Young Writers Society

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP!

I've been working on this story for a LONG while but I am stuck on one of the biggest points...

The Background: My MC is Prince Coron, who is the youngest son of King Duarte. Coron struggles with being the unwanted, unacknowledged son due to the fact that he was born to the King and his second wife, a foreigner who is treated with suspicion. The King also didn't want to marry a second time since he deeply loved his first wife, who died in childbirth, and his oldest son, who died the day before Coron was born. The King basically never acknowledges Coron at all, and avoids him as much as possible.

In my story, Coron is about 15 and is trying to prove himself to his father. He has always believed that his father's coldness was his own fault, at least partially due to his foreign blood. Consequently, he wants to prove himself in such a way that shows he is not a foreigner but rather a true and strong leader.

The way the story goes is that there is an antagonistic power in play that ultimately will attack the city and destroy a large part of it, and this is all started by the second wife/queen, who is striking back after being spurned by the King. The important part then is that this is a huge surprise thing, so no one really knows about it and it doesn't have to be something Coron fights against. His character is supposed to be in contrast with the Queen's, since they both struggle to be acknowledged and loved but one is going to take the high road and realize that he has to live without it.

The Problem: My problem is, what are some good ways Coron could try to prove himself?
There are no big armies attacking, no war going on (although there are some political tensions within the kingdom).... I was thinking of maybe having the King being open to choosing a heir (since he doesn't want to choose his son) and Coron competing in some way for that.

If anyone has any ideas, please share! I have been stuck on this for YEARS and I just can't finish the story... All the ideas I've tried have just felt super weak, and I feel like I've hit a wall.... Thanks! y'all are the best!

Being stuck on a story for years sounds like a sign that you might want to move on. Then again, that's just a personal opinion and that doesn't mean I won't answer your question.

If his father treats him with ill-manners, why does he want his approval? Perhaps that might be part of his character? That he doesn't actually get his father's approval and learns to live with this over time? Just a bit of food for thought because from the perspective of the reader, Prince Coron doesn't need to prove himself and he doesn't need to prove himself to his father. Maybe he tries his best and actually does something amazing though his father still doesn't accept him and neglects him instead. I didn't understand if that's what you meant with him taking the high road, but I wanted to note that.

Anyway, back onto the main issue. The idea of dueling the heir to the throne is nice or maybe you could go with something similar to a Hercules situation, he goes through some sort of trial or set of trials for his father. His father might make these difficult so that there's an unlikelihood of him becoming the heir to the throne or earning his love. I'm a fan of Prince Coron realizing he doesn't need the approval of his father to be happy. A task might be assigned to him or maybe he saves his life.

Going back to his second wife, there's the possibility of Prince Coron protecting his father from her or he might even lead the fight back against her attack. I don't see why he wouldn't be involved in fighting against the Queen? This is his father, the King, and he wants his approval. There's no real other way for him to prove that he's a great leader than here.

I'd prefer seeing him overcome his father not appreciating what he does and accepting himself for who he is, though these suggestions are based on what you're looking for--for Coron to prove himself to the King.

Nikayla wrote:If his father treats him with ill-manners, why does he want his approval? Perhaps that might be part of his character? That he doesn't actually get his father's approval and learns to live with this over time? Just a bit of food for thought because from the perspective of the reader, Prince Coron doesn't need to prove himself and he doesn't need to prove himself to his father. Maybe he tries his best and actually does something amazing though his father still doesn't accept him and neglects him instead. I didn't understand if that's what you meant with him taking the high road, but I wanted to note that.

Yes, that's what I was thinking! Eventually he realizes that no matter what he does, his father will not change, so he has to learn to live with it.

Nikayla wrote:Anyway, back onto the main issue. The idea of dueling the heir to the throne is nice or maybe you could go with something similar to a Hercules situation, he goes through some sort of trial or set of trials for his father. His father might make these difficult so that there's an unlikelihood of him becoming the heir to the throne or earning his love. I'm a fan of Prince Coron realizing he doesn't need the approval of his father to be happy. A task might be assigned to him or maybe he saves his life.

Going back to his second wife, there's the possibility of Prince Coron protecting his father from her or he might even lead the fight back against her attack. I don't see why he wouldn't be involved in fighting against the Queen? This is his father, the King, and he wants his approval. There's no real other way for him to prove that he's a great leader than here.

I'd prefer seeing him overcome his father not appreciating what he does and accepting himself for who he is, though these suggestions are based on what you're looking for--for Coron to prove himself to the King.

Thanks for the feedback!
I think my main problem is that I don't like the idea of a competition/duel, even though I've been thinking about it for a while. It seems like such a trope.
As far as the Queen goes, the problem there is that no one knows what she's doing- it's pretty covert. Although I was thinking of having Coron start getting on her trail, trying to figure out and expose a plot to impress his father (he doesn't know that it's his own mother, though.)
I suppose that's better than the competition idea, but it still needs work... thoughts, anyone?

I think another good way for the prince to try to get his father's approval is to suggest solutions to various problems. I'm not sure if you've seen Moana before, but there's a part in the movie where she's shown taking care of various situations. None are too major in the beginning of it, but they show that she can think things through and knows how to lead her people.

From a psychological standpoint, in situations of parental neglect, there's the most common two roads: A) The child/adolescent grows weary and rejects the need for approval as Nikayla wrote or B) The child/adolescent does something reckless in a quest for approval.

Maybe Coron, comes to a realization that he doesn't want or need that approval, and instead he embarks on an adventure or quest of his own to better determine where he belongs in the kingdom or outside of it now that he understands that he won't be made the next heir; and on this quest he discovers a talent or something that makes him unique in some way and it's with this that in the midst of this war, he finds a way to make that talent come to light.

But instead of him winning over his father's affection, maybe he wins something else. So that he isn't falling into that stereotype of bravery only for someone's love. I've never been a fan, I like characters who can stand alone and who find a way to exist without the need for approval of others.