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Stevie's Plot Rant #2: Searching for a Title and Plot



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Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:49 pm
SteviexOctopus says...



Okay so not many things have changed from the last time I posted a Rant... And I'm not going to even bother listing them all... instead I'm going to post the premise (which I discovered is all the bits and pieces surrounding the plot):

The Premise:

Felicity Sparrow is the fourth child of an inventor/scientist and a scholar who are both Human Fae (Long story short, they're humans who live/raised/born in the Land of Faerie - I will think of a better term to use for them, I promise XD.) Her father is working on a complicated project (in other words I have no idea what he's working on - I do know that he did some experimenting on his 5 kids...) that mixed Fae Magic and Earth Technology, but something went wrong and caused an explosion that teleported Felicity, two of her brothers and her Uncle to Regency/Victorian England. Her parents and twin sister are thought to be dead (and for any who are curious the eldest brother was not at home when this happened).

Felicity and Teddy (the youngest brother) are found sleeping in the pews of a Catholic Church. John (the second oldest son) and the Uncle in the alley next to the church. The Uncle does some quick thinking and tells the priest they are (the three kids) to be in care of the Church as they are orphans and have no where else to go. The church puts them in their orphanage (or possibly school- it might end up being a bit like Madeline's school).

(a little side note) When Felicity woke up in the Church she was found with a simple silver pocket watch. This watch is very important because she constantly hears it ticking(and no one else can) and it never stops, then as her journey leads her closer to the Manor, the ticking slows until it finally stops when she walks through the front door. (either that or it stops when she finds her sister)

My story begins a few years later when Felicity is 14/16 (I need to figure out which would be better) when a circus comes to town. Felicity decides to runaway from the orphanage with the circus. (I'm thinking there's going to be a cute boy involved in this decision, because the orphanage she's at isn't the greatest but it's better then most during the time period) She leaves with the circus the next morning, but the next morning she wakes up alone in the middle of the woods. (Or she might have her younger brother with her... but I'd need to think of a way to get rid of him eventually).

Any who she picks a random direction and starts walking, figuring she'd run into a town at some point or another. What she comes to is not a town but an abandoned Manor House, and not just any Manor House, but the one that had exploded and killed her parents and sister. She sees the shadow of a person in the tower window and curiosity drives her to enter the Manor. This is where the adventure begins. Things get a bit Alice in Wonderland-y from here on, but she discovers that the Manor is it's own world and mixes together other places (think of it as being she opens one door and there's Rome, she opens it's neighbor and she finds herself in Neverland, etc.). Basically as a whole it can be called Faerie.

*I'm going to be using a lot of Nano Dares for this bit.*

Any who, she somehow discovers that there is an evil Ringleader terrorizing the different worlds. Most have been taken over, some are in war and others have yet to been touched (like earth). (which if you were thinking the running away with the circus thing was kinda random, it wasn't...) The rest of the story is kinda fuzzy (which is how I like it) what I do know is her sister is trapped in the Manor and *spoiler* her dad is the Ringleader (a fact that isn't revealed until the VERY end... and by that I mean the last 4 words of the novel are "Hi Dad." The End).


So yeah, that's basically what happens... and it's almost like an outline except the story doesn't start until:

My story begins a few years later when Felicity is 14/16 (I need to figure out which would be better) when a circus comes to town.


And it doesn't have any real direction. I know there's a plot jumbled up in there somewhere, I just can't see it. (Hence I've been posting this all over the place)

The easy plot would be "A girl goes on an adventure to save her sister", but I don't feel like the story is planned out well for that (especially since at the beginning of the novel she is thought to be dead, and Felicity doesn't discover she's actually alive until a Human Fae tells her the folktale of 'the Child of Fae Manor'.) Maybe there's a really obvious plot and I just don't see it, could anyone help?

- - - - -

Another thing that has changed a lot is the Main Character and the Villain (Who has a history!)

Felicity is a bit eccentric (the Tenth Doctor meets Luna Lovegood, eccentric). She's not one of those people who hates wearing dresses, but she's not girly. She's just as comfortable kicking butt in a skirt as pants. Speaking of which she is very passive, she'd rather use brains then brawn when solving problems or fighting an enemy. She does live up to her name, she's a very happy individual. Also the Ringleader likes to call her Lucky Lissy, as in she escaped and her sister didn't - in essence she was the lucky one.

Jonathan Sparrow was born to a family of Circus Folk, and being the eldest son he was supposed to take over the family business. But he didn't want to, he wanted to be an inventor. So he ran away from the circus/Faerie and to Earth and started inventing things. Looking though Earth things he became obsessed with a concept of *insert here*. He eventually met Beatrice Janvrin, another Human Fae, and fell in love. They had five children together and lived happily until one day when Jonathan's experiment backfired and caused an explosion in time and space. Causing three of his children and brother to travel back in time and for him, his wife and eldest daughter to be trapped in the Manor which became Fae Manor.


