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Is this a good idea?



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Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:51 pm
ThatPsycho says...



I'm thinking of writing a story I randomly started on a forum once and planned to write for NaNoWriMo last year; both times I hardly wrote anything of it. I've been thinking about this story and am considering planning and eventually starting it again, so I would like to know what people think of the idea.

My main character is bullied at school and has no friends - because of this, she becomes very hateful and angry. One day, after getting into a fight or something, she walks out of school and runs away. After a while, she finds herself in a forest, where she meets a group of non human beings. The beings talk to her and agree to help her get revenge on the people who have hurt and bullied her. She gets revenge on many people and continues to meet up with the non human beings; I think just being with them will give her a very very little bit of power - she enjoys this power she has gained, as well as the things she has done to the people she hates the most. However, after a while, she notices that there is something strange about the beings - they aren't "good" like they seem and claim to be. They are in fact evil, and I think they will try to get her to do quite servere things. My main character must then try to get away from the beings and find a way of stopping them hurting more people and her. That's the basic idea, but I will probably add more to it. So, is this a good idea?
  





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Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:34 am
HereBeMonsters says...



It's an interesting idea, so much so that (with a good few exceptions) its the same as a story I've been planning for a while! I think it'd be worth a read, certainly, as it explores that very meaningful and relevant idea of the corrupting influence of power, and once people are given a taste of it, they don't want to let go.
  





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Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:39 pm
ThatPsycho says...



HereBeMonsters wrote:It's an interesting idea, so much so that (with a good few exceptions) its the same as a story I've been planning for a while! I think it'd be worth a read, certainly, as it explores that very meaningful and relevant idea of the corrupting influence of power, and once people are given a taste of it, they don't want to let go.


Wow, thanks! :)
  





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Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:54 pm
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Jennya says...



It sounds cool, you must work hard to keep it away from stereotypes. Try and make her a relate-able character but the idea sounds good quite interesting actually!
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Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:05 pm
ThatPsycho says...



Jennya wrote:It sounds cool, you must work hard to keep it away from stereotypes. Try and make her a relate-able character but the idea sounds good quite interesting actually!


Thanks, I agree that it could become a little sterotyped.
  





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Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:40 am
Cspr says...



Hm. It makes me think Stephen King automatically (which is weird--like someone would actually do a crossover between Carrie and Needful Things), yet, it could be interesting.

My suggestions? Look at Ursula K. le Guin's "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie"--you can read it online for free. It might give you some ideas. Also, I'd love it if you included some redcaps and drowning fairies. (Tinkerbell confuses me.) Oooh and maybe look into A Midsummer Night's Dream, too!

Otherwise, check out TV Tropes if you're really concerned. They are the boss when it comes to cliches and how to avoid making them awful. You can also see how many tropes, or cliches, there truly are. They're hard to avoid.
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Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:46 pm
ThatPsycho says...



Cspr wrote:Hm. It makes me think Stephen King automatically (which is weird--like someone would actually do a crossover between Carrie and Needful Things), yet, it could be interesting.

My suggestions? Look at Ursula K. le Guin's "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie"--you can read it online for free. It might give you some ideas. Also, I'd love it if you included some redcaps and drowning fairies. (Tinkerbell confuses me.) Oooh and maybe look into A Midsummer Night's Dream, too!

Otherwise, check out TV Tropes if you're really concerned. They are the boss when it comes to cliches and how to avoid making them awful. You can also see how many tropes, or cliches, there truly are. They're hard to avoid.


Okay, thanks for the advice. :)
  





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Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:26 pm
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Rosendorn says...



My philosophy is there are no bad ideas, only bad execution.

While this idea might be a bit standard, it has a lot of play for internal and external conflict. What would make this a good/great story is the amount of internal conflict you had between wanting power/friendship and doing the right thing. Maybe there isn't a true "right thing." I'd rather not there be a true "right thing" because it's nearly impossible to gauge one when you start getting different moral systems in place.

I'd not focus so much on black and white; grey is so much more interesting.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:55 pm
ThatPsycho says...



Rosey Unicorn wrote:My philosophy is there are no bad ideas, only bad execution.

While this idea might be a bit standard, it has a lot of play for internal and external conflict. What would make this a good/great story is the amount of internal conflict you had between wanting power/friendship and doing the right thing. Maybe there isn't a true "right thing." I'd rather not there be a true "right thing" because it's nearly impossible to gauge one when you start getting different moral systems in place.

I'd not focus so much on black and white; grey is so much more interesting.


Hmm, yeah. :)
  








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