Okay. So a book idea sort of. Originally I would have never thought of this as a book idea actually. But I recently wrote a little except and really enjoyed it.And it made me wonder if it is possible. So, if you haven't read any of my threads before. All my work is connected inside a universe I call "The Order". And I have an origin the universe by a god-like creature I call Mother. I essentially call her that becase she well, started the universe(birthed a universe?) Yet, a god as an MC? Really? It sounds like a horrible idea! I mean. She has specific dimensions that explain how she functions to create the universe. So I can't just redefine her to meet her own story requirements. So of the pitfalls. 1. She lives a LONG time. She does eventually die but a billion years is essentially like a month to her. Point being, she doesn't really have any friends. I mean, how could she? She blinks and they vanish! One potential exception. 2. She is immortal. Like a planet sandwich(a planet crashing into another planet with her in the middle) wouldn't even so much as break her arm. 3. Takes her a long time to learn it. But she eventually learns to be just as powerful as her immortality. In the sense she could easily crush entire planets. Okay, some pros. 1. She technically has an origin story herself. Like she was born, and back then she wasn't as tough. Her strength essentially scaled with age. Meaning if her strength is essentially killing her book MC potentially a younger verion could be used. Or rather, she has some relatability in her origin. 2. Her story is very tragic. Because her life is almost meaningless to her. She is lonely. And her dream becomes to spread happiness to others. And when your goal is to make creatures so much more fragile than you happy. That can be tough. The emotional trama her situation puts on her is the core to a story about her. As she must watch everything she loves and cares about just slide between her fingers like sand as she is cursed not be able to even kill herself. 3. Since she has a clear goal. She does actually eventually win. So there seems to be a very clear over arching plot there. In the sense that everytime she fails she learns somemthing more and applies it for her next try and eventually she wins. Like the villain in this case is indeed the situation and if she can have the mental strength to keep moving forward in spite of constant failure. Spoiler already given she does but a reader can't be sure of that. I have a lot of heartaching moments for her. So what do you think? Any tips about how you might go about this? My current thought is that it would almost be like a diary. In the sense that, limiting her to one mortal era really limits her. Her lessons were seperated by millions of years in many cases. So in this sense, a opening chapter might be her origins. And then phasing ahead to notable moments. Essentially seeing all the lessons she learned that helped her become the god that could create a universe. And since I already spoiled it. Yeah she dies. The trick is her final lesson was that she realized that her dream could be achieved, that her life force would be required. Which is in a sense meant to be a bittersweet ending to it. She spent her entire life(Hundreds of Billions of years) suffering because she couldn't die. Only to gain the will to live for the sake of her dream. A dream she had to die to create. Okay. Discuss! Something that should only be lore or something worth developing into a book?
I think the principal of this backstory is interesting, and pretty imaginative. That's what it is, it's backstory right? So if this story is too long for a prologue, then a book might fit it, but I think that this wouldn't have as much length to it as a regular book in your novel. The reason I say that is because it does have that one issue where the reader will know that she becomes that strong "god" in the future, the threat level is limited since you know how this turns out. Second reason I say this is because, as a reader, I often get bored with too much backstory when I really just want to continue with the main plot. That's just an opinion, and honestly I'm not exactly sure how I'd feel if I was reading this book since I have nothing to compare it to at the moment. I might be wrong, because I do love backstory, I just prefer it to be interlaced usually. The next thing I wanted to say was that you could make it a shorter book, and name it something that indicates this is a prequel to everything else in your novel. It won't look too long to read, but still has a lot of substance and can be included in a box set very easily. I know that I personally would read it then especially. I could also be alone in this opinion, so disregard all this if that becomes the case. lol Lastly, I would like to play devil's advocate against the idea entirely. I am not against the idea, but these are things that I would probably do instead if I was writing something like this in my story. I'd actually end up telling this backstory through ancient texts or through knowledge and tales that have been passed down, or maybe through some sort of "scripture" that people have written for this "god". I'm sure you could make it much more detailed than, say, a couple paragraphs here and there about trials and tribulations that the "Mother" went through as a youth. However, sometimes less is more, and just having this information spread throughout will bring a lot of depth to the world, without delving into something that some may find boring because they know how it ends up. The journey is fun sometimes though I suppose. It's like adding a seasoning to a dish, it's great to sprinkle some in, but if you serve a bowl of basil dumped next to the food, it'll be unwanted and just...awkward. lol So those are all my opinions. I think you should go for it, or at least make sure that you find some parts to put the story into your novel that are spread around. Could even turn it into a mystery underlying in the main story itself, something about the "Mother" that holds some importance in the plot, or to a character's story arch.
