My main character is a fourteen year old girl. The story takes place in a parallel world where people have magical abilities. Right now I have two problems concerning her. The first is her home situation. This girl has lived with her father ever since her mother died, but her father suddenly tells her that he has a job abroad and she cannot come with him. He is telling her that she would go and live with her grandparents (his parents) that live in the same city as the one he is about to leave. I am planning to have her move to her paternal grandparents and have them send her to their other son and his wife (her uncle and aunt) who also live in that city. The fourteen year old girl and her father have always had a strained relationship with the paternal family, but the father (who has always been an irresponsible person) doesn't care and sends his daughter to live with them. The problem is......... The girl actually has supportive grandparents and an aunt on the maternal side of the family, but they live hours away (on the other side of the country). What would be the reason for her not living with them? She will hate living with her paternal family and I am sure (if she asked) that her maternal grandparents would let her live with them. What can be the reason for her to not try and run away and live with her maternal grandparents? Is the fact that she doesn't want to move away from her friends and her city believable enough? If you ask me why I won't let her live with her maternal grandparents......... The reason for that is that her paternal uncle's wife (her aunt) will play an important role in the story and that won't happen if she lives on the other side of the country. And I want to show her unhappy life situation and family situation. The second problem is her "fate". The girl finds out that her aunt plays part in something really big and the aunt is a guardian of some magical amulet that is protecting the world around them. The problem is that the fourteen year old girl will be the main character and she will embark on a quest and defeat the one(s) trying to steal that amulet (and some other related amulets). But what can be the reasons for her aunt letting her "join the quest" or even wanting her/forcing her to join the quest? My character is not a guardian of any amulet. And I don't want to use the "chosen one/prophecy about a chosen one that will save the world" thing, because I find that clichéd and I will leave gods, prophecies and "religious things" out of the story.
First problem: Easy, her maternal grandparents are dead. They don't even need to be mentioned. Your readers are going to want a story, so don't have your MC dwell on her maternal family. If it's not ESSENTIAL to the story line (I get the impression from what you've said that it isn't), then leave it out. If you need her maternal grandparents/family for later on in the story, simply have the MC state that her paternal family told her they were dead and then later explain they were lying. There are endless possibilities, but I think the most simple and effective one would just to leave the maternal side of her family out of the story completely. Second problem: A little trickier. If I were you I'd change the Aunt's position in the story. Have the MC find the amulet accidentally, and perhaps have the Aunt on the opposite side (as in trying to steal the amulet) or if you need her on the same team, have the Aunt tell the MC that she'd been hunting for the Amulet for a while now but had not been successful. Then the MC would accompany the Aunt simply because she was the one who happened to find it. If the relationship between the Aunt and your MC is particularly strained, have your MC blackmail her Aunt (either with the Amulet, i.e "I won't give it to you unless I can come on the Quest" or "I saw you kissing so-and-so, if you don't let me come, I'll tell your husband" or hopefully something less cliche' Hope I was of some help!
I'm with cupcake on the first problem. As for how she joins the quest, could you make the Aunt trick her into joining the quest by claiming there is something in it for her, maybe some link to her dead mother? Maybe she could go into it thinking that her Aunt is trying to help her discover her roots when in fact she is using her to protect the Amulet and defeat her enemies for her?
First Problem: Just don't include them outright. You may want them for another part of the story and adding that she's been lied to might chance something that you may not want to deal with later on. If the time comes that you're ready to introduce the maternal part of the family and decide you want it to be a lie. Then introduce that. Second Problem: This is what takes creative thinking. Here are a list of reasons for your MC to be involved. --The family has always protected and duties are passed down to daughters. Aunt is barren. --Girl notices aunt has been acting strange and follows her and sees more than she should. --Wrong place wrong time and Girl gets sucked into plot during a heist. --Aunt gets injured and needs girls help. --Girl accidentally breaks artifact and only the person who break it can re-assemble it --Give the aunt some sort of weakness that the girl can do better (temporary blindness from the people trying to steal or something, who knows) The problem here is we are only given a fraction of the information of your story. You are the only one who can come up with the proper solution.
