...And she was magically healed! lol In the story I'm writing now I have a man that's "mage marked": that is, he has one brown eye and one green eye (Kind of like a husky if you've ever seen those.) Because he's a mixed mage (has a father that's a mage and a mother that is not) I wanted to give him some sort of magical something-or-other, but not a whole lot. My idea is to give him magic, but no control over how it presents itself. While talking to one of my friends about this, he suggested (in a joking manner) that I make this "mage-marked" man have magical body fluids. The idea sounded really stupid at first, but the more I got to thinking of it, the more I thought of cool ways that I could twist it and play around with it. ie: How he discoveres this unusual gift is through kissing. The first girl he kisses literally gets drunk off of it, causing a whole fiasco at their village and stuff. To annoy his mother, he would pee on her flower garden, thinking that in doing so he would succeed in killing her flowers. Instead he makes them grow. When he leaves home, the garden withers and dies. In one scene, one of my MCs is overcome by an infection in his arm. A healer says that they have to cut off the limb in order to save his life, but the MC refuses. My "mage-marked" man waits until the MC is overcome by fever, and then uses spit-soaked rags to clean out the wound. (Almost has a hydrogenperoxide result: lots of fizzing and bubbling.) Towards the end of the story, I want to have my "mage-marked" man get injured. He will be bleeding, no a lot but enough that droplets are falling to the ground. Wherever a drop of blood falls, a flower/sprout grows, leaving a green path for my MCs to follow to find him. So here's my question (Drum roll, please)... Do you think this is an interesting/original idea for a character, or do you think it's dumb and that I shouldn't use it? ANY AND ALL THOUGHTS APPRECIATED!
Yes, it's a very interesting idea. Blood is often used as a source of magic in myths. Urine was used to sterilise wounds in real life, so it would make sense if he used that for wounds. It would be obvious how he discovered his urine had healing properties. (Urine is so sterile it's still a recommended way to clean wounds if you don't have access to soap and clean water.) It may give your story a realistic, gritty feeling, but if that's what you want, go for it. Just make sure you want to go where your idea takes you. Sooner or later (probably sooner) someone with that ability would ask himself what effect his other bodily fluids had, and the temptation to experiment must be very strong.
It's your story and your idea. One thing I have come to understand is that it doesn't really matter if you are original or not. Waht matters is that you tell your story. If your story involves a man who has magic fluids, then use it. Someone else, somewhere has already done that idea. Maybe it hit mainstream, maybe it never made it on to paper, but new ideas in creative writing are rare. Maybe someone else had the idea but not the gumption to do anything with it, you never know. Point is, it is your idea, you run with it, and you make it work.
It's a cool idea, but don't ask for verification...it's your story, and you alone own it, not us, so don't seek our approval to write what you want to.
My current main character would vomit if you spat on him lol It maybe original or you may one day realise where your idea came from. It sounds like it will be fun to write.
Just write your darn story, already! If you write it well, you will make this a good idea. If you write it badly, you will make it a bad idea. An idea itself is an empty vessel. What matters is what the writer fills it with. Give an idea to a good writer and he'll turn it into gold. Give it to bad writer and he'll turn it into garbage. I have to admit that I wish people would stop posting ideas here and asking us if they're good. I wish people would just write their stories well, and by doing so, make us believe that their ideas are great.
True that you don't get a nervous little, "this is a story about a dude who spits on people to cure them" on the front cover with a worried look like, "is that okay?"
Having said that bouncing ideas and asking for opinions can help make the story better. I often ask stupid little questions but they improve my work. For the blokes just imagine it like a conversation in the ladies
Yes -- and drool over a mag with a picture of Patrick Dempsey on it, or whatever guy is the current flavor of the month McSteamy!
Ha ha! Oh man, you guys are awesome! Thank you all for your feedback. (Side tangent.... Mmmmm, McSteamy.....) Like Elgaisma said, I like to bounce ideas around becuase it helps make my story better. I will admit sometimes I do it for validation, but in general I truly and honestly want unbiased feedback. For me to mention this idea to one of my friends, all I would get would be either jokes or "It's sounds sooo good!" That's not helpful to me at all! I'm excited to see what I can do with my mageman's talent. Maybe I'll have him bottle his fluids and sell them in a shady spot tucked away in some alley. The possibilities are endless And I totally agree with you guys: good writing can make or break an idea. I'll just have to not let myself down :redface:
ha ha glad we could help. I know how you want validation. You constantly want to really know if something sounds good or acceptable. You need a sharp critique not a yea-sayer. Good luck with that. P.S. I don't like McSteamy. But I do like Robert in Enchanted. (Sorry, another tangent.)
Well I'll give ya a little validation if you like. I sorta liked the backstory even if it gave me a little heebie jeebie because its bodily fluids. That last little bit though, I gotta say brought a picture of him in my mind. Sort of a starving artist, college student mageman that turns into a snake oil salesman to make it through the week. He's not proud of doing it but when it comes to food or hawking your stuff on the corner ya gotta pick one right?
You seem to apend a lot of time drooling and thinking other people are drooling, Tessie. You should get that seen to! I like this idea a lot. Don't really see the slightest thing wrong with these sort of threads. Would sooner read a well-written novel, populated with believable characters, with good ideas than a well-written novel, populated with believable characters, with bad ideas. Asking for validation here, and looking for refinements is no different than asking about language use, character building elsewhere. As Elgaisma often mentions, tis a forum (not a fixed resource) and talking often leads to good things.
Katie, Just to let you know, Even though you asked me earlier on this idea, i think I'll tell you what I Think. It is definitely a interesting idea, weird though. If you want as many different people as you can to love your book, Then the fluids mageman might turn a few people away. It is a really far out idea, It might make people not finish your book due to simple bizzarity.
I understand where you are coming from with this, but I respectfully disagree. If we start writing to please other people we will end up pleasing no one. Don't get me wrong, I like it as much as anyone else when others like my work, but when I'm writing, the only person who has to be happy with it is me. If I don't write for myself first, and run with the concepts that work for me, then I might as well open up a copy of whatever is on the top of the best seller list this week and start copying.
