Weekly Plot Help - Week of October 27th

[alison-sky.livejournal.com]

Wow, by Saturday NaNo will have begun and we will be heading into the craziness. Are you ready?

... come on, that was weak. ARE YOU READY?!

*grins* Ok, that was better.

Anyway, here's your plot help post for the week. Simple as always.


Add a comment with the help you need. Don't be shy. We're all writers here, and you never know, someone might give you a new plot bunny to add to your NaNo.

Reply to others and help them. You might be the one holding that bunny.


And just be awesome :)

Comments

[lacrimaeveneris.livejournal.com]

I have a character who seems to be on an ambiguous quest (she's off making wishes at a far-off lake for true love... don't ask)... and I can't figure out why she's coming home (the quest doesn't have an endpoint, really).

[happymediocrity.livejournal.com]

for some reason, I misread 'lake' as 'bake', and it gave me an idea that's hopefully good. Maybe her hometown has some sort of amazing bakery, and it sells her very favorite pastry with some sort of emotional attachment to it.

I don't know. I hope that helps.

[rowanthunder.livejournal.com]

The main problem that I am having is that until very recently I had two plots.

One of them is the plot of the girl who is drawn into the weirdworld paganoid stuff, not knowing what it is, and finds a Family and enemies that she didn't think she had (examples can be read at http://amtobesacred.vox.com actually). I'm drawing heavily from the various Craft practise mythos as well as from paganoid areas, although I'm trying to avoid using Greco-Roman anything because I feel that the Greco-Roman gods don't lend themselves to trickery the same way.

The other plot isn't being done and therefore is unimportant.

I can't link the two, before that is even suggested. But for the first one, I'm just having the damned hardest time remembering all the animals that are also People and the characteristics thereof. So, help help help?

[liadan-celt.livejournal.com]

Could you clarify what you're asking for? If you're just asking about a way to keep your characters/figures straight, have you tried making an index card for each character? I've got cards made up for all my characters with their name on the front and most important characteristics/aspects/details on the lined side. I punched holes in the top corner and put them on a jump ring so I don't lose anyone. I also colour-coded them by organization/class and time frame (I have a slightly split timeline), but that's because I'm a compulsive organizer and I had 24 different colours of Sharpie to work with. :P

[twirly.livejournal.com]

i just need a buddy for accountability.. i have a rough draft in list form of my first two paragraphs, but i feel like i'm gonna get stuck after that, ugh.

[ahavah]

I need accountability!

[zxora.livejournal.com]

Whoo hoo! I began naming my characters last night and I bought some notebooks and pens at our college's bookstore today...:-D. I'm pumped!

~*Kelsey*~

[ms-king.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to say I frickin' love your icon!! ♥

[artofange.livejournal.com]

I have a hard time figuring out which POV and tense to use. I tend to favour the more awkward ones (first person present, for example) but it gets tiresome to read. Do any experienced people have any "If your story is like this then you should think about writing in this POV/tense" type of advice?

[in_excelsis_dea.livejournal.com]

I find I ramble more in first person present. This can be a good thing when every word counts... But I can't really say what story type best fits a POV/tense. I write in first person present and third person present and very rarely in past tense. It's just what my style has become. But really, if you're comfortable with first person present, then use it. Why do you feel it becomes so tiresome to read?

And if it really becomes an issue, you can always switch half-way through. Pain, I know, but don't worry about the pages written in the wrong POV, just make sure you write in the new POV and after November is over, go back and rewrite.

[i-speak-tongue.livejournal.com]

I need my protagonist to find a horse in the city. If you needed a horse, and you lived in a pseudo-post-apocalyptic urban area, where would you look?

....And there aren't any mounted police around, if that's what you were thinking. No? It wasn't?

[russtycat.livejournal.com]

Maybe a circus, a county fair, or a local smaller zoo that has a petting section with farm animals.

[morigale.livejournal.com]

I need more dares! Specifically, I want to find a website with an archive of dares from past years' forums. I saw it last year or the year before, and now I can't find it anywhere. I've googled various combinations of nanowrimo dares and archive, or database, or list. All I'm getting is posts by people who are talking about the dares they've taken.

