"He was there everywhere. When I passed my reflection a faint shimmer and the glowing man was there. When I slept and had my eyes closed the glowing man was there. He sat in a throne among bird cages, people I knew, once loved, and hung out with all sat within the cages begging and worshiping this glowing man. He had no face, only the silhouette of what a perfect man was and he glowed bright like the sun." An idea in my head and I'm trying to expand it. What I really need is some plot points. Ideas I can ground. I'm the kind of person who brainstorms and speaks about the story. I'm not asking what people think. I'm not asking people to write my plot. However, I think a basic strip of what the idea is suppose to be is a good idea. What I need to know is what would cause someone to hallucinate something like this? I have done some research, was thinking some form of schizophrenia, but then I considered is it possible this occur with epilepsy? Such as the glowing man is simply an aura the character experiences? I'd also like if some people could ask me questions. Like what I'm trying to write, what this is about, etc. It gets me to think more on the plot. Questions welcome, this is how I brainstorm.
I think drugs would be a good choice. There are many reasons why your character could be drugged, they could be institutionalised where their drugs would be taken as medication, kidnapped where someone could be forced to take drugs, or just taken for recreational purposes. Obviously there's many more connotations of how drugs could be taken you could explore. I can't resist . . . What are you trying to write? Can you explain what this is about?
You know what I think would be really really cool? Let's say the character had some kind of horrific traumatic event. As a method of repressing it and blocking it out, he/she lost the event from his/her direct conscious memory, and instead subconsciously manifiests it as The Glowing Man. So, throughout your story, the MC thinks that the glowing man is something positive, like a guardian angel or something....but really, it's something horrible, and the reader slowly finds this out as the book/story progresses....only leave it a mystery for most of the book (and even when you reveal it, leave some things to the imagination) so that the reader will know that the G.M. is bad but wno't know quite sure why, and the MC won't know at all. It'd made a great horror/suspense.
Idea How about they can see spirits? Maybe they were in a car crash or something and they came back from the dead, so now they can see other dead people. And maybe, just maybe, that glowing man is their best friend or like boyfriend. It would make a good horror/romantic/fantasy novel.
What sort of story are you going for here? There are a LOT of different things out there that cause hallucinations. Several plants can.. I believe Angel's Trumpet can make you hallucinate. I have no idea what that's like though.. I do know it's poisonous if you ingest enough of it though.. So a lot of this depends on where you want to go with this.
Maybe he's schizophrenic and the Glowing Man is symbolic to him, but only subconsciously; consciously, he doesn't understand it. Maybe it symbolizes what he wants to be--that's why it glows brightly and has a "perfect" silhouette. Or it could be symbolic of someone he admires and wants to destroy, someone he feels inferior to. Of course, it's just a hallucination caused by schizophrenia, but that doesn't mean the character can't attach meaning to the hallucination that shapes the story.
I think I want to extend the greatness that was the Tell Tale Heart. I was somewhat reading it and then I considered something. The idea clicked in my head and started writing. I want to accomplish several things a character you sorta bond with, but at the same time you believe he isn't telling the full story. @Aeschylus: I was considering that. But then wouldn't it be to simple? Schizophrenia, a death experience, etc. Wouldn't that be to simple? Or would it just be perfect? lol
It depends. If the story is all about the cause of his hallucinations, then you should probably either think of a more elaborate cause or go into more detail about his schizophrenia. But if the story is about the hallucinations themselves, then the cause doesn't matter: simple might be better in that case.
So basically a story collection of hallucinations? A string of hallucinations that have no underline connection to a disease, but it could almost become something everyone saw?
That's not what I meant. What I meant was that if the story is about how the character is affected by his hallucinations and how they impact his life, then the cause doesn't matter so much. But if the story's about the cause of the hallucinations, then the cause is more significant.
It semi has to do with both. You have to understand the cause to understand the hallucination. It's like a mystery crime novel, except with no crime. Instead you have to work out the clues given to figure the cause of the hallucinations. Okay that made no sense, didn't it?
It did make sense. But imagine a story in which a man struggles to live his daily life because he can't tell whether the people he meets are real or not. He doesn't trust himself to get a job because the secretary may be "lying," he's never sure how to approach women because they might look/act completely different from the way he sees them, or might not even exist. He can't live his life. This is just an example. But in this case, does ti really matter whether his hallucinations are caused by his medication or by a mental disease? Not really, because the effect is all that the story's about. Your story, however, seems to be more about the cause of the hallucination, so I guess you have to have something that's somewhat elaborate.
I like the idea of some guy who looks at the world as if it were some Picasso painting. Distorted. Absorbed and much much hallucinatory. "Ain't it weird you see people who do not exist. You're the last one and you see cities that are no longer here. You're living in a scenery that is no longer here. Your eyes are blinded by the sights and sounds of the man who still follows you even here"
I like this idea for it personally. It would be interesting to see how someone copes with hallucinations so severe on a daily basis. It would definitely take a LOT of research. What you were saying about not telling the whole story... well maybe the reader is unsure initially if these are hallucinations or if this is all real?
Personally I like the idea of these hallucinations, especially about the Glowing Man, to be real somehow. Maybe they are more like visions of something. But he isn't crazy nor is he on drugs. Maybe he thinks he is on drugs or wondering if he is crazy. But... how they would be real or whatever is. Well I have no idea. It sucks having a very vivid idea or concept and be unable to do anything with it right away.
Look, just because the hallucinations aren't brought on by some supernatural influence doesn't mean that they don't have meaning. If the MC gives them meaning, such as identifying the glowing man with his values or something, then that meaning can influence his life, regardless of whether or not that meaning stems from some superhuman source. If someone gives meaning to something, then it has meaning. Simple as that.
I wasn't saying that if you were replying to me that is.. Because I do agree that things can have meaning to someone regardless of their origin.
