Alright, my friends. The time has come for suggestions as to how the story should begin! I have created a short template that will make it easier for me to sort through suggestions with an open note option at the end for anything else you want to add. Please use this template to make suggestions in this post in the comments section. (Just copy and paste). Fill it out as you see fit. If you don't have any particular suggestions, then leave the space blank or write NA.
Some General Explanations:
--Genre: The style. Is it Literary Fiction? Sci-fi? Fantasy? Paranormal Romance? Historical Fiction? Anything you can think of that you like to read.--Setting: Where is it taking place? The past? The present? The future? A parallel universe? A foreign land? On the back of an elephant?
--Rules: Every universe has rules, especially ones that are set within the world of fantasy. Magic comes at a cost. What would the cost of magic be? Is there a sort of government? Different creatures? Can animals talk? Are there psychic powers? Is there an entaglement of romantic interests? Is the grass a hyper-active shade of blue? Can parallel universes only contact each other at a certain point--or will they never know that each one exists?
--Characters: Do you have a suggestion of any character or attributes that the character should have? Do they have a twitch? A limp? A shady or golden past? Have you ever seen someone in passing that you would like to know what their life was all about?
--Plot Ideas: Where should this story go? Do you have any feelings as to a general outline or where they are going? Do the main characters arrive at some epiphany? Is there an overarching adventure? Hero or Heroine?
--Notes: Any other ideas about the direction the story should take? Write anything else that comes to your mind here.
If you do not have a blog/google account and you somehow cannot make comments on the blog, feel free to participate via facebook. I have included a document that covers these parameters here:
TheOWE: Facebook Document-"The Baseline"
~~THE TEMPLATE~~
GENRE:
SETTING:
RULES:
CHARACTERS:
PLOT IDEAS:
IDEAS I LIKE:
NOTES:
(Copy and paste this template into a comment and post there! I look forward to your ideas! I have a few of my own that I will post in the comments as well. If you like any of them let me know. Talk to you soon!)
Faithfully yours--Josh B.
GENRE: I have really liked Literary Fiction lately, but I have been thinking about getting into a sci-fi/fantasy tussle too.
ReplyDeleteSETTING: A few ideas--
-I have been toying with a Mary Poppins reboot idea set in the 1960's America and England.
-I also want to work with a ghost story set in New England (Vermont) and Utah (Pony Express Route) that I started a ways back, but which kind of fell by the wayside. This might be a good place to resurrect it.
-A city. A harsh office setting, a psychologist's office, and a laboratory. Delving into the dream center of the subconscious
RULES:
-Mary Poppins Reboot: Magic has a definite cost. All magic is black magic, but Mary tries to use it to do good things, but it takes a toll on her. How? I don't know yet. Magic people do not exist in a parallel dimension, but in a part of the world veiled from regular eyes (a la Harry Potter). If you remain in a painting or drawing too long, you become a permanent feature of that universe.
-Ghost Story: Certain people have the capacity to communicate with them. Everyone can sense their presence but in the same way that the Ring Wraiths can only see Frodo when he has the ring on, Ghosts are only able to viably communicate with mediums that have certain qualities--In this case, the medium does not know this until a ghost actually manifests itself to it. You can also travel with the ghost to their time period to watch their life like a film strip. No messing with the timeflow, but you can watch their life unfold through their eyes, experience their thoughts/feelings.
-The City: A man suffering on the verge of nervous collapse agrees to undergo dream therapy. He begins oscillating between reality and a dream state, unable to discern which is which.
CHARACTERS:
-Mary Poppins, Bert (now 80 years ish), Michael Banks, Sascha (the umbrella parrot), Admiral Boom.
-Ghost Story: Jim Barlow (A ghost), BJ and Joel (14-15 year old boys), Jaime (A loner from Vermont)
-The City: Carl (Patient), A psychologist (Characterized by his obesity and referred to only as the Walrus)
PLOT IDEAS:
-Mary Poppins: Explain the backstory between Bert and Mary in a sort of flashback/confession.
-Ghost Story: Either a murder mystery, possible paranormal romance, or even speculative life philosophy
-The City: A man suffering on the verge of nervous collapse agrees to undergo dream therapy. He begins oscillating between reality and a dream state, unable to discern which is which. Other than that... dunno.
IDEAS I LIKE: NA
NOTES: Comments always appreciated!
GENRE: I read a lot of different genres, but I tend to write young-adult stories or adult fiction. I love fantasy (I've never written it successfully, but I love it in general).
ReplyDeleteSETTING: Stepford-like suburb just outside the limits of a rather dirty city area
RULES: A man who lives in the bad part of town. He has little money, but no way of making himself successful.
CHARACTERS: Liam (mailman, late thirties, not married), Jenna (Liam's daughter, 7 year-old), Jared Kendrick (wealthy man living in the suburbs), Sarah Kendrick (Jared's wife), Benjamin Kendrick (Jared's elderly step-father)
PLOT IDEAS: Liam is a mailman for the rich people in the suburb outside city limits. Nothing is working for him. All he can do is just look at the houses every day, wishing he could have one so his daughter can have a good life. Multiple mentions of a wife that left him. Liam has no money, and he can't get a better job. He's friendly with Benjamin Kendrick whenever he goes on his rounds. Liam finds a box of letters addressed to his dead grandmother. Discovers his grandmother was infatuated with someone named "Benny". Benny turns out to be Benjamin Kendrick. Liam starts delivering the old letters to Jared, Sarah, and Benny's house in the suburb in desperate hopes of manipulating Benny to give him money to keep quiet...Not sure what happens next.
IDEAS I LIKE: Josh, I REALLY like your Mary Poppins idea. I've always wanted to know Mary's backstory with Bert. I also find the idea with the dream experimentation interesting. My only hesitation with it is that if you weren't careful, the character not sure if he is awake or asleep could kind of drift into the inner conflict present in the movie Inception. But I'm really interested to see where that goes anyway.
NOTES: Nothing that I can think of! Glad to be of any help!
GENRE: FUN! ;) ha ha fiction. ha ha. obviously. I love the Mary Poppins idea!
ReplyDeleteSETTING: Mary Poppins is all about adventure, so I don't know that the setting should be static. Maybe her love for changing adventures could become evident in excursions from her inherently static life. ? That is kind of a cliche idea though. You could make it better though! :)
RULES:
CHARACTERS: Mary, Bert, other random people from the story? I don't remember how Mary Poppins found the kids she was caring for in the movie, but it would be interesting to bring in their parents as little kids at one point.
PLOT IDEAS: I don't really have any ideas, just questions. (And I haven't seen this movie in forever, so please forgive irrelevant comments.) What original connection did Mary and Bert have? Why did they become such different people? What did they have to sacrifice to either 1: obtain any connection in the first place or 2: become such different people.
IDEAS I LIKE: Recently I have been fascinated by an idea that "The Help" introduced. At the end of the movie, Abelene says, "Nobody had ever asked me what it was like to be me before." Because of this, I love your Mary Poppins idea. I think Mary and Bert are characters we have never considered what it would be like to be them. A history that makes those characters deeper, emotional, dynamic, and- most significantly-imperfect would be an intriguing read.
NOTES: This is going to be great! Thanks for doing this, Josh :) I think it will be a fun creative outlet for me and for others, especially as the story gets going. Good luck!