Hello All, I'm having a hard time with a plot point I'm working on without it becoming cliche. My MC is a female pirate (more or less) and the supporting character is male. They are going from a port where they got supplies to their destination and I need something to happen along the journey. Storm? Sea monster or sirens? Oceanic whirlpool? All seem to cliche to me. The setting is in a land where there usually isn't magic but they are heading towards an area where some exists... could that play into affect? I'm not sure. Any suggestions/thoughts?
I wrote a treatment for a "Duel at Sea," based loosely on the old "Duel" movie with Dennis Weaver. Still on YouTube. I used a trawler to harass the sailboat similar to the tanker truck chasing down Dennis Weaver in his Plymouth Valiant. The trawler in my story was really the antagonist. I had to weaken the ship with magnetic problems throwing off his compass and fuel problems causing him to retreat to port. All of this was in order to keep my sailboat (protagonist) on a defensive measure, pushing it into that 'no hope moment'. In the end, the research of all the ports and the open water jargon wore me out. It is still on hold. Ah yes, to answer your question there are a ton of things that can go wrong. I got most of my ideas from sailboat forums. Some of them even write short stories about their trips.
What's along the route? Are they going through open sea the entire time, or will they encounter islands, reefs, or other hazards? Maybe they run into other pirates? Also depends on the kind of magic you've got - think about how it affects the environment (or how it can be used to do so), and it could give you some ideas.
An encounter with another ship? Perhaps one they decide to steal from or another pirate ship and a fight ensues. Maybe the other pirate ship steals from them leaving them with no supplies and they have to find another island close by (could be something mysterious about this island) in order to re-stock. Difficult to say without knowing more about your premise
For a pirate, their destination will be the next easy target - somewhere on the high seas - or a port to get supplies. Incidentally, the port where they got supplies would probably be somewhere like Port Royal... Port Royal was once home to privateers encouraged to attack Habsburg Spain's vessels when smaller European powers dared not directly make war on Spain. As a port city, it was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals. It was a popular homeport for the English and Dutch-sponsored privateers to spend their treasure during the 17th century. When those governments abandoned the practice of issuing letters of marque to privateers against the Spanish treasure fleets and possessions in the later 16th century, many of the crews turned pirate. They continued to use the city as their main base during the 17th century. Pirates from around the world congregated at Port Royal, coming from waters as far away as Madagascar. As far as what's going to happen... 1/ Becalmed in a web of seaweed, where they get threatened by seaweed-eating monsters (as big and scary as you like, maybe threatening simply by being big and getting too close) and run out of water (that'll kill you far faster than starvation) 2/ Kill an albatross and bring bad luck, a la Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner? 3/ Outbreak of some illness, spread by a crewman taken on at the last port. As contagious as you like. Start with something like bubonic plague and scale it back from there. 4/ Bigger, badder pirates (not my favourite!) 5/ Unexplained heavenly occurrence (meteorite?) causes outbreak of superstition in the crew, who refuse to go on until they've sacrificed a virgin or the like.(As I recall, Columbus had to be pretty severe with his crew when they got worried they were about to sail over the edge...which leads us to...) 6/ They sail over the edge (a bit like going down a waterfall)...and come out in an alternate reality - maybe your land of magic?
Why do you need something to happen? Events generally aren't in the plot just for the sake of having them - they move something forward in some way, whether it's the main plot arc or a sub-plot or characterisation (or ideally, all of them). What do you need to have changed after this event has happened? If it's just there to show that time has passed, I wouldn't bother. Just have them turn up at their destination and say it took three weeks or whatever, if the journey taking some time is relevant.
Maybe you could develop some subplots here? If there is a romantic or friendship subplot between your MC and her support character you could have a meaningful conversation or something like that. It could reveal psychological traits, their past, their goals and dreams, etc. What I'm trying to say is that you don't need an action scene if it does not contribute for any of your plots and that you can take the opportunity to develop your characters relationship or give some information about their world or life. Or skip the journey all together and say that after some time they arrived at their destination.
Ah, it's very annoying when you need to get from A to B but you don't know exactly how. A few suggestions: a) Is it necessary for it to be action oriented? could be a good moment to develop characters (reveal some backstory,develop friendship etc) b) On a smilar note, it could also be used to foreshadow the magic about to come. (Overhears conversation in a seedy bar about weird shit happenning..) c) I would perhaps go for a mysterious approach? Bunch of dead animals show up on the coast, I'm- pretty-sure-that-guy-died-on-a-brawl-yesterday-why-is-he-here sort of thing.
Thank you guys so much. These ideas are all very helpful. Sorry I couldn't be more specific. You guys got my wheels out of the rut they were in! @Ale and @Shadowfax Yes! @IHaveNoName OOoooo... I didn't think about the environment element..... @Teresa Mendes Yes, I've got that in the last scene, I'm hoping to incorporate it into the "event" @NigeTheHat Yes, of course it serves a purpose or I would do just that.
Ships chasing one another is usually fun, especially if it involves a nemesis captain, but I think that describing this would require a deep knowledge of the mechanics of sailing. It is better to stick to what you know. The others are right that if you write this event in, it should push the plot along.
