1. Dirtrackfan3DH

    Dirtrackfan3DH Member

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    Story Idea

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Dirtrackfan3DH, Jun 2, 2017.

    thinking of writing a story with a background like the show the Bachelor..is that a dumb idea any input on names also would be helpful! I'm gonna be looking for a male name and 20 female names!
     
  2. amerrigan

    amerrigan Active Member

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    You'll have to elaborate on the plot a little more if you want feedback.

    Is the guy the protagonist, or is it one of the girls trying to win, or is it just the tv show turned into a novel?
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2017
  3. Walking Dog

    Walking Dog Active Member

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    An idea alone is reason enough to write. Play around with it. I generally choose easy-on-the-tongue names. Search online name databases, look in printed phone books, or search actor databases. Actors often change names to something more interesting than the ones they were born with.
     
  4. Dirtrackfan3DH

    Dirtrackfan3DH Member

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    The guy is the protagonist basically it would be like the show the bachelor where there's one guy and at the end he picks one girl after countless weeks of eliminating women and proposes to the one girl in the end
     
  5. dragonflare137

    dragonflare137 Member

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    All great things start with an idea. Your idea here can become something great, but only is you shape it to be that way. I think this could be an amazing basis for a story, you just have to flesh it out some more and mold it. Think about stuff that you want to see in it, figure out a problem and solution. Maybe take this and create an unusual spin of it. Who knows, there are so many ways you can take this. You just have to pick the one you want the most and make it something you are proud of.
     
  6. Dirtrackfan3DH

    Dirtrackfan3DH Member

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    Thank you for the advice the good words mean a lot!
     
  7. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Well, as someone who's written a book based on a TV competition show, I feel you when it come to the overwhelming process of having to assemble an realistic ensemble cast out of your own imagination. I guess my first question would be if you actually watch The Bachelor and other shows like it? My fictional TV competition was based heavily on the cooking competition shows I watch voraciously - Top Chef, Master Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Chopped, etc. The more details and nods you can make to actual shows like this, the more the readers will feel like they're watching the season unfold with every page.

    As for names (I needed 12 chefs and 4 judges for my main cast), I came up with the age/background of each character first, then researched common names for those birth years, ethnicities and cultures (www.behindthename.com) is my go-to website for naming inspiration). I also try to chose names that seem to fit the physical image I have in my head of the character, though that's an inexact science to say the least.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2017
  8. Dirtrackfan3DH

    Dirtrackfan3DH Member

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    Ya I watch the bachelor, bachelorette, and bachelor in paradise so that's kinda what gave me the idea for it..your advice for the ages and background really helps cause each character has to have an age and career
     
  9. amerrigan

    amerrigan Active Member

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    I don't watch it, but I live in a small flat and its been on a lot while I'm at home. From what I can tell from what I've seen in my peripheral vision - the show is told mainly from the point of view of the contestants, while the 'prize' is kept a little bit more distant. I'm not saying that they are entirely void of connection in the show. I just think, when it comes to writing it, it would be easier to create an emotional connection with the people who are trying to be given a rose. Mainly because the first thing anyone ever tells you about creating a protagonist is to give them a desire, something they want, and the contestants have a clear goal in mind: 'the prize' and very clear antagonists (the other contestants), while the prize itself has a desire to find someone that fulfills concepts of 'true love' or 'the one' - so they are a little more vague and unclear, and have no clear antagonist.

    I'm not telling you it's a bad idea to make the guy the protagonist, I'm saying it is the harder path, and possibly the more interesting as a result of this.

    Having him as the protagonist, you would have to deal with writing his internal thoughts, and what he thinks during the process of being on this show, in order to write the narration.

    However, you could either choose to narrate the experience of being on a reality show, or you could choose to remove the 'show' aspects altogether, and end up with a hilarious romance novel that has twenty love interests.

    Either way, I feel that both would be an interesting book to write and read.

    For my tastes, I would watch the twenty love interest version if it were made into a comedy movie. But I'm not a member of this genre's audience.
     
  10. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    If you like your idea because you think that it reflects well on you for having been smart enough to come up with it, then it's probably a dumb idea.

    If you like your idea in the sense that you wish somebody else had thought of it first so that you could be reading it already, then it's probably a good idea ;)

    Were you watching when two of the women competing on a recent season of The Bachelor dropped out because they ended up falling in love with each other instead of with him?

    I read a lot of TV/movie, and I remember an article about that being advertised on the sidebar of another article. I don't even remember anymore what the article that I was actually reading was when I noticed that other one, but I remember being hooked - despite having never been interested in The Bachelor franchise - because the concept of that happening added something new to my preconceived assumptions about how the story of The Bachelor works.
    What are you going to be doing in your story that's new?

    My main method is Trial-and-Error: I scour the Internet for baby names websites, look at thousands of names to see which ones I like and which ones I don't, and I ask myself what I like and don't like about each so that I can narrow down my next set of searches.
     
    Cave Troll likes this.
  11. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Location:
    Where cushions are comfy, and straps hold firm.
    "Ladies and Gentleman, have the 34 year old used car dealer, Mike!"
    Studio audience loses shit with glee.
    "So tell us a little bit about you Mike?"
    "Well since my old man kicked the bucket, I inherited a modest
    half a billion and his multinational company. So I figured why
    not turn a tragedy into a happy ending, Russ."
    Studio audience awes, then loses shit with glee.
    "You heard it here folks, and tonight will be the start of a new
    beginning from this wealthy slob of a man. When we come back
    from these messages, 20 extremely beautiful gold...I mean Ladies
    will be spending time trying to win the mon...heart and love of
    our man Mike. So don't touch that dial folks when we come back
    we will introduce our lovely contestants chomping at the bit for
    a chance to get marry the sugar-daddy of their dreams"
    Studio audience roars twice as loud losing shit with glee.

    I think putting a 1950s spin on will work nicely.
    Shabby Chic, you know so it appeals to the Hipsters?

    Just sit down and start writing it and see where it goes.
    I am just riffing for fun.
    But if you need an easy way to get a bunch of names
    search the female list of names, and go from there.

    With a few more minutes I could come up with 20
    Women's names (first only) and occupations, But I
    ate up enough space here. Good Luck Sir. :supersmile:
     
    Dirtrackfan3DH likes this.

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