My avocado plant is growing pretty tall, and everything that I’ve read about avocados tells me I should cut down the stem to encourage side shoots.

I tried this once with a different avocado. Something that I read said that once it gets to be about 6 inches tall, cut off the stem to encourage side shoots. I tried that, and this is what happened:

Not exactly what I had in mind.
I ended up giving that avocado to my dad. It’s doing fine, but just looks a little funny with the kink in its trunk.
So, with my current avocado, I decided *not* to cut it off when it got 6 inches tall.
….But then….the peer pressure got to me. It seems like everyone says you should prune it to encourage bushier growth. And I do want a bushier plant.
This excerpt is from Plants from Pits (it’s not my favorite book, but I got it from the library before COVID-19 happened, and now the libraries are closed, so I’m working with what I’ve got):

My tree now has 14 leaves, so I decided today is the day to prune it.

Eeek

Be brave…

I’m trying to take a picture of the plant, obviously, not the side of my neighbor’s house.
I initially just took one leaf and the top off, like the book said. But Stuff You Need to Know says “Prune the tree in such a way to leave many leaves, but prune enough above a leaf so that there are budding areas around the stem.” There were two other leaves very close to the cut I made, and I’m not sure there were any “budding areas” around the stem up there.
So, I took off a little more:

That should leave plenty of stem with budding areas, right? Let’s hope so.
Here’s the final product:

Do you think my avocado tree will ever look like this?

Hi! I just now saw that you referenced my avocado trimming post! Congrats on your tree. How is it coming along?
Hi Alison! The avocado tree is doing really well! Thanks for your SYNTK post – it was very helpful. My tree branched out nicely after I trimmed the top off. I posted an update with before and after photos a couple months later https://apracticeofgardening.wordpress.com/2020/06/21/summer-camp-for-the-avocado/
The tree is now living with my dad since I couldn’t move all of my plants with me, but last I heard, it is still alive and well.
Is your tree still alive 7+ years later? And if so, do you have any more avocado tree tips you’ve picked up over the years?