Hey everyone. I'm working on a short novel. The story is about a young woman who is 21 years old. She right away in the first chapter in which she describes her brutal rape and death. The point of view and narration will change throughout the story. Only half of the woman's relatives cared for her the other half didn't. Some chapters will be told through the eyes of those who actually loved and the grief they are going through after the death. Other chapters will be told through the eyes and thoughts of people who never gave the time of day when she was alive and the chapters will show their regret over treating her badly. What do you guys think of my ideas?
A story concept means nothing. I can tell you now, it has been done before. What matters is how you write it, the characterization, the flow, the imagery, all of it. There's no point to 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 this thread about What is Plot Creation and Development? (and yes, this is a template post, which should give you an idea of how often this comes up.)
I agree the concept has been done. But I'm trying to focus on grief that half of the people share and the regret that the other half shares. I'm thinking about my story into maybe 300 page book. I'm still in the early stages at this point. I'm basing this story on a friend who of mine who died when he was 14. He was a really good kid but at school he used to get teased by some kids. When he died his friends really took it hard and the kids who teased him really regretted what they did to him. With the story I want to make the audience think about how the way they treat people can come back to haunt them.
It doesn't change my answer. Plot summaries are worthless, other than for the writer to have a starting point. If you write it well. it will work. If not, it won't. The important thing is, does it inspire YOU enough to put the work into developing it?
Considering how many 4-5 hundred page novels there are these days, 300 can seem short. But the word count is what really matters.
regardless of word count, which i agree the poster should be thinking about and not page count, a 300 page book is still the 'norm' and not 'short' by any yardstick...
I'd just like to point out that some of the most inspirational books ive ever read have been quite thin. For example, the wasp factory (iain banks) and shirker (chad taylor), aswell as "i'm not scared" (Niccolò Ammaniti) are not that long, but they're gripping. It's not how much you write, but rather how well you write it.
