1. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    Character Forgets Every Event Of The Story After It Happens

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Wasp, Jan 28, 2011.

    Okay So I'm Writing A Horror Novel About A Boy In A Mysterious Town Where All Kinds Of Horrible Things Happen. Murders, Cannibalism, Etc. (I Won't Get Into Too Much Detail In This Topic, And I Probably Won't Be Sharing It Here Unless Someone Gives Me A Thumbs Up To Either Post Or Link To It). The Boy At The Beginning Of The Story Finds His Father's Body After He Supposedly Committed Suicide. The Suicide, Without Getting Into Specifics, Involves Lots of Blood To Pool On The Floor, In A Room Located Above The Protagonist's Bedroom.

    It Is So Traumatizing That He Loses All Memory Of It Happening, However He Now Has Mental Lapses Where He Can See A Pattern On The Ceiling Where The Blood Was. The Story Is Called 'Stain', Being About The Various Horrific Incidents The Boy Uncovers And Then Forgets Because Of His Subconscious Repressing Them. A Part Of His Conscience, Which Fights To Get Him To Remember Everything And Hold On To His Sanity Forms The Titular Stains In His Life That Only He Can See.

    But My Problem Is That It Would Be Very Strange And In Bad Taste To Use The Memory Suppressing Trauma Over And Over Again, So I Am In Need Of Other Ways That Can Help Keep The Main Character Clueless To His Situation.

    The Reason I Need Him To Remember And Forget Is Because Of A Plot Twist I Am Planning To Include Where He Lost His Memory A Short While Before The Story Starts That The Reader Is Unaware Of Until It Is Revealed. All Other Memory Losses The Reader Will Know About.

    Thanks In Advance, The Wasp™
     
  2. R-e-n-n-a-t

    R-e-n-n-a-t New Member

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    I have no idea what direction you want to take this in, but here are some ideas:
    1. the air is toxic, and makes people who breathe it lose memories
    2. he has a hole drilled in his skull and a piece of brain removed as he sleeps
    3. his father's blood is poisonous in some way, and it makes him lose memories
    4. A creepy supernatural person erases his memories as he sleeps
    5. He's been brainwashed
     
  3. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    Thank You For Your Input. Out Of The List, The 1st And 5th Are Leaning Towards What I Was Thinking. The Story Has No Science-Fictiony Or Magical Aspects Except For Hallucinations. A Key Part Of The First Part (I Suppose You Could Call It An Arc) Is This Pure White Stone Building Called The Institute, Where The Protagonist Is Sent After Witnessing A Death.

    Also He Has Nightmares Every Night. Maybe I Could Involve This Somehow?
     
  4. Spacer

    Spacer Active Member

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    If you always write like that, it's difficult and distracting. If you don't always write like that, why did you do it for just this post?
     
  5. R-e-n-n-a-t

    R-e-n-n-a-t New Member

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    I have to agree with Spacer, starting every word with a capitalization is disconcerting.
     
  6. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    Please stop writing every word with a capital letter - it made me NOT want to read your post.

    Otherwise, loved your story idea - it sounds really interesting!
     
  7. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    Uh....

    I Am Sorry I Can't Quite Make Out What This Post Says
    Is It Really Necessary To Make Everything In Different Colors?
     
  8. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    It's A Program That I Can't Turn Off Turn Off.. Type Assist 2. It Makes Every Block Of Words Becomes Capitalized, But If-I-Type-Like-This,-It-Would-Fix-It,-But-Somehow-I-Know-It-Would-Be-Even-Harder-To-Read-Then.

    Nevermind It Didn't Even Work...

    But Anyways Can We Please Stay On Topic? What Is A Plot Device I Can Use For Memory Losses?
     
  9. kablooblab

    kablooblab New Member

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    I dont get why people care that the beginning letter of every word is capitalized i didn't even notice
     
  10. J_Jammer

    J_Jammer Banned

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    How can you not notice the capitals?

    This sounds a lot like Memento.

    A memory forgetting suggestion....make it part fantasy where he battles himself in his head over the memories that he won't let himself access.
     
  11. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    I Guess All Of These Memory Related Types Of Plot All Lead To That Kind Of Thing Eventually. Another Story I Am Trying To Write Has That Happen, Where The Protagonist Fights An Evil Version Of Himself For Control Of His Mind.

    But Anyways That's A Great Idea For This One Too. Instead Of Fantasy I Can Make It Some Kind Of Dark Hallucination Struggle Though, And It Turns Out The Dark Side Of Him Will Be Trying To Save Him. Thank You.

    And The Capitals Thing: I Type Something In Lowercase And It Jumps Into Being Capitalized After A Second. Type Assist 2 Is Very Dumb. I Wish I Could Set It To Capitalize Just The First Letter Of Every Sentence But It Hates Me. And It Is Always On.
     
  12. J_Jammer

    J_Jammer Banned

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    Google knows all answers....ask it and someone might know how to turn it off.

    But you don't have to say it's him who is blocking himself. You can make that a trick twist...and people will be like I know this...and then have the other. :D

    It's a good idea and I can see how it can be an emotional story toward the end.
     
  13. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    It's The Stains That Stop Him From Doing Things As They Are A Part Of Him. Also I Am Trying Out This Thing Where I Don't Name Any Of The Characters Except For The Main Character's Sister. She'll Also Be The Only One With Any Dialog Besides The Main Character.
     
  14. J_Jammer

    J_Jammer Banned

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    Why won't you name any of the characters?
     
  15. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    It's From The Protagonist's Point Of View So He Doesn't Know Anyone's Names And He Doesn't Say His Own Name.
     
  16. Spacer

    Spacer Active Member

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    That's the point I was making about the All Cap thing.

    It was disconcerting enough that I didn't read your post at all, but stopped after the first two lines.

    As for "Type Assist 2", I could not find it using Google.
     
  17. Unit7

    Unit7 Contributor Contributor

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    Thought I was the only one. I couldnt get the program to show up on google either.
     
  18. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    Um, Excuse Me But If You Didn't Even Read My Post And You're Not Going To Contribute, Please Stop Posting Irrelevance Into This Topic. Thank You.

    I Am Trying To Turn This Thing Off, My Computer Can't Recognize That It Is Running, Though I See The Icon Down On My Start Menu Toolbar.

    Anyways Am I Allowed To Make Another Topic? For A Different Story? I Couldn't Find Any Rules Against It. Stain Has Been A Work In Progress For Weeks, I Mainly Work On It In My Free Time Or Weekends.
     
  19. Islander

    Islander Contributor Contributor

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    Of course. There's no rule against creating new threads, as long as it's relevant.
     
  20. J_Jammer

    J_Jammer Banned

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    Does he give nicknames?
     
  21. Wasp

    Wasp New Member

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    In A Sense. Nothing Fancy Though, But That'd Be A Good Idea. It'd Give The Protagonist Some Characterization. Otherwise He'll Either Be Scared, Enraged, Or Sarcastic.
     

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