z

Young Writers Society


Novel Ideas



User avatar



Gender: Female
Points: 1816
Reviews: 3
Fri Aug 23, 2013 4:42 pm
View Likes
Albanafsagia says...



I haven't been this inspired to write a novel in a while, so I'm extremely excited. I had 5 ideas (below) and they can all be tweaked, changed, added to, expanded, etc. And I will probably get more ideas for plot-lines in the next few days. But currently, I would like feedback, advice, comments, insights, and whatever else you guys can throw at me regarding these 5 plot-lines below. I would like to know which one you like the most, which you like the least, and why. I'd like to know how you'd revise them, the concerns you would have, questions, etc. I need raw, honest answers. I'm trusting you guys. I need your help.

1. An American deaf woman searching desperately for her birth parents and answers to her questions regarding her past, before her ever-approaching wedding day.

2. A young journalist falls deeply in love with a (falsely) accused terrorist while following his story and closely investigating him.

3. A teen is taken from an abusive home situation and place with a foster family on the East Coast, forced to start over again, trying to forget the monsters of her past.

4. After witnessing the murder of her best friend, while escaping herself, a young woman is put in the Witness Protection Program, fearing her life.

5. After her mother dies, a woman goes through the basement and discovers boxes of letters written in other languages as well as other memorabilia and odd trinkets tying their family to Russia long ago.
  





User avatar
2631 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 6235
Reviews: 2631
Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:27 pm
Rydia says...



My favourite is the second idea as it has a lot of intrigue and the potential to be really action packed but also heart warming.

For least favourite I'd have to say the third or the fourth, mostly because your explanations don't give a strong enough feel for a full novel, but the third is also somewhat unoriginal.

My concerns are too many to list with ease! You need to give more details for the plot lines before I can advice if I think you have enough interest for a full novel. Maybe choose your favourite three ideas and write 2-3 paragraphs about each, then we can say what the flaws are.
Writing Gooder

~Previously KittyKatSparklesExplosion15~

The light shines brightest in the darkest places.
  





User avatar
1272 Reviews



Gender: Other
Points: 89625
Reviews: 1272
Fri Aug 23, 2013 8:11 pm
Rosendorn says...



My general advice when it comes to ideas is boiled down to: Write them and see which one you fall in love with. I am going to give you a few more cautions/helpful tips because some of these ideas are fleshed out enough to warrant them.

Research is your friend. Find out every single detail you possibly can about what happens in the situations you've outlined. For example, teenagers are very rarely adopted once they're placed in foster care and can be moved around a ton (think multiple homes a month) if they cause too much trouble or the foster family just doesn't like them. Another example being Witness Protection Program erases your history. You basically can't talk about who you used to be at all. This is much harder in the digital age considering how hard it is to delete stuff.

Know how stuff would happen and why it would happen. When you're dealing with real life situations, you have to have a certain basis in fact. Doing stuff "just cause it's cool" stretches willing suspension of disbelief. Getting a fact blatantly wrong can and will get you corrected by readers... fairly intensely.

Know the stigmas. Deaf people are pitied a lot. Terrorist accusations never really go away (especially if it was because of race and/or religion). Foster kids are often seem as troublemakers. This stigma follows people for their whole lives. Even if they find little pockets of acceptance, they will still run into a lot of people who won't accept them.

Hopefully this helps. My general opinion on these ideas as a whole is "Be super careful not to romanticize what happens in these situations." It's easy to do but isn't very realistic at all. A lot of the situations you outlined here aren't "daring adventures" but instead absolutely terrifying, gut-wrenching, and full of roadblocks.

Make sure the characters reflect their backgrounds. An abused teenager isn't going to open up to the first person who gives them the time of day. Or even the first person to show an interest. It takes a long time for people who've been abused to open up. Deaf aren't all quiet types (with the right therapies, they can speak fairly normally).

People are people and stock types often don't reflect background. Build the background and make the character come from that background. Simple as that.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





User avatar



Gender: Female
Points: 1816
Reviews: 3
Mon Aug 26, 2013 3:18 am
Albanafsagia says...



Thank you. I probably do have to flesh out my ideas more. I have a background in Psychology and Human Development, so I understand teenagers quite well and I'm adopted, so I understand adoption and whatnot. I'm deaf. I understand deafness. And so yes, I understand what you mean about research and getting things right. I feel that I have a lot of experience and information that would be good for my novels. Thank you! :)
  





User avatar
1272 Reviews



Gender: Other
Points: 89625
Reviews: 1272
Mon Aug 26, 2013 3:39 am
Rosendorn says...



Ah that is rather nice to see. You will indeed have a lot of experience to bring to the table.

I'd still do some research to get a few more perspectives, just to avoid things being a carbon copy of your life.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





User avatar
806 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 1883
Reviews: 806
Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:30 pm
Aley says...



1. I'm not sure I like this because, from my perspective, it almost seems like a non-issue if she has substitute parents. I suppose, mainly, it's because I don't know what 'regarding her past' means. How much of a past could her birth parents tell her about if she doesn't know them already?

2. Does this mean the journalist fell in love with the man from afar, or did she actually meet up with him? I'm not sure I like this one because it becomes the public playing cops, and that never really sits well with me. Cops are smart, the government is smart. I am not sure they would accuse someone of being a terrorist if they were not a threat to the government. I'm not saying that all people accused are actually terrorists, just that the government only accuses threats, whether that's a threat to their public appearance, or actual security is a non-issue.

3. This seems like something that could be relate-able for a select subculture. I'd be curious to see how you would make it a unique story and what devices you would use to pique interest.

4. This could be a very interesting story if nothing actually happened. Witness protection worked and it's really about overcoming paranoia.

5. I would really love to see this turn into a fantasy where her mom was into some sort of witchery group and the stuff is all things the girl now needs to help keep the world stable or some such chosen one thing.

My favorite is #5. I love fantasy and that could easily head in that direction. You don't seem to be very fantasy oriented, so you probably wouldn't take it that way.

My least favorite is #2, because it doesn't seem to give much credit to the government's assessments of situations and while it could be a whistle-blower story about that, it seems to be a run away romance. I would probably tweak this to avoid the romance all together and instead make it about calling the government on their heavy-handed declaration of terrorists when we are supposed to have free speech and be free.
  





User avatar
133 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 5010
Reviews: 133
Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:23 am
writerwithacause says...



I like the second one, because it sounds like something that hasn't been done before. The fifth could evolve into something fantasy-like, and that would be nice too.
Julie, a sucker for romance, historical fashion, medieval fairs and blues music. Add photography and you already know me 50%. The rest of me you'll discover through my writings and my photos.

my fictionpress
my greatest project, a history-inspired romance
  








Anne felt that life was really not worth living without puffed sleeves.
— L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables