1. Shamik

    Shamik New Member

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    Need critical guidances for my YA Fantasy story Idea

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Shamik, Dec 6, 2019.

    Hi all,
    First of a sall, I'm a very new member of this forum. I'm personally a guy with lots of dreams. One of those dreams is writing a book. A book for kids(a YA actually), about the world of Indian mythology, which is no longer like the old days!

    Indian mythology has the richness of vast types of races, classes of magical and non- magical beings, has plentiful locations, unique characters and their purposes. All of these are no less than the caliber of 'Lord Of The Rings'(Tolkien). From my childhood I was interested in all these fantastic tales. I'm very introvert and hence a big bookworm! I read a lots of books involving mythology - be it fiction or nonfiction. But most(rather all) of the Indian novels related Indian mythology are just almost as is in those old original lores, just some tweaks here and there. Thus this entire genre gone boring to most of the audience including me! And when these myths are told such way, it is appealing to only those who know Indian mythology to some good extents. I've read all other mythologies(non fiction) as well. And there are many startling similarities between all of these. Indian Deva vs Asura are similar to Greek Olympians vs Titans, as they are in Nordic Aesir vs Vanir. Holy Trinity is available in many countrie's mythologies. There is a specific field of study called 'comparative mythology', which relates all these tales and tries to analyze their links.

    I want to tell a story that is universal in mythological pers. Which means, an European should understand the theme as easily as an Indian reader. Also, the story should be as familiar as our notmal life. I mean, we evolved so much from those Vedic Age(when those stories were written, nearly around thousand B.C.), why can't be the tales and that entire mythic universe evolve! So, in short, I'm trying to blend in Harry Potter with LOTR. I know it's a pretty tough job in itself. Plus I'm not a writer. But I'll still try my best.

    I have a basic plan for my story, and want to know if it's appealing or not. Following is the most basic description(probable One Sentence Summary) of my story that I'm planning to write. Please let me know, how much of curiosity or interest it can create in you!

    ""Strange things started happening on Earth ever since the invincible almighty Guardian in a magical world — kept hidden and isolated for millenniums to protect humankind — dwelt by gods and demons, was vanquished by an Evil power in his quest to become the next Guardian by devastating human lives, who could only be stopped by the Guardian himself!""

    Some more details - it's a dystopian setting. The entire world is decaying, losing it's energy as well as all technological advances. In many places on earth, new structures appearing and even geography is changing very fast. All countries have merged together to form an universal continent to deal with the situation. There is a strange disease spreading fast across the globe, and people are dying. Apart from the disease, a rumour is also spreading very fast - there are demons, lurking in dark, and probably emerging from those newly appearing structures.
    My central character is a brave tomboyish preteen girl, who would need to find out about her true goal for her life by learning and solving mysteries from myths and also by travelling to the fantastic world of heaven (and hell together!) - that's a lot different now than what we know from mythlogical lores - to make alliance with unique classes of beings, in order to save the earth and primarily her father(probably) from this mayhem.

    Please let me know whether it's a good concept in your critical review and please help me with guidance.

    Would be waiting for your feedback.

    Thanks,
    Shamik
     
  2. Cdn Writer

    Cdn Writer Contributor Contributor

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    Welcome!

    I am curious, how long is this book? Or is it supposed to be part of a series?

    My initial thought, take it with a grain of salt, is that you have a LOT of concepts for a YA novel. You may have to play around with how much of your world and myths are in each book and have them all be connected by a common theme but also be capable of standing alone.

    Dystopian setting...not my first thought when I read the sentence description - again, just me - I actually envisioned more a pre-adanced culture situation, think maybe 1000 a.d.? Stone Age, Bronze Age, Dark Ages, etc. Those time frames.

    One problem I have is that I have next to no familiarity with East Indian culture, myths or traditions. I don't know if India had a "bronze age" for example. The only thing that comes to mind when I think of India is that you have a caste system in that culture.

    This alone means that if you publish, I'll read it simply because I'd like to learn more about the Eastern side of the Earth.
     
  3. Kalisto

    Kalisto Senior Member

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    You've made up your mind on a concept. You just have to write it, have it critiqued, and see if your execution lives up to the promise. But on a concept alone? I can't think of anything else you'll need. My only advise is that you need to start trusting your audience's intelligence. Someone who is of European decent is not going to have a lick of difficulty understanding Indian mythology. It's not as well known, but it isn't hard either. Just as a person of Indian decent doesn't have any issues understanding the European folklore.

    The reason for that is because despite the many differences in cultures, the scope of the human experience isn't exactly all that different from one another. So long as you touch on the human experience, whatever gimmicks you add will not make much of a difference. Without that human experience, then you can add all the deities you want, but no one is going to care.
     
  4. cosmic lights

    cosmic lights Contributor Contributor

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    Ideas are cheap. They mean very little because it's mostly about the skill of the story-teller. You have your concept, all you need to do is start fleshing it out, and the only one who needs to like it is yourself.
     
    Kalisto likes this.
  5. AlbertAnims

    AlbertAnims Member

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    Honestly, this is a very cool idea. Now you just need to give it some more flesh(develop your main character and the plot, the setting, and or course other characters as well, and have it critiqued.
     

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