Hey guys Just have to say i love these forums. They have inspired me to undertake the challenge of writing a book. I have just started planning my first novel. I need some help in creating my plot. Here is what i have so far: The year is 2037, Antarctica is now semi colonised to help with scientific and technological advancement 3 scientists and a team of 3 security personnel familiar with the surroundings stumble upon a Gateway to a new planet (which has only been discovered by Earth scientists). On this new planet we discover a civilisation/city that throughout time we have referred to as “The lost city of Atlantis” and these people actually lived on earth 10,000 years ago but fled to this new planet they had been terra forming due to a disease epidemic that was killing off everyone. We learn that when the world was in its hour of need a chain of events would begin that would lead to the discovery of this portal. I need some idea of what a problem is that the new civilisation can help us with. Some ideas I have: • A virus created to attack cancerous cells has mutated and now is spreading across the globe killing people. • The world is on the brink of world war 3 In the story the new civilisation is technologically superior and they will be able to help us with our problem, but they have their own problems that we must help THEM with. I need help in working out what their problem could be. Perhaps a war with another race; a civil war. A lot of research will be involved. I plan on explaining our history in a whole new way. Many references will be made to influential people throughout time, myths, legends and stories of our past. They will be explained in a whole new way and change the way the reader will see our earths past. My main aim is to explain the unexplained in a fictional way, with slices of truth and fact. It may seem confusing as I’m still working out a lot of things. Feel free to add anything and pick holes in the plot A few things I have contemplated: • The Atlantians were around for thousands of years and lived alongside the VERY primitive Egyptians • Before they left they taught the Egyptians just enough to speed up the technological pace. Hence their sudden leap in technology. (The Egyptians were immune to the disease) • A small number of Atlantians stayed on who were immune. They were people of power throughout history such as presidents, conquerors , scientists etc. • Plato was originally from Atlantis but dementia began and he started revealing information about the city (which was meant to be a secret until the time was right) • The Atlantians have a longer life span due to their technological state. Any help would be much appreciated I still need to develop the characters, but i thought i would go with the story line first. Is this a wise choice or is it basically each to their own?
To each their own. I have to say, with just a loose outline it sounds remarkably like Stargate SG-1 and the Ancients.
I enjoy writing Sci-Fi myself, and one thing I do as I plot and write is to take an age group I would prefer to target into consideration. The reason for this is the suspension of disbelief. The more far reaching one concept is (let alone many), the more difficult it becomes to coax a reader into sacrificing their knowledge in order to enjoy the story. In the realm of Sci-Fi, most fans are scientifically aware to some degree. Presenting Atlantis, wormholes, terraforming, ancient earthlings mastering wormholes/terraform and our primitive society saving a ridiculously advanced one all in the same plot, you're asking for a HUGE suspension of disbelief. Just one of these ideas can be the basis for an entire novel, and each one will take a certain finesse to suspend disbelief. If you try to do this all in one plot, only one of two things will happen: 1) You'll give up before you finish, because in a world where all of these things are true, you'll never stop finding holes in your plot. Never. If they can terraform a planet, why do they need a wormhole? Why not just do it on Mars or the Moon, especially if it's just a virus they're trying to get away from? Why do they need to leave the planet to get away from a virus, anyway? With that kind of technological ability, why not just quarantine? If an ancient earth civilization could do all of this, then how come we know about their existence but not their technological capabilities? Why would the Atlantians teach Egyptians "just enough"? Why not everything or nothing? Why wouldn't the Egyptians write about it? The more you try to squeeze in, the more you're going to have to explain. The more you have to explain, the harder it's going to be to push your story forwards, because you'll have to keep going backwards. Or... 2) You'll end up with a junk-science book riddled with plot holes. For a first novel, my advice would be to tone it down... a lot. There's far more to writing than just plot. You're going to be consumed by many other challenges and tasks once you get into it. Try to pick one or maybe two of those ideas to make it easier on yourself. You can still write a great plot just with just that.
