Young Writers Society

Okay, so I'm writing a a novel during the Golden Age of piracy.
The main characters include Charles Redmond, Peter Redmond, Caroline Fayer, Trey Jacobs and Marissa Jacobs.

So the story is set in two different time phases. Separates eighteen years apart, and each chapter switches between them. Let's call them A and B.

Okay so the story starts off in A with the with the main pirate ship (any suggestions for a name btw?) under the rule of Captain Butterbeard dock at Port ____ in search of money, riches and women. And the map to the treasures of death. The chapter ends with them catching Caroline Fayer, the daughter of the town council. Once she is successfully transported on the ship, and they flee the Port after good raid. The Captain claims she's his, and demands no one else should touch her. Among the pirates is Charles Redmond, and his 1 year old son Peter Redmond. His mother was a sex slave aboard the ship.

Then the scene moves to B. Which eighteen years in the future with a 19 year old Peter Redmond. His father, now Captain Redmond is a gruesome leader, setting harsh standard for his crew. One day they dock into a Pirate Harbour, to enjoy the pleasures of hockers and alcohol. Peter decides to visit one of the local taverns. And meets a beautiful half-cast girl with a necklace with the initials WB on it. Her name is Marissa Jacobs. She talks about how she's sick of her uneventful life, and longs for adventure. She lives with her drunken father. Which we don't know the name of until later. He tells her to come with him, she does. As friends.

The scene changes back to A. Caroline has been aboard the ship, inprisoned in the lower deck. She listens intently as Charles Redmond brainwashes his fellow crewmen to start a rebellion against Captain Butterbeard for unfair pay. They set a plan for the future. Later that night, Charles against Butterbeard's commands takes advantage of Caroline. She feels humiliated and vows to get off the ship.

The scene changes back to present time, with Marissa Jacobs and Peter Redmond, boarding the ship. Marissa disguised as a boy. No one aboard notices. As they set sail to find the treasures of Variendas, an ancient myth of treasure in the waters of death.

The scene changes back to A. The night of the rebellion is upon us. The lower class crewman, begin backstabbing Captain Butterbeard and his loyal followers. As the fighting is underway, Caroline takes this opportunity to escape from the ship, and take one of the safety boats to flee. The rebellion was successful, and Butterbeard and only remaining loyal followers were forced to walk the plank. Caroline watches from the distance in her boat.

The scene changes back to B. Not a lot of stuff happens. Aside from a crazy older crew member recognizes Marissa from his past.

The scene changes back to A. Caroline rows to the Butterbeard and Trey Jacobs because she knows only with their guidance could she find land. They are thankful, yet none of them trust each other. She takes all of their weapons before allowing them to board, as she uses Butterbeard's compass to find land.

Back to B. They enter a cave, that apparently leads to the treasure, but it was actually a trap made by an enemy ship. A fight ensues, as the captain, his son and Marissa Jacobs are captured and imprisoned. The others retreat and leave.

Back to A. On land, Butterbeard gets drunk, drinking his problems away. As Caroline tends to Trey Jacob's wounds on his thigh. There's a romantic connection between the two of them. They all fall asleep together. However during the night, Butterbeard tries to force himself on her. As Caroline attempts to get free, she stabs him in the process. Taking his necklace with the initials WB on it. Trey jumps into the situation and helps kill the pirate.

Back to B. Marissa now dressed as a girl, is locked up alongside Peter. Charles is in the captain cabin bribing for his life, saying that he knew the directions to the sacred treasure which he stole from the port 18 years ago. Marissa notices the initials WB were signed into the the wood. The same as her necklace. Peter notices her compare them, and asks her where she got it from. Noticing it belonged to Captain Butterbeard. She said her mother gave it to her. Peter explained how it must've been from Captain Butterbeard, but was confused as to why he would've initials this boat.
Marisa said it must've been her mother. They were both confused.

The scene changed back to A. After they set a fire up, and Caroline finished vomiting for unknown reasons. A ship in the distance began approaching them, which sent Caroline and Trey into a gleeful dance. It was the same ship that Peter and the others were on in the present day. They are captured, and questioned by the Captain as to why they were stranded. They were temporarily imprisoned. They lied saying they were ______ (suggestions?) and were allowed to stay aboard.

Okay so... this is all I have planed sofa so this is what still needs to happen.
In A:
Caroline and Trey share a kiss. And eventually fall involve.
How should they return to safety??? And get off the ship???
Caroline gives birth to Redmond's daughter.
She dies during the birthing process.

In B:
Marissa and Peter find out they're siblings. (Caroline and Redmond creating Marissa, and Redmond and unknown lady creating Peter)
Marissa and Peter watch as the two enemy ships fight each other, leading to both Captains dying. And the enemy ship sinking (the one Marissa and Peter were imprisoned)
Peter is named the new Captain, due to hereditary purposes.
Marissa returns to her father, knowing the truth behind her mother life and death. And tells him he doesn't need to hate her just because they look alike. She hugs him and finally he forgives himself.

Also opinions and other ideas???

Also if I didn't make it clear.

Caroline is black.
Her daughter is half-cast.
Everyone else is white.

I did this to make it less obvious @Marissa and her brother

So there's a few major issues I see with what you've presented so far:

1) How do Caroline and Trey know that Marissa is Charles's daughter? It seems like you intend for the vomiting to signal morning sickness, but the timeline doesn't match up. Morning sickness doesn't usually happen until several months into the pregnancy, and based on your summary, not much time passes between the plot to mutiny and the actual mutiny.

So, basically, what would cause Trey to suspect that Marissa isn't his daughter? Also, how does this translate to Marissa and Peter discovering that they're siblings?

2) Is the only reason Caroline is black to make Marissa half-cast? If so, you'll really want to rethink that plan because there was a lot of prejudice against black people, and even more against those of mixed descent. You'll need to do a lot of research into how these people were treated by society at large to do justice to both Caroline and Marissa as characters.

You might want to watch Belle for an idea of some of the prejudices those of mixed descent faced, particularly among the upper class. It's set during the Victorian Era, which is a bit after the Golden Age of Piracy, but I think it's a good starting point considering both Dido and Marissa are of mixed descent.

3) Which time period are you setting this in? The Golden Age of Piracy spanned three major outbursts during the 1650s to the 1730s, so there's almost a full century between the start and end of the period. A more specific time-frame will help pin down some of the political and cultural goings on at the time of the story and might even provide ideas on how to resolve some of your current plotholes.