As is often said about great figures in history who have passed away, their legacy transcends them and in that sense they are still 'alive' every time they are remembered. This got me thinking, what if every time I listen to a musician who is dead, they are alive somewhere else, in another dimension or universe, performing that song just for me? My concept is this - my main character somehow stumbles upon a large waiting room (imagine an airport gate, or a waiting room in a large train station) where all of the musical greats who have died are gathered and sitting around, chit-chatting and passing the time just as anyone would who was waiting in a large waiting room. Every so often, one of them is 'called' and they pick up their instruments and head down the gate, as though they were getting on a plane or train, but in reality they are going to perform for someone who has...say...selected them on their iPod or popped in a DVD of a concert. I don't know where to take this idea or what to do with it. How has my main character found himself in this waiting room? How does the story progress? In what dimension is this waiting room located? How do Miles Davis and Kurt Cobain get along while sitting next to each other? Any ideas or tips for strengthening this story would be appreciated.
Most of those questions you have to answer yourself. But the concept is cool but some artists I doubt would ever have time to just chitchat because of how many people would be listening to their work on their ipods and such. But maybe that's getting to technical. lol
This. There would have to be hundreds of dimensions, each with a different version of John Lennon, for example. He'd look different in most of them, wearing whatever clothes with whatever hair style he had during the recording session or whatever. And what about the recording artists that are still alive? Are they also found as incarnations of themselves in these waiting rooms? I mean, there's a few holes there. And why is the character there in the first place? Are they a recording artist?
I say write it. Why not! At the very least it would be in line with any given Twilight Zone episode. It's an idea worth exploring as long as you don't rely on the mechanics of it too much because as shown by the posts above it won't hold water. But the most entertaining ideas rarely do.
A story concept means nothing. I can tell you now, it has all been done before. What matters is how you write it, the characterization, the flow, the imagery, all of it. There's no benefit in asking what other people think of the concept! They'll either say,"Sounds great," or, "it sounds like a ripoff of..." If the idea stirs you, write it. Then ask people what they think of the final story. After they tell you what they don't like about it, revise it, usually several times, until you're happy with it or until you throw up your hands and say the hell with it. Please read What is Plot Creation and Development? There's a story there if you MAKE a story out of it. Contrary to myth, a story isn't contained in the initial concept. The story is what you hammer out word by word, sentence by sentence.
Harry Potter did something similar by having the pictures magican and alive. Maybe this is something like that? So it's not the actual artist chitchating and playing, but more of an essence of him or her. (and what about bands, btw?) That way there could be hundreds of thousands copies of an artist, even if he or she is still alive. No idea what the story would be, though.
Perhaps the reason that main character finds himself in this dimension or place is because he is in fact a famous musician who had just died. Maybe you could end the story with his name being called for him to perform and leave it at that without explanation. Or maybe the main character is in the dimension because he is there to replace the current person who calls up the names of the musicians who is retiring. Maybe this place is located in/on a sound wave. Or maybe it is the dimension of time where they do not age. The dimension of time where a large amount of time passes for them and a small time passes for the living world (this could get around the hole of many people listening to a song at the same time). Just some suggestions, you do not have to use them by any means.
Ok your idea sounds AWESOME! I'd read it personally! Anyway, it sounds like one of those modern plays that analyses human nature etc. It sounds like the setting of a classic, basically. Instead of worrying too much about a plot, think about the characters. What do each artist represent? What do their music represent? You can use this idea to delve into the concept of memory, being remembered and being forgotten - does being remembered "keep you alive"? Why do people cling onto "keeping people alive"? Look into the pain that comes with being forgotten (eg. have one musician who sits there and the last time he was called was 10 years ago, or something) - look into the idea of being "remembered" - is that the same as being "loved", or is it "worship" people are after? Why do they play at all? Why do they all wait in this waiting room? What do they live for? In the end, is there any point in living for other people? Is fame and glory really what satisfies? And what does music mean to the people outside? Why do they play these tracks? There're stories behind them - some tracks should get played a hundred times over and others only a few times, and still others will never be played. You can draw parallels between what the listener interprets of the music, what it means to him verses what the musician himself meant by it. Is there still "meaning" if the creator didn't intend it?
The idea does sound quite interesting, but you should not listen to such a thing, because the story is entirely your choice to write or not. My only thought on the topic, is maybe your stressing putting it into an actual long story format or such. Perhaps for now, all you need to do is write this one scene out as if it was in a story. Once you have it written out, then perhaps over time you can find other ideas that'll work with it. In a way it will be like building a tower with those little lego blocks. At first you must start out with one simple piece, then over time you find other pieces that'll come together and start to take shape. Until finally, you have your finished tower to show off. It's not a bad thing to try, I actually do it a lot, with a lot of my stories. I take one single piece or idea, write it out completely, then let it stand alone. Over time other ideas will come forth, and before I know it I have a complete story to work from. So this is my only suggestion, hopefully it can help clear some of the confusion you may be feeling.
I for one think this would be interesting if you did it as a sort of half-fiction biography thing. For example, you could have the musicians chit chat about stories from their lives, maybe stories that a lot of people don't know about. So, a fictional story that is still educational in a way...
