Hello, I'm new here. I joined because lately I've been having doubts and problems with the plot of the story I've been writing for over a year. I already have over 100 of pages and I'm quite attached to the characters and the world. The story is suppose to be young adult one aimed for a younger audience. To say shortly: the main character is a 12 years old kid that just moved into a new town. Some mysterious things happen around the town and he realises that he has the ability to change into an animal - in his case, into a wolf. In town exists the organisation that takes care of the children like him, but they have to hide from normal people. Except the main plot he has also his own personal journey as he struggles with insecurities, his parents divorce and the fact that somehow he is not able to change into the wolf after the first time and because of that he is the weakest in the kids's group in the organisation. But by the end of the story he is able to do that with help of his new friends. But the main plot is problematic. I wanted it to be kind of the crime like, so the main characters could look for clues and figure stuff out. I already know that the main antagonist is one of the "teacher" in the organisation who was very close to the main character through all the book and at the end it is revealed he was the bad character all that time. BUT. At first (and I even started writing this) the antagonist was suppose to leave the "mysterious messages" all over the organisation and town to make the organisation hate normal people and make them rebel. It would also make the main characters look out for the person who was leaving the messages for the sake of the organisation. But I realised lately that it doesn't make sense since the characters are only TWELVE. I don't really think the kids their age would even care about some propaganda messages or about the organisation as the whole. I have big problem with writing for the children's perspective and that's why I'm not sure what to do now. If I erase the previous idea of "messages" then the main antagonist has ZERO motives to do all the mess or evil stuff and is basically useless. But I am not sure what kind of "evil" thing he could do. I'm obviously not asking for the ideas, but simply for an advice for a plot in young adult book: what is the kind of mystery that children would like to pursue? And what kind of motives can the antagonist have? Maybe you know some articles about how to give him any reasons to do bad stuff at all? I also now that sometimes you don't need to have plot figured out at all and just write, but this doesn't match to my kind of story. I wanted to make a lot of foreshadowing and little things that would become important later so I have to plot everything early. I really need help because I write everyday, but now I can't since I'm stuck with my plot kind of not existing. And I'd prefer to keep my schedule and still write regularly. * Sorry if there are some mistakes, English is not my first language!
1. Twelve? One of my kids has been interested about politics, sciences, literature, writing, nature, photographing... before or during that age. (She is reading Gamov & Stannard: The New World of Mr Tompkins just now.) It's more about "what kind of 12 year" than "what 12 years are like". 2. & 3. Motives rise from needs. Needs rise from flaws, wounds, traumas... 3. Diffrent kids like different mysteries. Think about developmental mysteries in that age. Social, intellectual, mental, biological... Mysteries with similar meta level structures but different content might work. (Like Potters.) 4. Ei se haittaa. Samassa veneessä tässä ollaan. (It does not matter. We are in the same situation. "We are in the same boat.")
I have no problem with the kids wanting to save the world at 12 years old, didn't we all want to be hero's at that age? The plot sounds like Harry Potter but instead of magic, it's the ability to morph into animals, is that correct? I have a vaguely similar idea stashed away somewhere in a folder, rooted in the Native American spirit animals mythology. You might find some further inspiration researching that topic if it interests you.
Yeah, it is kind of similar to Harry Potter, but I guess after it being such a popular book you can't avoid that haha. Oh, thanks, maybe I'll check it out!
You did put things in the perspective...I guess I have to be around 12 years olds more often haha. Maybe I won't change the mystery then, just polish it...thanks for advice!
This story sounds interesting. A few questions from me. What other kinds of animals are involved? Are they all predators, like the wolf? Or do they come in other flavours? And how do they get along with each other? (In real life, a rabbit might be a tad nervous around a wolf!) Do the characters 'know' they aren't true animals when they are in the animal state? And do they remember what it's like to be animals when they're not? Does anything in their human personality determine what kind of animal each of them will turn into? Oh, and by the way. Welcome to the forum! Hope to see you participating in any/all of the threads that interest you. Before you dig in too deeply, please take the time to read these two links below. You can find them again, if you need to, by going to the Information menu tab at the top of the page and scrolling down. These two are quite important to take on board. New Member Quick Start Forum Rules
Hello, friend and welcome to the forum! My first advice will be to connect some of your characters to the villain, if not directly at least indirectly then play a little bit with that. Because that character will be a massive help to your MC and maybe become his friend or enemy. Don't limit yourself to your MC just because he's 12 years old, instand, try to know more about him. See what he can do then try to see which kind of intellenge he may have, and kep in mind he may not have a mathematical intellengance. I will post a video for you to explore your characters: The part of the murder. We are talking about a professor which men he/she is an adult. The way he delivers the messages will say a lot of his personality, is he calculating but proud? Or a show-off but thinks before talks? Where you will have to know this character, all about him/her. Do some research about psychology of murders. I will suggest doing this like a murder mystery. It happens in the eyes of the students but isn't clear at first, then as the story progress all is revealed, like Agatha Christie. I hope this helps. Keep on good work and have fun.
1. There are various of animals involved, there is one panther, an owl and one of the main characters's friend is a fly actually! The getting with each other is actually one of the main problems in the organisation. The kids have different groups depending on what kind of animal they are (birds, water ones) and they don't like one another. But it's more like a prejudice than an animal thing. There is also one group whose members are "toxic" meaning like snake or frog that has a venom - almost nobody likes them which makes their situation even more miserable. 2. When they're in the animal body they have all the animals characteristics like sight and look, but they also have a human mind so they can think like humans in animal body. But they can act like an animal, probably in agressive way, if they experience a very extreme emotion like fear or anger - that's why they need to learn how to control it. When they're humans they remember everything and also have some kind of animal characteristics. Part of their personalities is based on what kind of animal they are and vice versa. This is connected and it is believed in the organisation that you're just born with this ability and have some personality traits connected with what an animal you are. 3. Thank you! I read them and found very helpful.
1. Hey, thanks, that's a good advice. The film was very nice too. The main character was actually suppose to be bad at maths so at least mathematical intelligence is out haha. I will think more about what kind of kid he is suppose to be and his relationship with the antagonist! 2. Thank you! Yeah, I need to work more about villain's personality. So far I only know that he is definitely calculating, plotting everything ahead and manipulating. I wanted him to use the fact that kids like him as a teacher to manipulate them or at least one of them in helping him achieve his bad goals. And the advice with Agatha Christie mystery like is really cool since I am a biiiiig fan of her work and how she manages to keep everything connected!
