Young Writers Society

I've come up with a bunch of ideas for other stories, and I came up with a really interesting idea for like...I'm not quite sure if they'll be the center of the story or more like background characters or what...but this group called The Watchers, and I actually got the idea from a prompt at the NaNo forums.

The prompt was to have a character who can move silently through a forest, possibly leaving no footprints.

So I came up with the idea of this person being called a Watcher, sort of like a guardian angel. They're assigned to future Watchers or just magic users in general. I've expanded the idea with silently moving through a forest in to silently moving wherever they want, and not just a forest.

Here's the problem. I don't know how many people have seen the show Charmed, but there's basically a character who is more or less all ready like that. He's a White Lighter, which...is an angel, and eventually becomes an Elder, which is the group of White Lighters that regular White Lighters go to. They're assigned to witches and future White Lighters to help them and prepare them for when they become White Lighters and all that.

I do NOT want these Watchers to be an exact replica of the White Lighters on Charmed, but I don't know how else to make them really different.

I'm thinking that it might be in the view of a Watcher, and how they take on an apprentice/someone to watch and the things they go through. Kind of like...Obi-Wan's journal through out the years of training Anakin Skywalker (yay for Star Wars analogies), only it might not be in first person. Something interesting I could do is I could have the Watcher still be fairly young and they could screw something up and accidentally let their person they're watching see them. If I actually go somewhere with this story I might try writing a series of stories about the Watchers.

I'm not quite sure what the audience would be. Maybe young adult? I dunno. I usually don't try to figure out what the audience will be for my stories, but it'll definitely be fantasy.

So does anyone have any ideas for how I could make these Watchers original and not make them so similar to the White Lighters on Charmed? Also, does anyone have any ideas for what the Watchers could call the people that they watch? On Charmed, they're called Charges. Eventually on the show they also run a magic school. I'd like to have that if possible but it's not something that would really be key to the story I don't think.

Basically, any detailed ideas that you can give me about these people would be great. Are they neutral, or are they "the good guys"? That kind of stuff. I'm really not good at coming up with detailed ideas for...groups, I guess, like this.

Haha, well before you even mentioned anything about it I was thinking "that's just like the white lighters on Charmed". That's a toughy, because they really are the same thing?

I'd say young adult would be your focus though.

AWritersFantasy wrote:So does anyone have any ideas for how I could make these Watchers original and not make them so similar to the White Lighters on Charmed? Also, does anyone have any ideas for what the Watchers could call the people that they watch? [I need details.] Are they neutral, or are they "the good guys"?

Hello!
Here are my ideas, you can take them or leave them:

1. There are many ways that you could make your Watchers different from the White Lighters. But, all of them are up to their creator--YOU. I can't make the decisions for you.

2. When I think of watching over someone or something, I think of a hawk watching its prey. In which case, the watched would be called Prey. This wouldn't necessarily mean that the Watchers are evil. Maybe the Watchers prey on magicians, simply by capturing them and turning them into Watchers.

3. I'd call them the "good guys", because the Watchers [could] have the ability to save lives, like if a Prey falls into a lake and is drowning. After all, if a Prey dies, then that's one less future Watcher or one less magician. And, that wouldn't be a good thing.

I really don't want them to be the same thing. I need something that's going to make them different enough for people to say "hey, they're kind of like the White Lighters on Charmed." Even if it's just a small difference but big enough to make a reader realize that they're not exactly the same.

I'm starting to lean toward young adult as well.

McMourning wrote:1. There are many ways that you could make your Watchers different from the White Lighters. But, all of them are up to their creator--YOU. I can't make the decisions for you.

The problem is that I'm not very good at expanding on these ideas, really, which is why I was hoping for some fairly detailed ideas to play around with. Or maybe just questions to consider answers to. Like...questions that people consider when creating "groups" like these Watchers. What their purpose is, if they're good, bad, neutral...those kind of things.

