Plot Brainstorming and Help Post #1

[alison-sky.livejournal.com]

Ok, so over 50% of the group has stated that they would like the plot helping post once a week, while the rest wanted it daily, or have no idea what a plot is supposed to be.

I'm one of that last group!

Anyway, a few comments caught my attention, and so here's what I figure. I'll do one on Monday for the week, and then another one on Friday for the weekends. That way people who will end up doing most of their writing on weekends because working 9-5 M-F jobs SUCK during NaNo... will not get lost in the Monday posts.

That's going to be the best I can think of. And when I get around to updating the profile this week, all the posts will have the tag "2007: plot help" (just like this one)

Just so you can click on the tag and find the last one.

I will also make sure that I remember to link the TAG in the word count / snipit posts come November. If I forget, PLEASE someone comment with the reminder or link so that people can find it.

Help me help you... and I won't be insane by November 30th.... well... more than I already am.


So here you go! You asked, and I deliver! Got a plot that you need help with? Need a plot? Step up and comment and let the community help.... if you dare.

Comments

[coaldustcanary.livejournal.com]

Just wanna say - I think that's a great idea. *thumbs up*

[figliaperduta.livejournal.com]

Tasks for an eleven-year-old slave boy in a Victorianesque society, whose Master neither owns land nor runs a business. Not actually plot, but he needs something to do.

Details
--He was sold into slavery as a war-captive at the age of six, when his country lost the war.
--He's unused to outside work; foreigners were regarded as particularly exotic and were shown off (and occasionally offered) to guests.
--He's currently a jaded, sad, skinny little thing.
--His current Master has owned him for about a week, and had no intention of buying him. However, he just couldn't resist the combination of cute and sad. He's a torturer, and he has no desire to expose the boy to the brutality of his work.

So. Hardly plot, I know, but still something that's catching me up. Thanks!

[polargriff.livejournal.com]

Hmm... the first thing that came to mind was having the boy act as a sort of manservant for the master. It is a position that is lowly – he would wait on his Master at all hours of the day and night, fetch items, run errands, etc. – but on the other hand, it could be considered a favored position (Master's pet, sort of mentality) and he would be on hand to "show off" to guests.

I hope that helps.
~Jacquelyn

[figliaperduta.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That's an idea.

His Master wouldn't have guests--on rare occasions, he might be invited to visit others, but he's very much on the fringes of society. About his only outing is to attend the theatre, which is an act of religious devotion in that society.

Thanks!

[virusq.livejournal.com]

Maybe the lord's wife cannot produce children, so he collects young men and women to fulfill everyday roles taken for granted.

Maybe the boy is a legal placeholder. The man is buying foreign properties and investing in questionable trades under the child's name so that his own name isn't traced back to his dealings?

[virusq.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to write a role reversal story where a woman has to face her demons to rescue her prince from a dragon. I would like the story to be modern, so I'm looking for modern "demons" and "dragons."

I've considered the obvious: addiction, work, parents, cultural expectations, self-image, etc., but I was hoping for some ideas a bit more outside the box. What defeats a person before they start?

[melanie-anne.livejournal.com]

Just off the top of my head: doubt, fear, depression, a phobia of some kind (maybe she's afraid of leaving the house?) ...

Sounds like an interesting story idea! Good luck. :)

[verity-viridian.livejournal.com]

A weird illness or allergy, a person that she hates/is annoyed by trying to help/hinder her, someone else who loves said prince, another obligation/hobby that she can't seem to put aside?

[virusq.livejournal.com]

I think I'm leaning toward those last two, at this point in time. When I think about the story, I keep picturing the heroine holding a photo of her prince and her prince's fiance. :X

Hmm.

Thank you. :D

time travel assistance!

[theoreticalpixy.livejournal.com]

Alright. I need help figuring out how to create some sort of time anomally/loop.
I have time travelling victorian steampunks who mess something up in a modern society somehow because of their travels.
it's supposed to happen while their trying to return one of the charcters to his correct time, but they miscalculate and arrive before he leaves and have to spend a few days dodging people.
I'd like a time loop but I'm fuzzy on how to make one occur besides 'just make up a reason and justify it in novel with vague science-y talk'

any other ideas about time travel paradoxs/issues/things that could be made EPIC are appriciated, I need an epic and drawn out final event. Right now all I know that the mc and her antagonist work out some sexual tension in the middle of it. whatever 'it' ends up being. haha.

eugh. I should probably just go watch some doctor who...

