1. firefly114

    firefly114 New Member

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    Shaping a plot from a prompt...

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by firefly114, Feb 15, 2010.

    Here's the prompt:

    Midnight Thief
    A family of thieves gets invited to a grand ball thrown by Prince Charming. The family friend, a master of disguises, helps the youngest daughter to doll up as a beautiful princess. She attends the ball with the intention of picking the Prince's pocket/stealing the Queen's jewelry but falls for Prince Charming instead.
    Kind of cliche, but I can't change it.

    So here's what i was thinking:

    I will probably modernize it to have the 'Prince' be some son of some big-wig or something. But for now I'll refer to him as the 'Prince.' Basically, a girl is living alone in the city with her older and younger brothers--their parents died whenvthey were younger and the oldest brother was old enough to legally take care of them. They all work lots of jobs after school (or full time) but they still barely get by with paying the rent and getting money for food, so they are all expert pickpockets. Sometimes they'll just sit on the subway all day and pick pockets or trail people around the city. One day they get an invitation to the 'Prince's' ball and they are in desperate need of money for something (maybe hospital bills for the youngest sibling? I need an idea...) so they see this as an opportunity. They tell the girl that she has to seduce the 'Prince' in order to steal some money. Since she's grown pickpocketing with her brothers her entire life, she's kind of a hard-** and doesn't like the idea, but she knows they need the money so she goes ahead with it. This is the part where I need some help-- they're at the ball and she's determined not to like the Prince, but she has to end up falling in love with him.

    EDIT: I think the 'Prince' is going to be some politician's son or something and they're having a ball and invite the whole district so they'll vote for them in the upcoming election

    here are a few questions/concerns i had...

    2) I need to figure out a reason why they need the Prince's money so bad, and so the readers will be able to sympathize with the family

    3) The ending is very shaky--should I have the 'Prince' like her immediately
    and her not like him? Should I have her like him immediately and him not like
    her? Or them both like each other immediately? Or neither? I sort of need to
    figure out a conflict for the end

    4) Should this be a oneshot or longer? How long do you think I should make it?I don't want to stretch it out...

    Thanks :) I'll help anyone else if they need help too!
     
  2. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    1) That is the creative challenge, is it not? You identify the aspects of princehood you feel are key to your story, and you decide what modern equivalent embodies the same aspects.

    2) Does it have to be money? Could it be some other commodity such as influence? Money is only one dimension of wealth.

    3) It's pretty hard to choose your ending when you are still structuring the opening, characters, and motivations. Perhaps your ending will be clearer once you have settled on more of the fundamentals.

    4) Again, too early in the process to decide that. The length is driven by the richness and complexity of the story you begin to shape. What length do you feel the story deserves?

    Conversely, you can choose a length, and write a story appropriate to that length.
     

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