To those of you who have been other-wisely helping in my endeavors to write my super hero novel, THANK YOU. If not, here is the jist of my story-- My main character. Ty (short for Taylar) Age 16 Power: Force fields, shooting little forcefeild things, and she can levitate from her hands and her feet. Basically she doesn't want her power at all. She found out about it while trying to commit suicide. She doesn't know how to handle the power, it pretty much takes control of her and fights off whatever is in her path. Her body makes up for what her brain lacks, so to speak. Now here is where I need you My "villain". I really don't want to have one of those villains that just seem stupid or cliche, my one goal is to actually stay away from the cliche as much as possible. I really loved the Joker, but I want a villain that does evil deeds for a reason, not just for the hell of it. Here are my ideas so far, do you have anything to add? - A professor or scientist of some kind, trying to capture Ty to strap her down and run tests on her. - He hasn't actually attacked her yet, just sent people to frighten or try to capture her FOR him. - He's not afraid to hit below the belt-- he just tried to take out Ty's best friend. - He DOESN'T have any kind of super power at all, he really doesn't even have that many weapons/plans to capture her. The reason that he has a chance of succeeding is because he is reckless. Help? I need to either change plans completely (Lemme know how I can change my idea or somewhat alter it so it works better...?) or figure out a way to make this work with a well rounded Villain.
Just curious, do you actually need a villain? I haven't followed your polling the site and I obviously don't know your plot, but after reading the description of your main character, it sounds like that's all you need for the plot. To quote John Brunner, "The raw material of fiction is people. The essence of story is change." Your MC is already experiencing change, perhaps turning her mind from suicide to superhero can be enough of a story? If not, instead of one villain aiming solely at her, why not have a curious government who's trying to help (from their eyes) continually harass her? Just an idea.
Here's my only problem with not having a villain. I have two chapters done and am basically out of plot. i don't know where to go without introducing something/someone to cause some tension/make it so that Ty doesn't just figure this out and go on her merry way. The idea of government is interesting. What about a branch of the government that is trying to figure out things about her with one major character running it that, in her eyes (as you say) is a Villain?
I love that she attempted suicide & hates her powers. She's almost an anti-hero. I'll bet it'll be a unique read. The first thing I thought was: what if someone, a superhero or someone who wants to be one, learned about her and wanted to help her/be her sidekick, and gets her into terrifying heroic situations that she hates, and/or foils her every step of the way due to stupidity? You could do the scientist thing too. Maybe put a spin on it. Like, maybe the scientist keeps sending crazy people/catastrophes her way to measure her reactions.
I agree with Oz. Are you sure you are out of plot in just two chapters? With a character with so much internal conflict (as you describe it, she's basically fighting with her own body making her body/her powers the antagonist), I wonder if maybe you've glossed over a few points.
