Young Writers Society

1: What is the quickest way to get from your starting point, to your ending point regardless of what you want to have happen, your characters, or your plot?
The quickest way to get the story over with would be for Racen to meet everyone else, find out that Chaise is behind the attacks on Arsham (where the alternate story would start) and then go find him. However, it would still take time for them to get to Chaise's lair and fight him. Then they would get into a big fight and Chaise would be killed.
2: What is normal life like for your characters?
They all pretty much just appeared in typo alley, but I guess Racen's life would be to live in the forest and hunt to survive. RP would live in Zarukthûnd and be a blacksmith for the rest of his life, or perhaps a soldier. Wold would also, like Racen, live in the forest. She might even live with Racen. Katya would probably be a traveller. She would live somewhere on the plains, most likely in Arsham, though perhaps in Gothriande.
3: When is normal life disrupted and how?
For Racen normal life is always being disrupted by traveling, eating meager amounts of food, dealing with RP, and generally being constantly displaced. RP is also one of her main disruptions in life. RP is not necessarily disrupted. Life in the story world puts him in his natural element! He loves marching and even fighting. He is rare like that. It is mostly disrupted by their stay in Arsham while he is itching to get away and back on the trail. For Wold life is disrupted when there is a lot of fighting. She likes things when they are calm and peaceful. However she doesn't mind traveling all that much. Katya is an anomaly. She seems to fit into everything and not really have a whole lot of problems or faults. Let's just say that her life is disrupted at the end with all the conflict.
4: What causes the story to go back to normalcy?
In this story life doesn't really ever go back to normal until they return to Typo Alley in the end. However they do have periods of brief respite when they arrive in Arsham and while they are in Gothriande. It is kind of hard to say though because each of the characters is different from the others! Idk
5: How would a different character solve the problem given to the main character?
RP would create more of a problem in a sense because he is part of the problem. However, if you are talking about the main problem of Chaise, he would probably challenge Chaise to mortal combat... pane get himself killed. Wold would counsel Racen and RP in hope of helping them overcome their strife. As for dealing with Chaise, she would simply go around making speeches and organizing the people who joined her so that they would go and fight him. Finally, Katya would probably be clueless as to what to do. She might be able to com up with some speech that would stir everyone up against Chaise, but that wouldn't end up lasting in all probability!
6: What are the tools at your character's disposal to discover information?
Well, the group of typos in Hybury (the main hobbit town) let by Aiey informs the four original characters about Chaise and all the evil things he has done. They also might visit the record houses in Gothriande's capitol, (Name TBD). They also are directed by the Author's instructions, though those are rather limited!
7: What are the tools for your character to end conflict?
Well, they have their weapons/teeth and claws, but they will probably need some other help. I haven't exactly figured this all out, but never fear I will have it all figured out by chapter M... or perhaps U would be more accurate...
8: How would the plot change if your main character wasn't in the story?
Well, for one thing, there wouldn't be nearly the amount of conflict. Aside from a few misunderstanding and the climax at the end, there wouldn't really have any conflict! That would make for a boring story! So the entire book (almost) would be nullified.
9: Is the plot driven by the character, or outside events in the story? Erm, well in a sense all books are character driven. However, I guess I would say that it is driven by the Author and the villain who sets events in motion on his own terms. Technically they are both characters, but they are not necessarily MC's. It is kind of confusing. They have a lot to do with the story, but neither of them take up a bunch of pages.
10: Looking at your story from the perspective of someone who believes that all people are good in some way, what rationality would you have for your plot points?
I am not exactly sure what this is supposed to mean, but I think it means, how would people see good in your story... In that case I would say the Racen and RP don't fight all that often and that Chaise is just trying to survive.
11: Now, looking at your story from the perspective of someone who believes that all people are in essence greedy and bound to do bad things, what rationality would you have for your plot points?
Well Racen and RP never seem to get along, even though they don't always fight often and that Chaise is trying to take over the world, albeit under the banner of survival. Idk...
12: What is the main conflict in your story, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Machine, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature...?