[irishkitten441.livejournal.com]

I need a name for an eccentric bookstore where my MC works. I'm thinking something cutesy yet random that rhymes. Any ideas?

[situationgirl.livejournal.com]

The Dusty Jacket? (Sorry, doesn't rhyme.)

The Elfin Shelf, Florijacque's paperbacks, McGradiwall's Books and Periodicals. The Lit-Wit.

I'm not helping, am I? Random I have, but I seem to be out of cutesy and rhyming.

[feigned-living.livejournal.com]

Okay, so my novel plot is all sorted out. Princess saving her kingdom from her brother's boyfriend (who is a vampire). She falls in love with her vampire fiance's fledgling. And she's working on saving herself from her own emotions, her brother from a power-hungry vampire, and her kingdom from everything. Oh and did I forget to mention that her mother is trying to kill her and her father is dead?

The problem is that I have a side-plot and I don't know how much of it to include. Right now all that's included is that her father was murdered and at the end of the novel (the big climax battle) it's revealed that her brother did it because he thought he was protecting her. Over the course of the novel she realizes her brother is a selfish bastard, but this is the big point where she realizes he's not as selfish as she thought, just stupid and easily deceived.

The reasoning behind this, which I didn't really plan on including, is that her twin was tricked into thinking their father was raping the princess since she was a child. He poisoned their father to protect her. The truth is that the big bad of the plot, a vampire who wants to control the human kingdom, was creating those illusions. The father was a really great guy and never did anything wrong. I don't know how much I should include in the story.

The novel is really about the princess' personal struggles. She's trying to save her kingdom, but she's kind of coming of age throughout the whole thing. So I don't know how important it is to keep that bit in. It doesn't lend to the main plot and it doesn't exactly slide in gracefully because the story starts after the father is dead. Any suggestions?

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I kind of think you may want to include it, at least towards the end; it makes the brother more sympathetic. Just saying 'I did it for you!' but not explaining why doesn't work as well. I don't think it has to be a huge side plot; just work it into the reveal somehow.

[shinysparkly.livejournal.com]

Vampire 1 kidnaps Vampire 2, in part to get revenge on Vampire 3.

V2 is the oldest and the 'sire' and lover of V3. V3 & V1 used to be lovers but V3 thought V1 was dead & has no idea he's still 'alive' and a vamp. Ideally V3 discovers the plot, kills V1, reunites with V2.

Why wouldn't V1 just kill V2 instead of just keeping him prisoner??

Also, if V2 is older you'd think he'd be stronger and would be able to fight off V1 & not allow himself to be kidnapped so how does it happen that he does get kidnapped?

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

V1 wants V3 to do something, so he uses V2 as his bargaining chip?

You could have V1 poison V2 in order to make him weak and easy to capture; drugs in the blood, dead man's blood, etc. Depends on what kind of vampires you have, and what their weaknesses are. And then have V1 not feed him, or feed him very little, so he's kept weak and can't escape.

[shadowpoet89.livejournal.com]

So, my main character is on a quest of sorts. During most of it she is being shadowed by someone. And the thing is I have no idea who's chasing her or why. xD

[stariceling.livejournal.com]

Just to throw a lob a few ideas at you:
A stalker who is in awe of (or in love with) her.
A younger, less experienced, adventurer who wants to become her student/sidekick.
A rival quester who has decided it's easier to follow her than work out where to go and what to do on their own.
An agent from an enemy/rival who is keeping tabs on her. (Too easy?)
A mythical beast, waiting and watching to see if she is worthy (or ready) for it to become her familiar.
Or... (because it needs to be said) NINJAS! Because that is what they do. (Maybe even an exercise in stalking for some ninjas in training?)

[stringingwords.livejournal.com]

I have something of an odd problem, which came about during a brainstorming session to name my WIP. The result is that my story has gone from a one-shot to a three book series. Aitch.

I've been able to expand the plot enough for the second and third books, it's just the first I'm having trouble with.

