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  1. goldlioness

    goldlioness New Member

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    Kicking it off

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by goldlioness, Dec 22, 2008.

    Hello all, I am trying to establish a plot. all I have got so far is

    In a story about generations a girl discovers that her mother wasn't as boring as she thought. She learns that her mother is a Wiccan, andthat her seemly Christian grandmother was one too. She discovers that her mother is the leader of a centrury old coven. The order of the black rose is a linige that is passed through mother and daughter. All the members of the coven are ancestors of a group of people born 700 years before. But why was there group established then. What are they protecting or fighting against. The girl decides to learn about her ancestors and discovers more then she wanted also why is she drawn to the mysterios anna. Why when they meet they embrace each other like long lost sisters. And yet at the same time she would sooner killer her. And also why does anna were a pentegram is she. Wiccan also?
     
  2. goldlioness

    goldlioness New Member

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    what I was meant to say was I am stuck at the plotting part would writing the 700 year ago history help (It is very important to the story) or would you write about the characters first
     
  3. Milady

    Milady Active Member

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    You don't want to infodump.

    A lot of people who have backstory like that tend to try and establish it in a prologue of sorts, before we even get around to meeting the characters, so at that point we go, "Who cares?".

    Assuming that the main part of the action happens in the present, you would start with the girl, and provide the reader with information about the history as she learns it.

    Now, you said the story was about Generations. Another idea, but one that would take much plotting on your part, would be to split the novel in half, and write the first half about the history and the second half about the girl. Of course, this would require you to have enough material about the history to fill up half a novel. It would also require you to find a character (perhaps a direct ancestor of the girl?) to follow through the first half of the book, and you would have to plot it like a novel of its own to avoid it being a giant prologue.


    My two cents. Do with them what you will.
     
  4. tehuti88

    tehuti88 New Member

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    You can write the history or about the characters if you feel it will help you generate plot ideas, BUT, that doesn't mean you have to include the history or the character info in the story itself. The "infodump" has already been mentioned. Usually when one presents a "history" of anything, they're presenting an infodump, which most readers despise. So don't be afraid to brainstorm about your world and write what will help you figure things out, but don't feel you have to include EVERYTHING you write in the story. Get the plotting and figuring things out out of the way first. Then try getting to the story, which is a separate thing. Lots of people write up histories and character profiles but they do not include such matter in the story; they just do it to help learn about their story more.

    Or you can do like I do and just start writing it and see where it ends up, why these things you've mentioned are so. Works for me. Not for everybody, but it's a thought.
     

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