About an orphan girl named Lottie. She's been diagnosed with schizophrenia because she has too-real hallucinations about monsters. One night, she's on the roof of the orphanage she's lived in for a year with her best friend, Grace Cunnings. Grace admits to being a lesbian and liking Lottie, but Lottie doesn't feel the same way, and then a flying monster attacks them and Grace ends up falling off of the roof. Lottie is accused of murdering Grace, but since there is no legitimate evidence, she doesn't get arrested - only sanctioned by the court to live in a recluse home for troubled children named Grapes. Grapes is run by two wardens - Miss One and Miss Five. She meets the aloof dyslexic Jules, strikes up animosity with Factitious disordered Priya and Kleptomaniac Meredith, and starts up a friendship with Pyromaniac Sam. Then that same night, Lotties is awoken by a music box tinkering. She sees Sam getting out of bed in a sleepwalking state, so she follows her out the door. In the hallway all the children are awake and look similar to Sam's condition. They file out of the dorms and enter through a large off-limits black door. It takes them to a forest. Lottie watches Ms. One and Ms. Five murder Sam and put her blood into a statue of a horned creature, and then is chased by the children, but Jules saves her. The next day, she wakes up to realize all evidence of Sam gone - as if she'd never existed. She sets out to find the truth of what really happened.
It sounds like a good start. Do you have a plot and conclusion in mind? Keep outlining. I think it could be a decent story.
how old are they? I thought they were children, but to be able to consciously identify as lesbians (understand the value of sexual identity enough to spell it out, and know it is important to identify with it to be able to move into action declaring her love) seems to me it calls for at least early teens. But if Grace finds herself wanting more from Lottie in ways that to her are natural, but Lottie realizes there is something more than just friendship then being children can work. But maybe I am wrong and this is just my assumption.
You'll get various versions of this same advice any time you ask a question like yours on WF: "It isn't what you write; it's how you write it." I (very respectfully) disagree. While execution is probably more important, a premise can be good or bad all on it's own, and I think yours is good so far.
I'm pretty sure though if you gave me and Stephen King a bad plot, his would be at the very least readable.
Stephen King is one of the greatest plot generators of all time. His problems are more in execution. I imagine King with bad plots would not be very enjoyable at all since he struggles over the finish line with amazing plot set ups. A good plot should grab people's attention like a movie pitch. It should be able to be reduced to a sentence or two. King writes about this in his book where he says most plots should be interesting 'what if....?' questions. If the premise doesn't sound interesting based on this, it might not be a good story.
Still, almost all of his novels could be reduced to a plot idea that would sound compelling in a sentence or two. This is what the OP ultimately wants and it's a fair question. It's true that some stories and novels can be great without a particularly interesting plot, but that isn't what this thread is about and it certainly is not the case for King's work.
Well, we'll have to differ on that. And honestly? Most plot ideas posted on this forum could be interesting, as long as they're well executed. And most of them are not complete plots, but starting points or hooks, as is the case with this one. How the complete plot plays out will have a role in determining whether it will be interesting or not.
I agree with the basic idea. 'Two people wait for someone to arrive' isn't exactly a compelling plot, but that's waiting for Godot - well executed. Other plots sound awesome just from a sentence or two. Maybe because they are very creative or inventive story ideas.