This covers a quest for a book of legends, which is needed to translate an ancient map. The map shows different things in different light, but that's besides the point.

What kind of things can happen at sea other than a whirlpool (planned) or a sea monster (focus of the second book)? Should I mention that the ship in question is a pirate ship? *g*

[caitak.livejournal.com]

Things that could happen at sea:
- A terrible storm which causes damage to the boat which must be repaired.
- Someone goes overboard.
- Someone from another boat goes overboard and the pirate ship crew rescues them.
- A run in with another pirate ship, maybe the other pirate ship tries to take over your pirate ship.
- A mutiny.
- The law catches up with them and they risk trial.

Umm... that's all I can think of just now. Are any of those any use to you?

[incandescence.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to figure out a more elegant way of dragging someone through to a parallel universe. Or not elegant. Just a way.

Earth setting - modern day.
Theotherplace setting - ... Historical! There is "magic", but it's more of a "blessings bestowed by the gods" type of magic, or where they borrow the god's power. But that magic is what gets her there. But how? I really want to fiddle with a local god deciding he wanted to bring her over (or someone begging a god to do so), but what are the actual mechanics of it?

I could just go for the "she was transported while she was sleeping and oh no what will her cat do for breakfast!", but I don't know. Hmm.

[jtptan.livejournal.com]

So this might be a bit corny but if fleshed out maybe not

She could work in a museum and come across some sort of artifact (mirrors work well as doors between worlds) That either transports her, or brings her to the attention of some god (who depending on who you pick might move her over just for kicks, for her to learn something, so she can do good, so she *can't* do good in her own world)

[crazy-onna.livejournal.com]

My MC comes from a remote island which he left to find his father. He's spent a short time in slavery (from a couple of months to a year) and escapes with the unintentional help of another MC.

This 2nd MC's dealing with a curse and has caused him to be shunned and forced into the life of a wandering hermit. He's looking for revenge against those who razed his village to the ground and the wizards who promised to send him and his friend back in time to stop it but instead tried taking their souls for his demon master and ended up killing his friend. That happened about 10 years ago.

So, now they're travelling together and I don't know what they should do next.

[ms-king.livejournal.com]

Well, your MC1, who was a slave, obviously decides to travel with MC2. Maybe because of a "you saved my life," but it may very well be because, after almost a year in slavery (depending on how torturous it was) he might just not have real power for free will anymore, and may almost need someone to follow.

Then MC2 is after two different groups of people, right? 1) The people who destroyed his village, and (2) the wizards.

Have you thought of having MC1 unintentionally having some kind of knowledge about one of the two groups MC2 is after? They could find out about it later and he then would have even more of a reason to stick around.

Also, why does MC2 let MC1 hang around? Are the wizards in any way attached to the people who destroyed MC2's village? Are there good and bad wizards? Is there something bigger going on? Why did the village get destroyed?

I think if you start asking yourself some questions you'll very quickly find that there's plenty to fill out your novel with!!

Hope that helped! ♥

[allez-cuisine.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've got a rough plot here. Further character development to come. :)

My MC, and her estranged brother, were raised by their grandmother, who is basically their only living relative (besides each other, of course). Grandma dies at the ripe old age of 90-something; estranged brother turns into more of a dickhead, and comes sniffing around for inheritance money.

In the meantime, MC, while cleaning out grandma's house, finds a bunch of her journals from the 1920s. In reading them, she learns about a whole other side of grandma she never knew. Maybe even a whole other life...family/relatives MC never knew about?

Anyway, this is where I'm stuck - I want the MC to somehow "relive" grandma's life. But I don't know if I want to do this via time travel - which, though it would totally work, might be hokey; or, do I want the MC to stay rooted in present day, and simply revisit some of the people and places as detailed in grandma's journals?

[lycorislaramie.livejournal.com]

For me personally, the second option (staying rooted in the present day) would be much more enjoyable. I do find time travel "hokey" a lot of the time(though I'm sure you could pull it off). I just like the idea of being able to escape to the past, or to a different place, without actually going anywhere. Maybe because I do it on a daily basis. ^_^;; And I think there would be something poignant about being able to see people and places based solely on the grandmother's words. That would show that grandma really cared enough about the people and places in her life to jot down very detailed descriptions.

