All right, I've been having a bit of trouble with fully fleshing out this story. If it even makes much sense. So far, it's about this woman who has been attending too many burial services (she has a big family, and her grandparents and great aunts/uncles are passing away) and is sick of having to go to them. She's struggling with her maid job and frets over money since her husband lost his job and has three kids. That's as far as I can go and I'm not even so sure if that's interesting enough to continue. I've been frustrated for days thinking about this story. What can I do with this?
It sounds good! Now before you worry about the plot, think about the woman. It's just me, really, but I always make a character who: Loves cheese Has a snorting laugh when upset Hates red wine Has four toes on her left foot And a right eye that twitches from time to time. Then I think, how would Twitchy here react to dead people? "Aw, gee, and I really loved the sucker." OR: "EWWEWEW!" OR: "I pine for you, my love!"
It's a decent setup, and it has potential, but it's not a plot. What is the core conflict of the story?
This sort of thing happens to me often - and by that I mean I come up with characters that fascinate me, but have no tangible storyline to place them in. My methods don't work for everyone, but in a situation like that I tend to just let the character/s rest for a while. Sometimes I will write a scene for them, as putting them on paper can help to see various possibilities for the direction the story can take. For the most part, though, I just allow them to develop over time and once I get to know them well enough, the characters' own logic tends to dictate the plotline of the story. I hope that helps, in some way.
why not make it a comedy and have her post an ad for her services as a 'professional mourner' who'll attend wakes and funerals of folks whose passing next-to-nobody will mourn?... and at one of her "client's" dos, she can even meet a potential solvent replacement for that layabout husband of hers!... i can see all kinds of possibilities based on your premise... btw, are the 3 kids her stepkids, per your wording, or was that a goof?...
I like that idea, but I don't think I want this story to take that direction. The three kids are her own. For the core conflict, of course it doesn't have one since I'm having trouble going deeper into this story. But thanks for the help guys, I think I can go along with this now.
I agree with mammamia, make it like an andy griffiths 'just _______' book. They are silly, but they are published and famous.
sounds like a comedy to me. Its hard to say since you didn't specify which genre it is; if it were a drama I think it would be too depressing to keep reader's interested, comedy however would be a twist that would have the opposite effect
Yes, it's definitely aimed to be a comedy. So right now, I'm brainstorming. For instance, the main character spikes peoples' drinks to have them loosen up. In this case it'll probably her family members or someone involving her job. But that might be too extreme. With her being a maid, I'm not sure if you make her have a direct breaking point, when she completely messes up the customer's house by putting pies on walls and such. Or should I just take the story to another direction instead of that? Excuse me if I'm being too complicated and stubborn. I'm writing this story for creative writing, and it's going to be one of my last ones since the class is ending in the last week of May. So I figured that I better make it good.
Where is the actual plot? Hello, Okay so you're main character is established but other than the fact she has buried most of her family where is the story going? Is this a story about her husband? does she love him, will she leave him? Is it about her triumphing in the face of adversity (losing her job too and starting a cmpany with her man)? Is it about her own mortality? I do really like your character though she already seems realistic let me know if you decide to go ahead with the story, i'd like to read it EL x
It sounds like a good initial set-up; I like the comedy idea, almost as an opposite take-off of the "always going to weddings" background that you see in so many stories and movies.
