Trying to find story direction

Hey everyone, I've been a bit lost recently.

Theres been this universe me and my friends have created which we were thinking of narrowing it down to a single point of view and maybe turn our roleplay into a novel/graphic novel.

Right now i'm a bit stumped in finding a way to play the story out. Mainly in execution, most of the problems are derived from the setting which i feel isn't easy to explain and the believability of the end goals. The latter part being the bigger problem and i've been looking to see if this is a good set up to elaborate and develop. I understand i might be using the wrong term and lingo.

For now the setting and story direction is as followed.

It is of the superhero genre set in a future where technology surpassed the need for superheroes. At some point in the past which is explained early in the story, all metahumans or wielders of magic were exterminated. The image of a superhero was changed and is now used in the future to describe a monster. The main character Timothy is a run away 10 year old who flees the federal police to avoid being exterminated after he is discovered to have superpowers.

Fleeing into the now abandoned streets of a futuristic society which has built their civilization into the skies. Timothy finds others who too have been hunted forming a travelling group as they search for a more accepting place safe from the eyes of society. Throughout Timothy's journey, he learns the true history to what happens to the superheroes and decides to use his powers for good in hopes to change opinions. And by the end of it he saves the 2 people who are in charged of hunting him multiple times that they decide to pardon him and his friends and leave them be.

The story is meant to talk about the idea of acceptance in society. How we tend to define our views because of what people had said in the past without ever knowing if that conclusion was valid. Its also meant to be a criticism to rapid rise of technology and the lack of regulation in these private sectors which may one day lead to disasters on mankind.

 

As long as they don't get sheltered in a special school by a bold guy named Xavier who calls them his S-Men, you're doing fine This reminds me of one of the early X-Men movies, where they were still hunted for being different. I'm not sure what you're confused about. The story above is a personal story of one Timothy and the rest is revealed throughout his journey, as you say yourself. And that's how such things are usually done. The rest is just little action vignettes that you'll need to come up with, to keep the readers entertained along the way.

 

Gotcha and fair enough! Its good to see that the proposed direction is clear. I figured I posted it here just to see if there is clarity haha. Nah they aren't going to be an institute XD they are more like a clan of superhumans that adhere to a code. That they must be better than the superheroes before them. And not mess it up like the heroes of the past throwing supervillains through buildings or destroying half a city to kill a monster.

 

I think there is a great story idea here, but (in my opinion) you seem a little too focused on the story teaching some manner of lesson to the reader. While a good story could make us rethink something, it shouldn't go out of its way to do so.

What I thought your synopsis lacked was an explanation of how your characters would progress. How will their experiences change them as people? What hard facts will they have to learn to move forward? Will they finish their adventure without being moved in some way?

My only other petty nitpick is that I think the ending is tied up a little too neatly. Readers will be more involved if your villain wishes to come around at the end, but society won't let him (or her). Things have been done this way for a reason, after all.

Anyway, I hope this helps you develop this idea, because I think you have a really great story nugget on your hands. And, I don't know, I see superheroes fighting futuristic robots, which is just cool. Good luck!

 

I think having your characters save the villains "multiple times" is gonna be a problem. That gets repetitive, predictable, and kinda boring. Not to mention frustrating. Also, it isn't natural for someone to save the people trying to murder them - you need to build some character arc there for your main character that eventually leads him to want to save his own assassins. It can happen, for sure, but if he just keeps wanting to save his would-be murderers from the beginning "because he's good", that'd make for an annoying and boring read.

 

@Solid State
Gotcha! Thats a good idea! I do admit i'm having some difficulty with the progression but I feel its too early for me to propose a single idea. I'm still iterating different possible sequences to accomplish the end goals. I'll post some updates on it in another post in given time. Will be storyboarding a bit and maybe give myself some visual direction to get some cues.

@Mckk
Noted, i can do away with that and find another move. Its a possible iteration i've been thinking off but i'm still open to changing it. I get your point and its back to the drawing board!

Edit: I suppose I should get the story progression outlined first before i get into the details of it? I haven't layed it out fully. But i've been trying to do up the 1st chapter in detail to find some clarity in the characters i made and their traits so I can understand better.

 

Your ending might change as you come to write it and you find the characters/story naturally take a different direction. Feel free to outline if that's what you find useful. I think having a sense of the direction you wanna go for does help, but definitely be open to the outline changing as your writing progresses.

I like the idea of the hero saving the villains - you just have to build it up right so it feels satisfying. You might end up with more complex villains that the reader actually does want the hero to save.

As for getting to know your characters better, nothing's better than just writing them in various scenes - it can be scenes for your novel, or you could plonk your character into our modern world or the world of Harry Potter, or just about wherever, whatever, and see how your character reacts. The point isn't to write something you can use - it doesn't even have to be good writing - but to see your character in different situations. Some people like to stick their character in a situation where they must confront their worst fear, for example, or give them a credit card and stick them in a restaurant or shop and see what they get with the money and why etc

 

So, I have fully written two novels this way, and for some reason, it works for me. I get a rough idea in my head of the overall progression and how major dots will connect. Usually have the beginning and end totally figured out before writing.

Then I end up getting excited about the project and write the first few chapters. At which point, I feel guilty for jumping the gun and start catching up my outline. As I keep writing, I keep my outline at least a few chapters ahead of my writing. Sometimes, if I get a strong idea from somewhere else in the story, I only jot a little note about it. No extra outlines. No writing out of order.

This method keeps me interested because the overall arc is still a bit fluid but I never I have to write totally off my outline. So, I can sit down with confidence that I know where the story is going. But I'm not boxed into my outline I wrote six months ago.

 

Nifty! I do feel comfortable with that approach as well!