So yeah, that's all I got. Just my personal preference. :3

[thepheenixeyri.livejournal.com]

Heeeelp!

I have three characters: C, K, and A. I have the city: Chicago. (perhaps Seattle later, but it'll start in Chicago.

... but I have nothing else. No plot, no where to go... *nothing-nada!*

Um, help? Please?

the Phoenix

[elphie-7.livejournal.com]

This tends to be my problem too when writing. The best (only?) advice I can give is that come Saturday, just go for it. Start at the beginning, describing your characters, the setting, etc. Get them talking, form relationships between them, and maybe inspiration will hit. Really get into their characters at first and find out where they take you, not where you take them. If nothing else, at least you have a headstart for the 50,000 words.

Hope this helps a teensy tiny bit.

[loki-scribe.livejournal.com]

I need an epiphany trigger.

At the end of the third act, one of my MCs (a monastic knight) remains behind to protect a temple (it's very decidedly not his sect, but they haven't got a hope without knights) rather than go on with the group to delve into one of the triggers of the holy war they're fighting. The other MC, who up until this point has been temperamental and stubborn, convinced the priest character hasn't got his priorities straight, and has had a major problem with this sect (they are directly responsible for the death of her father), accepts that when there's someone else to keep going, he's not going to abandon this job.

I've got several possibilities for why she might come accept this:
—An argument between her and another, slightly younger character earlier in the act, including a somewhat convoluted explanation for why he hasn't abandoned the people who have rejected him, one that draws uncomfortable parallels between it and her previous devotion to her dad. The priest isn’t the only one who will hang onto his duty.
—A scene at a village where the priest nearly loses his temper with her. He stops the party to help but she wants to go on, thinking that they can end the war sooner if they succeed (he’s not so sure). Basically, he snaps at the point of “people are dying here too and they didn’t sign up for it.”
—The temple itself. These aren’t the priests back home, most of them are about her age (she’s nineteen, for the record), and they really are that desperate.

I know that none of these is enough on it’s own and I’m shaky on whether, as a group, it’s an acceptable reason for her to let it go without a prolonged fight of the “we need you too!” stripe— something which, for plot-tension reasons, I don’t have time to give them. And I’m lacking any kind of trigger for that moment of recognition.

Any help would be wonderful, thanks.

[kitsu.livejournal.com]

I'm a little confused about the first part. So the knight is helping to protect a temple, that it's not his job to protect, instead of going to war. Another MC things that a priest isn't bring straight with them. The rest of it I'm confused about. Is the priest part of the temple? Are both MC's holy knights? Are they both staying to protect the temple?

[xfirefly9x.livejournal.com]

My idea is simply put, spy-fi. Spy fic crossed with science fiction.

A guy (the spy) is chasing someone (unsure of who yet) across the galaxy. He travels through holes to parallel universes in his search, so there'll be various planets and such seen to. As a fan of Firefly and Stargate SG-1, I'm relatively comfortable with what to do regarding the planet visitations. What I'm not sure of however is this characters' motivation and as mentioned the someone who he is chasing. Ideas?

Also, I imagine having only one character to play with will limit what I can do in some scenes. A side kick type may be the way to go, I'm thinking. Then again, maybe not. Thoughts on that?

[loki-scribe.livejournal.com]

Is the person he's being chasing criminal (likely organized crime) or some kind of diplomat he's keeping tabs on? Because from your description it could go either way and the answer would have a huge effect on the motivations.

As for the sidekick, that definitely depends on the equality of the relationship (are the partners or is he actually a sidekick), and how much danger the hero is in. If you want a sidekick, then it's unlikely that he'd tolerate one the more danger there is; if they're partners, there are more likely to be two as danger increases so they can bail each other out.

Hopefully that's at least somewhat helpful?

Cheers!