[illyria-godking.livejournal.com]

I have no plot, no characters, and I think my infant daughter stole them... Help. :-D

[verity-viridian.livejournal.com]

Go out to some public place: Mall, grocery store, cafe, park, zoo, etc and just look around. There's all sorts of unusual people out there. Pick a few out and see if you can think of any plot ideas about their "character" by what you can see of them.

Another fun thing to do is to google random words and see what comes up. It doesn't always work but sometimes you find out new information that can help spark plot.

[virusq.livejournal.com]

Why did the chicken cross the road?

How about trying to solve a child's riddle with themes and morals from nursery rhymes and songs?

Something that always bothered me as a child was the "this little piggy" ditty that went along with my mother playing with my toes. I mean, "This little piggy cried 'wee wee wee' all the way home," ... was he happy or sad?

And why did humpty dumpty keep sitting on the wall if he knew he was fragile?

[verity-viridian.livejournal.com]

Okay, I need help with two things. My plot is about a high school band that is secretly a group of crime fighting superheroes with instrument weapons and super cool musical powers. I need to figure out two things:

1) What sort of costumes they should have
2) What sort of super powers they should have/how that should be determined

I've got a few ideas already but I want to hear a few others!

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Someone who can sing at exactly the right frequency to break glass (I know it's a stereotype of bad singing, but actually you'd have to be a very skilled singer to do it)?

[alison-sky.livejournal.com]

i just keep seeing a trombone or trumpet that doubles as an instrument to aim the fire breath of the user.

[baskervylle.livejournal.com]

Sounds waves can be used to weaken solid objects (like the glass example above) or knock them around

They might abilities to hear frequencies out of normal human range

[cathepsut.livejournal.com]

1) Think Abba. Lots of bright colours, sequins, glitzy stars and blond afros. Thigh high boots with plateaus.
2) Shoot rays by deflecting sunlight with a disco ball....
Screeching guitar, inflicting pain to the evil listener....
Superspeed, that gets set-off by some cool dance moves...
Back to the screeching - stunning the opponent by signing in a falsetto voice a la BeeGees...

[littledupont.livejournal.com]

I loved the guitar cases turned blazing guns in the Mariachi Trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_Trilogy)!

RE: The slave idea

[angelita-madre.livejournal.com]

Just for an input on the slave thing. Perhaps the lady of the house cannot have children, thus the lord of the house keeps the slaves for breeding purposes, perhaps, bringing the children into the home under false pretense. OR uses the male ones to try and get an heir on the Lady. Just a twisted thought I know. But nonetheless a thought. :)

Re: The slave idea

[figliaperduta.livejournal.com]

The Master isn't married, and the boy is essentially retired from sex--he's been worn out from mistreatment. Which is how he got so jaded and sad-looking in the first place.

But a number of the Houses do employ such a practise--there's a fair amount of inbreeding amongst the nobility, and they're quite aware of its effects.

Help with Language talents...

[littledupont.livejournal.com]

So, my main character can slip in an out of languages at will [not a super power or anything, she was taught as a little girl to speak dozens of them] but doesn't know she can [thanks to a sickness when she was a teenager leaving her basically memory-less]. How do I introduce it then? Any thoughts? The first she speaks is Russian in Moscow.

Re: Help with Language talents...

[prisonbread.livejournal.com]

Maybe have her speak a language without her knowing that she's speaking the language. Like... something subconciously triggers her into speaking the language and she does so without knowing it, say, saying 'I don't know any Russian!' in Russian or something like that. :P

Errr, not overly original, but... ya. ^^;; I'm kinda idea-less. >.

[mauvedragon.livejournal.com]

I suppose I really should have posted this here instead: http://community.livejournal.com/nanowrimo/1621236.html

[mauvedragon.livejournal.com]

My NaNoWriMo plot is fantasy set in a mostly Victorian style world frame. My last third of the story has just changed.

