Since my current story is underwhelming, I'm already looking to new plots for a new story. Regardless of plot, it will contain original two characters from my current story plus two new ones. All four are the main characters, and they move/travel together. Go to Coruscant (yes, from Star Wars) and two of them fall to the first level (keep in mind the whole place is 5200 stories high). The two remaining go and find them, and in the process go through numerous foes and crime syndicates. A Wedding Crashers setting story (a story that has the same setting-beautiful house in D.C. and all that). No idea for a plot on this. And that's it for now. I'm open to new ideas.
I think the four should be on a mission of great importance, such as either capturing a fugitive from another Planet, or freeing a kidnapped person from another Planet. The separation of your characters becomes an additional obstacle. The fugitive has affiliations with crime syndicates there, so your characters don't know who to trust.
work the maze backwards, do you have an end goal, a message, is it a happily ever after, a cliff hanger, or a twist leaving the reader with an unexpected climax? What drives the characters, to do what they are doing? -- is it to acquire or stop the acquisition of power, friendship, love, vengeance, a sense of duty, a mystery with missing pieces and puzzles. What kind of obstacle will they be facing, are these sudden, foreshadowed build ups. does it crush them, do they overcome it, how does the interaction between characters help or worsen the situation? are you shooting for something light-hearted, comedic twists, uplifting, or more suspense, drama, a darker side, or a morality of good vs. evil. it can be a mix of anything, in many case at least for short stories on the fly, I let the characters feel their way thru a plot. Give yourself an end goal prompt and then move the character to this closure. On bigger workers you would want these side stories to have a purpose, but they should be able to stand alone. the purpose is defined if and when you tie it back into the main story line. think of it like a jigsaw puzzle, you do not need to know all of the pieces or how they will fit together, discover and define the various pieces to be brought together. establish your corners ... end goals, type of story, scope as in overall amount of time being represented, and amount of space it takes place in establish your edges. prompts, locations, settings, scenarios fill it in your characters, their backstories and interactions with each other. or if you prefer a whole lot of small stories like leaves on twigs being brought together to form the branches to be integrated into the main trunk and roots of the tree. it does not need to be novel size, many short stories have multiple characters tied together by small events, over a span of time, revolving around a core element, with an ending or climax to bring it all together. when i say work it backwards it is more along the lines of knowing where you want to end up and string your events back to a starting point. the string is the strands being spun around a main core. based on your op this is a quest to find friends who have fallen... why did they fall? was it their own doing, an accident of sorts, or a deliberate action to set certain things in motion? why did they go to Coruscant. how did they get there, is there a back story, person, place, thing... do they know why they are there, where to look, who to meet, are they on their own, or do they have helpers. Who is trying to stop them and why, is what they are after a common goal a race to the finish line, something that needs to remain hidden, is it disruptive or empowering to those who block this quest, must it be destroyed, revealed, or acquired? Alternately are they bringing something to Coruscant, a message, an artifact, or is a task they must complete, is it to stop something from happening or to help some entity in need. mix it up play with it, and see what you get... as a last clarification personally I rarely set anything in stone and just allow the story to unfold. I ask myself all sorts of questions, like the ones above and then fill in the blanks, allowing those answers to solidify the story. However this is not for everyone, some people need the structure and outline type format, it just depends on what works best for you.
