react in a tiresome or flat or generic way that it feels "predictable" and dull, so if you want to avoid feeling "predictable," I'd focus less on the things that happen, and more on making sure the characters involved are more than just generic set pieces.

[IdiotWithPencil]

worry more that it's too boring =/, predictable never broke a movie I mean look at Disney we know the good guys will win in the end, we know they couple will be together and we know it will be nothing other than a light hearted family movie, yet we still find them entertaining as all hell and we love them for it XD

innovation and being unpredictable is never as important as not being boring

[joannekwan]

Keep in mind some people can predict things better than others!

But I do understand your worry. Often I wonder if my horro/suspense story is predictable and I think it can be for the reveal of the monster and stuff, but I don't think people can predict how the characters will react to the escalating situation.
I say it's really about the characters whether they'll make it a boring read or not. Avoid cookie-cut-out type characters and they should get your series far.

[alarnia]

Not every story has to be off-the-wall unpredictable. There are definitely plenty of people who enjoy reading that kind of stuff. I think you should just do what works for you, since forcing plot-twists or other similar things can also seem contrived and boring to some people too. I think whats most important is that you find your voice as an author and strive to make it feel natural, and I think people who read your work will come to appreciate your style.

[jammythebirb]

Every single kind of story and conceivable twist has been done, in some way before. If you worry too much or change things just for the sake of switching stuff up a bit and nothing else, your writing could suffer. The important thing is to write something you love, want to see out there, and work at to the best of your ability. Even the most predictable stories in the world can seem interesting and fresh when told with good writing and engaging characters.

Some people will guess your twists, and that's alright. Everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet, and yet there are lots of very famous works out there that follow the same formula.

[punkarsenic]

(((psst! a lot of comic readers are really inattentive and won't think about it long enough to speculate))) thats not a condemnation of any fans, bc i am totally like this too. the times when i do take the time to speculate, its really fun to figure out where things are going, no matter how obvious, to be honest.

also, consider that the venn diagram of webcomic readers and fanfic readers is... more or less a circle, and what do fanfic readers love? a nice old predictable trope. depending on the type of story, good character and dialogue can make a formulaic plot really fun.

also, youre likely to always feel like your story is predictable, because you wrote it, and have probably read and reread it, until the actual value is lost on you. its why a proofreader is a really nice thing to have