[hireadd.livejournal.com]

My plot is mostly sorted out now, but there are a few bothersome details that I wouldn't mind some help with. :)

1) My mainest of main characters is a inspirational figurehead type, with enough charisma that he- at on point- manages to persuade a very, very minor villain-type to join his cause (a revolution against said villain's evil overlord master). I want to do this without it being too hokey, which is why I chose a super low-ranking, probably not very loyal villain who's vaguely predisposed to swap sides anyway. My question is... how and where? I think it's going to have to take place in a city or out in the wilderness. What is the mindset of this person, and why are they so willing to change sides? What arguments does the MC use to persuade them? How do they meet in such an environment that they can even have this conversation? (If it helps, said MC is a very "you must do what's right! justice and goodness compel you! <3" sort.)

2) I have four characters who are musicians with the ability to fight by channel power through their musical instruments. One plays the bass, another the violin, another the shamisen, and the last one sings. I have vague ideas for how the bass and the shamisen might cause damage, but I can't figure out what I want vocals/violin to do.

3) I need a situation/place in a big city for two of my MCs to meet and start a conversation.

Thanks in advance! ♥

[kitsu.livejournal.com]

1. Maybe they were just forced to do/watch something really horrible? Or maybe they know about something bad that's going to happen?

2. What do the other two instruments do? Maybe the instruments could do similar things.

3. What's the setting?

[elialys.livejournal.com]

I need motivation :(

I was so excited and crazy about the idea of doing NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. I'm an Au Pair, so I have plenty of free time and all.

But there was a death in my host family three days ago, and it totally killed the muse. And the funerals are tomorrow, and that's totally not helping -__- I can't concentrate on my plot more than 30 seconds without starting to think 'What's the point, seriously -__-'

I know there's no real solution, but I just needed to whine about it somewhere, because I WILL start writing on November 1st, but now I'm scared it's going to be a chore -___- Any idea how to boost me and my muse? ('cause I really need to do some brainstorming :-/)

[irishkitten441.livejournal.com]

How about dedicating your NaNo to their memory?

[hookavah.livejournal.com]

Though not at this part of the story, it will come soon. My 3 MC's join an 'Alliance', the leader is a laid back and takes threats in general as light as one could take it. Well, the leader is to venture out in the 'Main' downtown city, but rivaling alliances become extremely hostile that day towards the leader only, and as he alone ventures into the city, he sparks a multi-alliance skirmish. I'm looking for reasons as to why the leader and other alliances become hostile towards each other, any ideals?

[crazy-onna.livejournal.com]

If the MC were of a different race/origin or had political ideals that didn't go well with those of the alliances, or maybe the alliances didn't get along in the first place and the MC is just the hair that broke the camel's back. Maybe the alliance is using him as a scrape goat or setting him up because he's the new guy. Or it's really a diversion so no one will be paying attention to what they're doing on the sidelines.

[meretia]

I have a sort of soft science fiction thing I'm working on. It's set in an alternate modern America that figured out genetic engineering four or five generations before we did. The plot involves a geneticist who's holed himself up in rural Pennsylvania with some other genetically engineered folk and they're talking all kinds of apocalypse and New World Order for the "improved" people. They're probably behind some attempted biological attacks on cities along the East Coast. My main characters in this story are a relatively new field agent in the federal bureau that regulates genetic engineering (Kate), and a genetically engineered man (Daniel).

At the end of the first act, Daniel, who was pretty much threatened into helping them with an investigation, has been stalling and screwing around most of the time he was supposed to be helping. He knows what's at stake here but doesn't care. He's pretty sure that he's going to end up hurt or killed if the geneticist finds out he was cooperating with the feds. I think that he may even be playing both sides, deliberately trying to keep the Genetic Regulation Agency from digging out the compound in Pennsylvania.

Just at the end, he deliberately turned the attention of the GRA office he'd been working with to a false lead and then skedaddled. While they were paying attention to that, the crazy separatist geneticist and his hangers-on send a mail bomb that went off the way it was supposed to, and has caused a lot of trouble in whatever city that was (I haven't quite worked it out yet). A few days later, Daniel comes slinking back claiming that he's really sorry, he hadn't realized how serious this really was. To prove his sincerity, he comes bearing some information he was holding out on sharing with them earlier. He's a self-centered, underhanded thing. He was ready to book just from being asked to get involved in this.