Oh I think you misunderstood something or I didn't explain it correctly. Yes she is backstory to the universe but she is never in the universe. She died before hand. And no one knows about her. Well maybe one exception but that guy didn't know about her exactly just speculated that someone like her must have existed. The premise to her story would have a normal story like idea to it. In the sense that you have this op protagonist in the sense of her physically abilities. And her journey. When I said like a diary I didn't mean like backstory. I meant lots of scene jumps. More like an anthologyof short stories that have an over arching plot. Because she learned her lessons over a vast time The support cast would never be the same. Which is the real fear. I think most audiences would call that the deal breaker. Did that make more sense?
Yep, makes more sense. I also agree, the cast always changing might get confusing, so would the scene jumps, and if she's the only constant character, then no one else would be relatable except her.
Not sure I agree there. I mean. The fact they don't repeat cuz they did of old age doesn't exactly mean they are crappy. If the full book is a collection of short stories. I assume the side characters(which might not always be there. A chapter could easily be her alone.) Can still be sympathetic even if they only get that one moment. Heck isn't that part of her tragedy. They die and she doesn't. And she misses all of them. The more days you see her have. The more people misses. Them being awesome adds to that feeling. Doesn't it?
It does, and I suppose it's in how you write it. What I meant was that they wouldn't have enough time in the book for the reader to truly care about them. They can certainly be excellent character written very well, but having enough time to care about a character is just as important as that character being good. I suppose it could work, though. Never really know until you try, I guess.
Just remember, a story is an account of somebody's battle with danger vs. desire; what does this Mother of the Universe want, and what is preventing her from getting it? What could possibly be a danger to a goddess? What could a goddess, in this circumstance, possibly desire that would put her in a situation where she would need to fight tooth and nail for it? Remember, its not just struggle for struggle's sake--it's overcoming adversity and real danger to achieve desire. If you can put all of that into a story where the main character is God, that'll be an awesome piece of writing!
Yep. I think I got that. If I didn't explain it well above. She basically saw one planet with a solid level of happiness that managed it by luck. She wants to see that be the standard not the rare. And the obsticule is she doesn't know how to do that yet. So she keeps trying, and keeps failing at first because while she is immortal. Human's aren't. Like she can lift planets but she can't stop the shifting sands from sliding between her fingers.
Bumping to see if anyone else is interested in commenting. I find this book idea fascinating and the more I think about it. The more I think it can work. Just.... A micro tiny line between amazing and crap. No too for errors! Which is why I am all the more interested in people views on if and how it can work.
I read Foundation (Asimov) recently and was struck by the length of time over which the story unfolds. I wasn't really feeling the characters all that much because they came and went, but the story remained compelling despite this. Think the structure helped. It's set out in five manageable parts; discrete episodes which aid comprehension of what might otherwise be an overwhelming barrage of events and information. ETA: Good luck with the project. If you enjoy it then go for it I reckon.
Bump. Hoping to get a bit more insight. @Wreybies Tagging you because you are awesome and I don't think I have seen your advice on my threads before. Thus I am curious! lol Also your the first user in the back of my head since ya gave me a like!
