I like the idea of the son having something else to do as a reason to stay behind. It gives the reader a sense of well-being for the son that will be shattered upon the death of his mother and sister. I like this idea better than having him survive the crash, unless he is older, in which case you can use survivor's guilt as an issue. If you've ever seen the film "We Are Marshall", the one coach who isn't on the plane and therefore survives the crash switched places at the last minute with another coach who was supposed to make a recruiting trip, but didn't want to miss a family event at home. And that was a true story.
Well, but a plane ride doesn't necessarily have to be about _vacation_. It can be something more urgent, such as, say, one of the wife's parents having a medical crisis. In that scenario, the boy doesn't even need any special reason to stay home. The six year old boy has local grandparents (the MC's parents) and school to go to (don't schools these days go into hysterics over missed school days without a doctor's note?); the four year old girl is too young to be away from Mom. So off Mom goes with the four year old, leaving the six year old at home with Grandma and Granddad. The six year old as a survivor just doesn't work well for me. He'll be in the same place in the plane, he's smaller, why does he survive when his mother dies? (And if "smaller" is for some reason a good thing, then why does he survive when his even smaller sister dies?) His surviving on the plane seems like more of a coincidence than him staying home. ChickenFreak
I am really going to start going in circles over this All these different idea's. But, I don't want to spend too long focusing on just this one point, this attack on the plane is only going to take up a miniscule point of the story at the start. What happens after and the events after are what is really important. But likewise, I want it to be done as good as I can make it. Hey guys, I think I have decided on how I'm going to start writing this thing. I intend to throw the reader straight into the story at the very start...ie having the plane get shot out of the sky within the first few pages. I have tried to think about the following ways to start it: 1. Stafford's family going through the motions at the airport, boarding the plane and waiting for takeoff etc 2. From a quick perspective of the terrorists as they work about putting their plan into action 3. Stafford out on operation in Afghanistan with his team, recieves a call on the satellite phone calling just him off operation due to his circumstances in the attack After considering the above, I just don't think that I would make a good start, and when I think about starting the book pretty much right off with the attack on the plane.....I don't know, it just feels right.....does that make sense to anyone? Has anyone had that feeling before? Only snag is we don't really get to know the wife and daughter as they are offed in the first few pages.