- - - - -

Another big problem I'm facing is finding a Title... I've thought of doing something like 'Lucky', 'Luck', 'Lucky Lissy' or 'Lucky Sparrow'. Which all sound fine and all (except Lucky Sparrow sounds a bit lame to me), but I don't think it really fits. And the whole Luck thing is only relevant with the name the Ringleader's little nickname (which is kinda important as that's how Felicity realizes the Ringleader is her father... as her father is the only person who calls Felicity 'Lucky Lissy')

- - - - -

And I almost forgot, I still don't have an invention for Jonathan to be obsessed with! But I know bits and pieces of it, mainly that he experiments on his kids (but not weird government "I don't care how you feel" experiments, he was actually nice and didn't cut into his kids or do anything invasive.) Also his experiment would have something to do with TARDIS sorts of things, where he's trying to find a way to travel through time and space... or maybe trying to find a way to make humans travel through time and space.... ummm... yeah...


Anyone willing to help? :wink:

- Stevie
.:~|The Red Ink Emporium!|~:.
"What's the point of being grown-up if you can't act childish sometimes?"
  





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Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:33 pm
Lorrilrakest. says...



I realised the references to Doctor Who (ticking stopwatch ... hmm ... lol)

But yes, it is a very good, well thought-out concept.

Er ... the circus is very random. You said it wasn't near the end ... why?

But i definitely want to read it - although you did spoil it for me XD

Your titles are definitely a bit ... lame, for a want of a better word. It needs to sound a bit more fantastical :)
Mindmap some fantasy words and explore the themes.

But definitely hide the doctor who references, i thought of it instantly.

Oooh.
I just remembered the Ringleader? Is that why the circus isnt random? Er ... if so, explore it a bit more. What is the connection between them both?

And also, don't let Felicity save the world on her own.
Give her a "band of fighters" that she can rely on, cry with, laugh with etc.

--
Lorril
--
"Who needs God when you've got me?"
- Jessica Sanders

"Didn't I throw you out a window?"
- Jessica Sanders

www.drizzlefilm.com
  





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Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:02 pm
SteviexOctopus says...



Lorrilrakest. wrote:I realised the references to Doctor Who (ticking stopwatch ... hmm ... lol)

But definitely hide the doctor who references, i thought of it instantly.

I never thought of it being a Doctor Who reference, but I see you point in somethings. (as I have a very obvious one guarding the Manor. *hint* Don't Blink. - but they're not angels, or at least not only angels. They're going to be gargoyles, with maybe a few animals like lions, all of which are quantum locked - possibly one of Jonathan's experiments, rather then aliens) Though, Felicity's Pocketwatch is a lot like Time Lords Fob Watch. I love Doctor Who so I'm not really surprised there are some references, I'll just make sure to hide them a bit more. :wink:

But yes, it is a very good, well thought-out concept.

Er ... the circus is very random. You said it wasn't near the end ... why?
Oooh.
I just remembered the Ringleader? Is that why the circus isnt random? Er ... if so, explore it a bit more. What is the connection between them both?

Yeah pretty much, the whole circus being there at the beginning was a plot to get Felicity to the Manor, they are basically the henchmen of the Ringleader. How they are connected can be found in Jonathan's life story, he was forced into being the one thing he didn't want to be - a Ringleader.


But i definitely want to read it - although you did spoil it for me XD

Haha... sorry about that.

Your titles are definitely a bit ... lame, for a want of a better word. It needs to sound a bit more fantastical :)
Mindmap some fantasy words and explore the themes.

I definitely agree.

And also, don't let Felicity save the world on her own.
Give her a "band of fighters" that she can rely on, cry with, laugh with etc.

I should mention something:
Spoiler! :
She doesn't save the world.

But she goes get several companions throughout her journey.

Thanks for responding, you've given me a lot to think about.
- Stevie
.:~|The Red Ink Emporium!|~:.
"What's the point of being grown-up if you can't act childish sometimes?"
  





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Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:26 pm
Lorrilrakest. says...



Ok lol.

Spoiler! :
Well if she doesn't save the world, make sure it looks like she's going to succeed - with a band of fighters. I don't know, she just seems a lonely girl.


Definitely hide your doctor references a bit more - people who don't watch it won't mind, but people who do will see them instantly, like me XD

When you write it, please PM me them - it has real potential!
"Who needs God when you've got me?"
- Jessica Sanders

"Didn't I throw you out a window?"
- Jessica Sanders

www.drizzlefilm.com
  





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Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:07 pm
SteviexOctopus says...



Spoiler! :
Don't worry, she'll have plenty of people to keep her company. It's just there are somethings she has to do on her own, but she always finds a friend to accompany her ... though now that you mention it, it wouldn't hurt for her to have a friend or two that stay her constant companions... we'll see, it is NaNoWriMo afterall. ^_^


I'll try, but then they probably won't be as obvious during the writing process - except for the quantum locked statues, which I'll try to make less obviously Doctor Who. =D
.:~|The Red Ink Emporium!|~:.
"What's the point of being grown-up if you can't act childish sometimes?"
  








No, it's not that you didn't succeed. You accomplished a lot, but, if you want to touch people, don't concentrate so much on rhyme and metre. Think more about what you want to say instead of how you're saying it.
— LCDR Geordi La Forge