2. When I think of watching over someone or something, I think of a hawk watching its prey. In which case, the watched would be called Prey. This wouldn't necessarily mean that the Watchers are evil. Maybe the Watchers prey on magicians, simply by capturing them and turning them into Watchers.

Mmm, that's a possibility. It kind of makes me think of them as being evil, but maybe that's what would make people in the story realize that they mean business. Kind of put fear in to their hearts.

3. I'd call them the "good guys", because the Watchers [could] have the ability to save lives, like if a Prey falls into a lake and is drowning. After all, if a Prey dies, then that's one less future Watcher or one less magician. And, that wouldn't be a good thing.

I like that idea. Thank you.

AWritersFantasy wrote::| I really don't want them to be the same thing.

I guess you're right, saving their lives is too close to the Whitelighters. But, as I said, There are many ways that you could make your Watchers different from the White Lighters.

For example, the Whitelighters can "hear" their Charges in their heads. Maybe your Watchers can only watch the Prey, so they must always be near them.

Hmm. I do like that idea.

...But then, what would happen if a Watcher can't be near their Prey for whatever reason?

I'm kind of thinking that maybe these Watchers have to stay hidden from the people they're watching and just people in general, unless there's absolutely no choice but to tell them. And something happens with the Watcher that this story will be about where...they'll have to tell their Prey who they are, and then something happens where the Watcher is stopped from going to help their Prey. Someone somehow finds out about the Watcher and exposes them or something.

Yay, I'm starting to get ideas!

AWritersFantasy wrote:...But then, what would happen if a Watcher can't be near their Prey for whatever reason?

That could be one of the minor conflicts in the story. Then, as you said the major conflict would be that the Watcher has to tell his Prey who he is.

Good luck writing all of this!

McMourning wrote:

AWritersFantasy wrote::| I really don't want them to be the same thing.

I guess you're right, saving their lives is too close to the Whitelighters. But, as I said, There are many ways that you could make your Watchers different from the White Lighters.

Oh, by the way, I was replying to Write Me when I said that, not you. I had been in mid-reply to them when you replied. Sorry if that confused you.

I had thought of that possibility...I probably should have waited to see if it was or not. But, no harm done, I guess. There's definitely no need to apologize. If anything, I should apologize for not following my instinct and waiting.

Ha! I just had an idea...that is not completely formulated, but it's an idea lol.


Instead of watching the magical people, maybe the Watchers could be responsible for the random, mortal people, and they are like...given a tip as too who is going to die what day and they have to figure out what is going to happen to them before they die so they can stop it.

...kind of like an angel or something, or that show where the guy got tomorrow's paper in his doorstep and he had to save all the people in it?

Hmm. Kind of sounds like the Angel of Death- at least, the way they portray him on Charmed. Interesting idea, although I'm not quite sure if that's what I imagine these Watchers doing. On the other hand, it's an original idea in terms of stepping away from magic, sort of. I'll definitely see if I can play around with it. ^_^

I thought the Angel of Death didn't stop anything? He had to take someone (..like that guy from the....shifters I think it was? that prue was trying to save?).

Haha, it's your story, it's up to you--i was just sitting here thinking and was like HEY! that would work! lol.

Playing off of write me's idea:
There could be two forms of the Watchers. The new Watchers could be assigned to the mortals, just to make sure they can handle watching over people. Then, after a few years, or something, they are told to watch over magicians.

Well, the part where you talked about giving a tip for who's going to die is what made me think of it. Have you seen the episode where Piper sort of fills in for the Angel of Death? She has this list and she's in charge of bringing their spirits "to the white light" or whatever. And I think...one of her sisters was on her list. Maybe it was Paige. I don't think I saw the episode that you're talking about. o.O I know that there was one episode where the Angel of Death came to her and she could see him because she was going to die soon or something, but she somehow stopped it. Well, not really stopped it, but it didn't happen during that episode.