Hi everyone! I am new here, this is my very first post and I thought it appropriate to ask for your help! I need to brainstorm with you all fresh and unique ideas in regards to the character in my novel who is a twin and "disappears." What I mean by this is that his entire family, the police, everyone has no idea where he is or if he's alive or dead etc. He just dropped off the face of the earth, theoretically speaking. I need to figure out a unique and interesting motivation for this to happen. I've written and rewritten the motivation but it always comes out cliche. I want the motivation behind his disappearance to be realistic, but it seems no matter which way I write it, it always come out feeling like it's all been done before. So I'm throwing out a limb, hoping someone here will grab on and give me a hand. Thank you in advance!!
What if the other twin got snatched from a hospital as a baby? Or, when the twins were kids, they were playing at a park or somewhere and Twin 1 just went away for a minute (like to go to the bathroom or get an ice cream from the ice cream truck) and when he came back, Twin 2 had vanished.
From the way you wrote your post, it sounds to me like your character's disappearance was his own decision. If this is the case, perhaps you need to understand your character more fully? I am in favor of characterization driving plot, but there are other ways of handling it, too. . Keep in mind that "everything" has been done before - therefore, the only thing that's left is for you to explore why your characters do the things they do and to forget about the "everything" else factor. It just doesn't exist.
You are correct, he leaves of his own volition. I thought I understood him, but I don't fully. It's also not his story to be told so maybe that's why I can't figure out what the best "scenario" for his leaving is. His disappearance plays heavily into one of my other characters though which is why I need to figure it out. My gut instinct is to go with something that I ran by another writer friend-his response was that no matter how well I wrote it, it would come out looking like a Nicholas Sparks rip-off ( I do NOT want that!) Perhaps his comments tainted my ability to think positively about my initial theory of his disappearance.
If it's not his story, it can still come up if he explains it to someone, so you should still work on developing something. Depending on his age, maybe he leaves because his twin would be in danger if he didn't. Perhaps he just really wanted to run away. It could possibly be just as simple as that first, and as you get to know your character suddenly you'll realize why he ran away. As for being a rip-off, I don't necessarily think it would be unless it was incredibly similar. All great stories are told time and time again, just with different characters, different settings, and a different voice telling it (i.e. the author writing it). I wouldn't necessarily worry too much about your story being a rip-off unless it is...but I assume that you're not writing it like that.
He embezzled from his "connected" boss. Either he disappeared of his own volition, or went the way of Jimmy Hoffa. It matters not that he is a twin. Of course, with the twin angle, you can probably come up with much better. Use your imagination - it's supposedly YOUR story!
Joe Hill - Horns This is a great example for you. The MC was dumped by his lifelong girlfriend just before she was murdered. He was outcast by the town and lived for years in confusion and self-loathing. SPOILER: Supernatural content aside, I cried my eyes out when I found out she simply wanted to spare him the pain of watching her die slowly of cancer. Worse still, his nice-guy brother, the man everyone adores (including the MC) made an advance on and then killed her violently. oh man. *sigh
Could the absent twin be running on instinct, only to find out something like: ... ... they're really TRIPLETS! that was horrible. Sorry.
Perhaps the disappearing twin found out some family secret and couldn't bring himself the be around the people he's supposed to love, knowing what he knows. Perhaps he left because he messed with the wrong people and, if they found out where he lived, his family would be in danger, so it would be better for him to disappear than put his loved ones at risk. Maybe he finds out he has a terminal illness and believes that leaving would be preferable to putting his family through months of misery watching him die. Just a few ideas. Hope they help!