Miss Georgette Marronchamp goes to a house party hosted by Lord Jacques Hote, who was her superior during the war. It should be a chance to relax after a love affair ended badly, things begin to go wrong when her step-mother, Lady Angelique Marronchamp, loses a family heirloom while gambling and then Georgette starts seeing visions again. At a Ball, Georgette recognises the pattern of the brocade on the coat of Mr Hervé Rose from her visions and uses the information to prevent the assassination of the Queen. Georgette has information that implicates the Prime Minister, Lord Marin Noir, in the plot. The Queen then asks Georgette to clean up the political mess.

I don't know how Georgette is going to solve the political fall out from the plot, so I no longer have a final resolution. The saving the Queen was originally at the end of the story but my middle was weak. This will be harder to write but should be a stronger story.


What would some of the problems be from the Prime Minister being removed from his post for treason?

Contemporary Romance

[rednuck.livejournal.com]

I'm totally blocked on plots for some reason this year. Does anyone have any ideas for a contemporary romance? Maybe something you wish had been written, but hasn't yet?

Re: Contemporary Romance

[littledupont.livejournal.com]

I'm a total sucker for political or corporate based love stories - rival politicians, campaigners, things like that. I like the competitive aspect I guess; it seems to me that so many contemporary romances are based on fantasy lifestyles - there's no wit or argument or need, it's women getting their kicks in, you know?

Re: Contemporary Romance

[rednuck.livejournal.com]

I get what you're saying. That's sort of what I did last year, and I may go back to it again this year. Thanks!

Re: Contemporary Romance

[brazilnutz.livejournal.com]

How about: a woman becomes pregnant as a result of a youthful relationship. She's still in college or just starting her first job or whatever - - not emotionally mature enough or financially responsible enough to be a parent yet, anyway. She chooses to terminate the pregnancy, after great emotional turmoil, and it's still a source of some regret to her. A full adult now, she meets the would-have-been father again, and sparks are still there. However, he finds out about the abortion and resents not having had input/knew about it at the time but didn't agree/similar conflict of your choice. In any case, he's very much in her face about this still-painful issue now, although he was no help at the time.

I like romances with conflict and real issues, not just misunderstandings or lack of communication. I especially like ones where there is no real solution to the problem, but the couple involved accept that and love one another anyway.

Re: Contemporary Romance

[rednuck.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's really good. I might use that.

Picking A Plot

[evenstar-brego.livejournal.com]

Okay, I love writing and I'm always got a ton of ideas in my head. I recently lost all my writing data when my flash drive crashed (word of warning... don't trust flash drives... not to mention it cost $6000 to get the data off them). Here's a few of my ideas and any input would be appreciated.

~ Sometimes... ~

Patrick Donovan has always been jealous of his twin brother. Christopher Donovan has spent several years traveling the world and has returned home with his new wife, Amy. Patrick is mostly okay with his brother...until he meets Amy.

Patrick decides that he must have Amy for himself and the only way to do it is to get rid of Christopher. He starts to plan and even draws Amy into his web, convincing her to shoot Christopher.

This would be like a standard suspense/thriller. Amy doesn't have any feelings for Patrick, but he often pretends to be his brother.

~ Kill Zone ~

Katherine Winters had been looking forward to her first "real" field assignment from her father's company. Unfortunately, the job requires that she go undercover with her boyfriend, Aidan Murphy, and for them to pose as a husband and wife team of assassins.

Within a few days, their fights risk exposing their true identities. But when the hit the company assigns them ends up being a young boy--one that Katherine knows personally--what is she going to do? Can they still pull off the job...or have they become someone else's hit?

This would be more of a romantic suspense because of the Kat/Aidan subplot. Kat's a trained computer hacker as well as very capable of handling a knife or gun. Her father worked as an assassin for many years and he took many procautions to make Kat safe. Aidan also works for her father and was at one point her bodyguard.

~ Untitled ~

Basically anything using Kat and Aidan. They're two of my favorite characters in my head. As mentioned above, they're both involved in less-than-legal pursuits. It's the family business...but the company policy is that only their own kind can be killed. So if an assassin goes on a streak, striking out at innocent civilians, they'd have to stop the assassin. The company, J. Carter and Associates, was started by her father and specialized in assassinations, esponiage, and computer hacking. They like to keep all the other companies like theirs in check. Basically anything that could be illegal...they know how to handle it.