Does something happening to people he doesn't know way far away from him sound like it would be enough to make him decide that getting this mess shut down is worth risking his life?

In the second act, Kate's team of investigators has gone out to Pennsylvania to help with the effort to root out the stragglers who escaped when the compound was raided and are hiding out in the woods someplace. They bring Daniel along with them. He was designed as something like a human computer--can store lots of data and calculate quickly, but human enough to fill in the gaps where artificial AI traditionally fails--and worked with Dr. Albrecht at one point. The government agencies who are already there are content to treat him like a piece of equipment instead of like a human informant like Kate's office had been doing. This leaves him in pretty rough shape. Kate is really bothered by this, but is it believable enough that she'd be willing to say "look, if you want to leave, I'll look the other way"?

And in the third act, Daniel has already decided from the cumulation of events that he's probably going to die, but he still has to see this through. Is that enough for him to turn down the offer to escape? He even, when told that whoever's planning the strategy here intends to offer him to Dr. Albrecht and see if that brings the fugitives out, volunteers to pretend that he's returning to the fold (oops, he forgot to tell him that he was briefly part of this organization in its early days). I have no idea what could make him willing to do that. There's a vague scene in my head where he's talking to an agent who lost family in that attack in Act I and Daniel feels guilty about that, but I don't think that would do it. What would believably motivate someone to do that suicidally dumb?

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

For the first question, perhaps he lost someone in the attack as well? That might motivate him to return.

Otherwise, you're going to have to set up his character so that it is believable that he'd be willing to risk his life. Maybe have him be selfish and unwilling to risk his life only up until a point-- and then make the attack so terrible that even he can't condone letting these people go. He has a set of core morals (buried deep, perhaps) that won't let him sit there and do nothing about it.

[iyanaari.livejournal.com]

I have a character who makes a living as a thief along with her twin brother. She has never known her father but she loves her mother, even if they don't agree on everything. Her mother lives alone in a small cottage-like home. I can not figure out why my character doesn't live with her mother, and why she chooses to steal instead. So far I'm linking it as she and her mother not seeing eye to eye on some issues as her mother is overly religious and my character is repelled by religion due to her absent father. Is that a strong enough reason or does it seem flimsy?

[claudia6913.livejournal.com]

Perhaps she is torn between loving her mother and loving her twin brother? Did the brother start the theiving? If so, maybe she is staying away from her mother so that, should something happen, her mother wouldn't be in the middle of it all?

Overused name or reference?

[agdhani.livejournal.com]

My story has three races. The youngest, and most prevelent race I have dubbed Teran (or possibly Teren, haven't decided on the spelling yet). The second race is Elyri. The third is an ancient race, possibly mythical (there are ruins and writing left from a previous race. No one can realistically claim to have seen them, so it is unknown if they still exist or not).

The Elyri have a name for this race, the phae k'kaira, which means something akin to 'those who came before'. At the moment, the Teren's simply call them the Others.

My question is, is calling them Other's too cliched and over used? Should I come up with another name for them? Any suggestions or thoughts or opinions? Maybe the fact that I'm questioning it means it is too common...or maybe it is just my own paranoia, lol!

Thanks in advance.

Re: Overused name or reference?

[claudia6913.livejournal.com]

Other's does have that mystical, magical, and spooky connotation to it when used like that. If the Teran(Teren - I prefer this spelling) feel a sort of fear to speak of them, then Other's would be a reasonable term. However, if they are flippant, or are too young to see the danger in mocking or not being careful when speaking about something that may not be as dead and gone as they thought - Other's would be cliched.

Make any sense?

Vampire Poll

[claudia6913.livejournal.com]

So, I'm curious, and being the curious sort, I've made a poll. Vampires have been written a lot, I know, but what's once more?

This poll is about what type of vampire you prefer reading about.

http://claudia6913.livejournal.com/17066.html