Young Writers Society

So, yesterday, I was looking at the Lightning Thief on wikipedia (haven't really read it though), and I thought I wanted to do something on the same key. Don't worry, it's not some blatant copy or anything.

My idea is more based on Norse mythology, and follows a teenage boy caught up in Fimbulwinter, the great winter that precedes Ragnarok. Along the way, he meets a girl who is half human and half valkyrie, and trying to rally an army to help the gods and the slain human warriors against the giants.

Sounds good?

Merlin34 wrote:My idea is more based on Norse mythology, and follows a teenage boy caught up in Fimbulwinter, the great winter that precedes Ragnarok. Along the way, he meets a girl who is half human and half valkyrie, and trying to rally an army to help the gods and the slain human warriors against the giants.

Sounds good?

I think you're asking yourself the wrong questions.

Everybody and their mother is writing a fantasy based on X mythology following a teenager who meets Y supernatural creature and must do fantastical task Z. Plugging in a different X mythology, Y supernatural creature and fantastical task Z does not in itself make for a good or bad story.

Questions you need to ask:

1. What makes my story different to all the others? Why would anybody read my novel instead of my competitors'?
2. What's unique and compelling about my protagonist? Not special abilities, but their personality, choices and actions.
3. What goal is my protagonist desperate to reach from very early on in the story?
4. What overall conflict presents itself very on in the story to stop my protagonist reaching that desperately-needed goal, thus creating tension on every page?
5. What is my escalating series of conflicts - my inciting incident, act one turning point, act two turning point and climax?
6. Who is my scary and powerful antagonist who seems impossible to overcome?
7. How will my protagonist change over the course of the story?

At the moment, it's like: "I'm buying a car. It's red. Sound good?" Red is a perfectly acceptable colour for a car, but it's not the point. There are so many factors to take into account, all of which are way more important than the colour.

Stop thinking about the paintwork, and get under the hood. Plot is the engine that will drive our increasingly strained metaphor.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Karsten