I'm sure I'm not the first to have this problem, but eh, I figure what the heck. Might as well. I've got this brilliant idea, and I know those of you who were in band will love it. A book about marching band. There are so few of them out there! So I decided that for NaNoWriMo, that was what I was going to do. I invented some characters since my stories are mostly character-driven, and then let the fingers fly on November 1st. ...The only problem is that I have absolutely no clue where I'm going. The book mostly focuses on Elizabeth, who's a member of the front ensemble. She moves to a new school and has to make new friends, which she does. However, the drum-line captain, Tristan, declares his love for her almost the instant he sees her. While she tries to push him away, he's ever persistent. Her new friends try to stand up for her, but Tristan pays them no mind. All he cares about with her. (I want to give Tristan some sort of dark at-home situation, but nothing really comes to mind that's not cliche or overused.) Then there's a subplot. Elizabeth befriends Kyle, the drum major. Kyle's an off-key kind of guy, but there's something about him that just attracts women. Unfortunately, the woman he loves already has a boyfriend. You wouldn't know that Kyle and this girl, Renee weren't dating until they actually said it to your face - they just act like they are, minus the whole hand-holding and kissing bit. I want there to be some sort of resolution where his love for her is redirected at another girl, but I'm still unsure as to where I exactly want it to go. So, I guess what I'm asking for is ideas? I need some sort of way to kick it off... I've introduced all of the characters minus Renee. And so far it's been pretty dang slow. Anybody got any advice? Thanks~
Hmmm... I'm sure there is some kind of band competition against other schools. Maybe build some kind of conflict from that. Perhaps there's a specific school that always wins "first place" (I don't even know if that's how they score band competitions). Or, I know band and football are intertwined together in highschool. And high school football is a big deal in Texas (that's where it says you are from, I dont know if that's where the story is set... by the way high five for living in Texas lol). So... maybe all of this relationship drama is going on and behind it all there is a football season where they are in a race for the state championship. Or... presumably these people are seniors and about to graduate and you could create some conflict with the whole "what college am I going to go to" thing. Maybe someone is in danger of not graduating so they have to help him study? Those are the only things I can think of off the top of my head. But hopefully it triggers something in your own mind that you can use.