I would say that overall the main conflict it man vs. man, but that is sort of from the perspective of RP. However, from Racen's perspective, especially in the beginning of the story the main conflict is against RP. I also may weave a little bit of conflict with nature too. To be honest it might actually be man vs. nature now that I think about it since Chaise is an animal, though I'm not saying what kind.
13: What is the main point you want to say through the story?
Hmm... I guess I am trying to get across that small figures can overcome great difficulties. I will also make a point that Racen can overcome her racial prejudice since that is going to be the underlying issue throughout the entire story. I guess those will be the two themes that I will stick with, though I don't necessarily think that one or the other is more important.
14: If you had to write the story in 1,000 words, what would the plot be?
Err, all the characters Would start out in Typo Alley, aside from the villain(s). The Author would immediately send them into the Story World and there would be a big showdown between Chaise and the MC's. Then they would return to Typo Alley. However, that would be crazy! There would also be no conflict between Racen and RP. I would also delete the story at once!
15: If you had to convey the story in a five minute speech, what would you focus on?
I would start off with Racen's prejudice and how I weave that into the story, but about three or four minutes into the speech I would start talking about Chaise and his schemes, at the end I would conclude with the ending which I haven't figured out completely yet.
16: Do you need all of your plot points to further the plot, or are some of them just for spectacle? Well, I am sort of working on that right now. I would say that the first part of the story, not counting the first chapter, is not completely necessary, but they do lay the groundwork for the tension that will take place throughout the book between RP and Racen. This ultimately will be helpful for the advancement of the plot.
17: Can your story start farther in without interrupting the plot or losing key details about any specific events?
No. How could I start my story with the MC's meeting each other? Idk!
18: How would you summarize each of your chapters in 50 words or less?
Erm, I haven't really gotten that far quite yet! I am working on it right now for this event, though. I have a few of the chapters mapped out so far, but not all 26 of them! That will take me a long time to do!
19: Where does your character, and your reader, get a break?
Well, during chapters C, D, and E, there isn't a whole lot going on and then when they are in Gothriande there is also a little break. Other than that, there is a lot of underlying tension. So overall I would say that the main breaks are when Racen is having a good day and when they are travelling
20: What is the time period of the story?
Well, it is fantasy, but it is taking place toward the end of the FA (First Age). Each age is supposedly 2500 years long and currently the year is 2,300. The elves have mostly left the world by this time. So it is so to speak the end of an era.
21: What would the story look like if you wrote it from the point of view of your least-favorite character?
Ooh! I am not sure if I have a least favorite character. If I were to say the Author than it would be made up of him watching my current MC's on a screen of that world or something like that. It would also be written from the omniscient perspective most likely. If I were to say Chase than it would be about his plotting and scheming. It would've very weird. Pretty much there wouldn't be much of anything to the story aside from his lieutenants randomly reporting to him about their successes and failures with huge gaps or lulls in the story.
22: If your last challenge came first, how would the rest of the story go?
Well if, by that, you mean the climax, there wouldn't really be any book to speak of. Chaise would get defeated right away and then Racen's conflict with RP would either be thrown aside or it wouldn't make any sense because after that it wouldn't seem like a big deal. To be honest it would end up being a fast paced action short. Then I might as well forget about writing the rest into a novel.
23: What would happen if your conflicts all happened at the same time?
Racen and RP would fight each other to the death until Chaise got tired of watching the spectacle and killed all the MC's. There would be no break for the readers and again it wouldn't make any sense and would eventually turn into a fast paced action short story! Aka, MAYHEM!!!
24: What sort of devices will you write into the story to get your characters out of situations where there is no solution, and how can they be used earlier to avoid getting into those situations?
I don't know if I will necessarily use devices, but I will use other elements such as, perhaps, trickery, treachery, and outside help. I really don't know! I haven't exactly planned all of that out yet and I probably won't for a while. This is what you get for such a random idea!
25: How do you justify the change, or lack of change, of your character at the end of the novel?
I agree with timmy in the sense that this question makes it sound like I am doing something bad, but I won't go into all that... Anyways, I guess if you are asking what the changes that are going to happen and why I would say that Arsham and Gothrainde are going to be a whole lot safer and that Racen and RP won't fight as much. That will make things a whole lot better for theStory World than the beginning!