This is probably something I have to do my self... but I'm having trouble giving my character a reason to do what he has to do other then he wants to. It's about a young boy with the dream of solo 'traveling' around the world. But unsure how to go from A: young boy, to B: boy with a dream. Your help is appreciated, 'Beginner Writer'
Please read this thread about What is Plot Creation and Development? to understand the dynamics of a plot (NOT a storyline). A plot is what moves a story forward.
Actually, "He wants to" will work if it is consistent with his character. Let me give you a few examples. One kid is a very smart guy -- like, finished high school and applying to colleges at age 14 -- but he doesn't plan to go to college instantly. Since he thinks that it will be socially more acceptable for a high schooler to travel than for someone to travel right out of college, he saves up money and gets parental permission (or accompaniment) to travel. Or you have a kid who loves languages. English, French, Icelandic, Mandarin, whatever. And they get into a program overseas to study it. And while there, the kid realizes they'd love to travel more, see more of the world. Or maybe the kid's parents are wealthy and have a reason to de-stress. Say, a heart attack -- and so a parent decides to retire early, and do some traveling. The kid goes along. Or the kid wants to help out as part of a charity. Might not travel everywhere, but he might get to travel to a book's worth of countries.
Thanks Cogito for putting things into perspective. I read your post, and it has deficiently made it a lot clearer, and I can now move foward with the story. @HeinleinFan thanks, this helps. I was getting major brain block, and was stuck on my own idea which I disliked and found very unappealing @Elgaisma the boy is an excellent engineer, 'no quit attitude', Jesus like personality (imo)
We all dreamed as kids. We dreamed about flying, digging to China, what it would be like to be rich or famous or something. Some us held on to those dreams and refined them through the years to succeed, more or less, at what we wanted. Some did not. It was that refinement, that poor practice that molded each of us to what we are now. The transition is the step, by faltering step, each of us took to get to where we are. What steps did your character take? Where did he wrong? Where did he go right? Where did he change course where the path was either wrong or the idea? GH
Maybe he has lived in a small boring town all his life, thus giving rise to the dream of travelling & seeing the world at large.
Okay, I suggest you roll a pair of dice and consult the table below. 2 - Boy grows up, works hard, saves his money and finances his travel dream. 3 - Boy grows up, inherits small fortune and yacht from an uncle and sets out realizing his dream. 4 - Boy runs away from home (like Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer) and hitch hikes around the globe. 5 - In a cheesy dream sequence, boy gets a really long paper route that includes the capital city of every country in the world. 6 - Boy discovers the treasure map of famous pirate captain One-Eyed Jack. The map leads to a series of clues spread out over the world, but eventually leading to the lost treasure (and a group of tax agents ready to explain the 60% windfall tax). 7 - Boy is abducted by a UFO, loses 48 hours of memory and wakes up in a field on the other side of the planet, having to hitch hike his way home. 8 - Boy is secretly recruited by the Office of Homeland Security to be an international spy and is deployed to exotic locations all over the world. 9 - Boy is secretly recruited by a radical terrorist organization to chase after the latest international spy from the Office of Homeland Security as he is deployed to exotic locations all over the world. 10 - Boy falls for a get rich quick scheme and travels the world selling Amway products door to door. 11 - Boy stumbles onto a sinister plot of extra-terrestrials to mind control the population of the world with subliminal messages, secretly embedded in television commercials for KFC Fried Chicken and has to journey around the world wrecking their broadcast stations. 12 - Mean little sister reads his diary, discovers his psycho-sexual erotic obsession with the dead, makes the knowledge public and he simply HAS to get out of town to avoid a lynch mob. ...And for goodness sake please realize that this was a joke
transitioned I've decided that in the story he'll design an airship of some sort, based on a design of his older brother, who has otherwise moved on from that endeavour. These brought a smile to my face looks like a lot of fun to speculate on either way.
Sounds like a great idea, Bee. I'm already curious to know why the older brother has moved on. Maybe he feels that it was doomed from the start, and a colossal waste of time? Or maybe because he's into bigger, better things?
Very Ghibli lol so you are using his engineering to take him round the world would love to read it it sounds really interesting.
