I have tried very hard to refrain from asking writing questions publicly due to the fact that i like for thoughts to come to me naturally. I generally sit on something for a few days and eventually something will come to me. As of today, i am officially stumped and it is driving me MAD!! So, kindly assist in any way that you can please. Basically i have my characters, my setting, the background/history of the world, i also have history for most characters. I had a full blown plot for a long while and even started writing a few chapters of my first draft. As i was thinking more in depth about my plot and outline something occured to me. My main conflict SUCKS!! The whole reason the characters are thrown into the plot is just crap. I need help finding idea generators that i can do to help me out of this rut. Right now, i cant think of anything that would set the whole story/plot/idea into motion! I would really rather not give much into the plot/ideas that i have for the sake of taking someones idea or the other way around but i will let a little of it leak. It is Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, 20+ years after the fact that everything went downhill. The antagonist is basically the 'Ruler' of this region and the main character is a citizen in this region. Originally there was a journal involved that the antagonist wanted, but when i really thought about it, a journal wouldnt be enought to set anyone over the edge and make the turn of events happen. So basically i guess what im looking for are different ways or different prompts or 'rain dances' that i can do to get some ideas flowing from my own head to come up with a main conflict-the whole reason the chain of events happen? Any help is appreciated :redface:
Don't let the notion of a certain tool not being strong enough to drive your plot's conflict get to you. Breath in, count to four, breath out, do the same. Repeat. You say you have a journal. The antagonist wants it. Desperately. So don't ask "should I write that?", keep to the simple questions with a "w": "why?". There must be some information in the journal that is crucial enough for the people involved to behave intensely, agressively, even irrationally. Perhaps it would shake the foundations upon which the Ruler bases his power? Let's go with that. Why doesn't the main character just show the journal around so everybody knows of the deception by the Ruler and he gets toppled from the throne by an angry mob? Two things instantly come to my mind, it may either be too dangerous because a lot of influental people would also loose their standing (wealth, power or protection) or sound so incredible that he has to get further proof. I don't know enough about your setting and characters to get more precise, but I hope you can see where this is going. Keep on asking "why is my villain the Ruler, what gives him power" in the context of your story, then create a well-kept truth by asking "what can take that power away?" You'll find something that works, I'm sure. Your MC need not even know from the start how important the information in the journal is, you can reveal that gradually as the story progresses. You can make his fight against the villain simply a fight for his own freedom in the beginning, with the journal being nothing more than a symbol to him, and only have him realize the importance of the journal once the villain's attacks (in whatever form, physical or psychological) escalate.
This happened to me in my still-unfinished novel. At the risk of being flippant, I think the answer will come to you. Of course, there are things you can do to stretch out your creative muscles. Try inserting random writing challenges, like "Jesus bursts into the room with a gun" & write from there. Throw something strange in the character's paths. Go back twenty years & start a tangential story about what a character was doing back then.
Who or what caused the apocalypse? What we're they covering up? Did they want all the power for themselves? Is your MC going back to get the journal / papers / documents to prove they brought down the world? Do they need to stop him? If he gets it, will the survivors believe the apocalpyse was man made by this conglomerate to take over the world and enforce there will? Or will he be branded a crackpot untill one of his prophecies come true? Your story could be religious, political or both? Or something else. When I'm stuck on a plot I tend to write for days without looking at it, then when I do, 90% is crap and goes in the recycle bin but then I find feet in the 10% and go with it. Your block is temporary, chill and keep writing...
I want to thank all of you for your replies! It all helps so much to get my thought process actually moving again! BitPoet-"Perhaps it would shake the foundations upon which the Ruler bases his power? Let's go with that." This is one thing that i am going with and i guess to get more imput i will have to put a bit more on here as to what the story is actually about. The Ruler/Antagonist is going to be a character that is easily sympathized with because of his past. He was made to believe that if you had no power then you were nothing. His upbringing was not easy. He's basically at war with himself in a sense but feels he needs to do what he does to keep his status. Now to the question on 'what would shake the foundations upon which he basis his power?' I have been pondering this and think i have come to a conclusion! So for that i thank you GhostWolfe-"Throw something strange in the character's paths. Go back twenty years & start a tangential story about what a character was doing back then. "- I am really liking this way of thinking and getting things moving! Basically i am going to give myself a few 'what if' prompts that might be completely out there and just let the ideas flow from there. Could be a very simplistic way to get a new web of ideas to spring up! erebh-"Is your MC going back to get the journal / papers / documents to prove they brought down the world? Do they need to stop him? If he gets it, will the survivors believe the apocalpyse was man made by this conglomerate to take over the world and enforce there will? Or will he be branded a crackpot untill one of his prophecies come true?"- The story plot is kind of unwinding today...lots of new things added and some taken away. These questions are very thought provoking and i will be asking these to myself to gain new insight as to how i want the story to go! I like the thought that the journal(/paper/documents) might contain information that would prove the Apocolypse was intentional. The whole time i just had it happen as natural causes-but what if it was all planned??? I am so glad i decided to post this question! You all have been great for getting my mind out of its rut! Now to go jot down the ideas and piece everything together!
