Alright, so I have four ideas for novels, two of which I have already started. However, I know I don't have much time in my schedule, so I want to just pick one of these four tantalizing plot ideas and stick with it. I have already planned where each would go, and I like all of them, so I can't decide for myself. I'm going up to post summaries for the plots of each book, and then let you vote on which one you prefer. THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND: -I suck at writing summaries. Do not vote on the quality of the summary; vote on the plot explained within. -Although of course this vote will be influenced by your personal opinion, this is as much about what you think my audience would like as it is about what you will like. -My intended audience for all four books are mainly teenagers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PLOT A (Things We Don’t Say)) Middle school life is hectic for anyone. But for some more than others, and their story begs to be told. For example, the eleven members of the International Knowledge Competition, (Also known as IKC, and more commonly called Ick,) has more than enough on their plates for a healthy feast of trouble. As the big competition is moved up a week, romance, melodrama, and alliances fly through the air. Sports teams fight viciously, band concerts are prepared for gruelingly, and the upcoming Christmas Dance looms over everyone. Tested friendships, heated vendettas, major breakdowns, and jealousies run rampant. As any teenager knows, all you can hope for in these situations is to survive with all your life intact. And the IKC team will be lucky if they can do even that… PLOT B (Death Wish)) Marcus Lake isn’t your average teenager. He is afflicted by a horrible condition that one might call: “Very dead.” Just a few hours ago, Marcus Lake died to save the life of the president- or so he thinks. But not all is as it seems in the afterlife, especially the afterlife. Marcus soon finds himself trapped in a world of non-stop action, where he can trust little, and his alliances must be forged quickly. For, Marcus finds out, he has become a turning point in the history of heaven and hell, and now both sides are fighting for him. Aided only by strange powers he has recently received, a scant collection of friends, and a strange, ghastly figure who follows him, Marcus is plunged into a government conspiracy, a demon-infested manhunt, and a wild adventure in which the question is asked: When you don’t even have your life to lose, is it possible to gain anything? PLOT C (The Elemecca Chronicles)) Welcome to the world of Elemecca, a fantastic universe full of adventure and peril. There are three main continents: The gigantic land of Rowan, filled with castles, kingdoms, and clashes like something straight out of a King Arthur storybook; the savage lands of Kizmera, filled with the savage beasts and wild tribes that once roamed the deserts of Pangaea, and the legendary City; a high-tech sprawling land rumored to be located in the wastelands at the bottom of the world, where the technology far surpasses the medieval land of Elemecca, and possibly even that of Earth. This land is ruled over by seven great spirits known as The Lordful Ones, one for each of the Glory Elements: Water, Earth, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Rock, and Light. Although the kings and queens of this land may seem human, the real strings are pulled by these immortal beings, and the land, although it may seem content, is forever locked in a cruel cycle of worship and sacrifice, for the entertainment of these beings. Each generation on the Elemecca has had seven heirs of The Lordful Ones, each representing one of the Glory Elements. Usually, these heirs are cruel tools of The Lordful Ones, disciplining the rebellious and using their fantastic powers to control the masses. But in this generation, something is different. Some of the heirs are disillusioned by the cruel rule of The Lordful Ones, and decide to do something about it. Now, using their powers, they will embark on a quest, uniting with each other and then traveling to the farthest corners of the world, seeking the fantastical and distant locations in which hide The Lordful Ones. Seven evils. Seven elements. Seven heirs. Seven battles. Can you survive? PLOT D (On The Road)) Life is big. Life is vast. And sometimes you feel you have nothing of value, nothing that ties you to the great scheme of life. But everything is connected, especially in On The Road. From the North comes a rock god, past his prime, dysfunctional and on drugs, making one last great tour with his rag-tag band of roadies. From the west comes a suburban family, plagued by financial and romantic woes, who is launched on the adventure of a lifetime when the man of the house decides they need an impromptu road trip across America. And from the south comes a hearse, ever-driving toward its destination, containing a covered body and covered secrets… …and to the east, the epicenter of these seemingly unconnected events, lies a summer camp, where not all is as it seems, and two teenagers are about to uncover a dead body, a strange hermit girl in the woods, and a lot more than they bargained for. Meanwhile, a boy fights for his survival. A girl-in-hiding must solve a mystery. A woman must save her grace and her family. And the river is rising… In America, all things are connected. But in the end, where will you be in the scheme of things?
On the road has definitely got my vote! I love the ideas behind that one. If you write it I would buy it (hmm, that sounds like the plugline for Field of Dreams: If you build it they will come! ) If I could vote multiple times in terms of story strength (from my POV) then the next would be Death Wish, although I would give some concern as to reworking the title as I think that was a Van Damme film. Thirdly would be Things We Don't Say Lastly, The Elemecca Chronicles because I really don't like this type of fantasy storytelling. I prefer fantasy stories that are scaled down and more simplified from the usual grand scope of fantasy without losing jam-packed content. Simply put, I don't go for The Lord of the Rings (an example of grand scale/scope), I usually go for something like Minority Report which, even though it's technically in the Sci-fi ballpark, it can still be seen as fantasy being its closest cousin with a simple story with a lot of bite.
I think I like Death Wish the most, but like Max said change the title. It seems fairly centered on one thing, unlike "On the Road". It also sounds different without being way off in left field. So yeah my vote goes here. The Fantasy one sounds too much like a find the MacGuffin/gain ultimate power fantasy. The Things we Never Say, I never liked the whole teenage melodrama of real life. Been there avoided that. On the Road, sounds interesting but it seems to have too many plots and possible twists. So this would be my second choice, if it was tightened up properly.
I think that Things we don't say could be a great story if you don't blow it out of proportion. If you try and keep the feelings and actions down to earth, it could be a good story. But, I would change it to high school, most freshman have a good amount more hormones than an eighth grader. Or a honest to God, saw dust on the floor , good o'l fashioned Jr. High school. Death Wishsounds like an interesting read. Although if you do it, read some of the Bible, specificly the heiracry of the Angels and Demons. Then I would read On The Road, unless you manage an insane amount of characterization in that, I would get bored of the characters and drop the book. Finally The Elemecca Chronicles , mainly because I don't like fantasy - its become to cliched. Unless you got rid of the elves and the dwarves and the other over used devices of Tolkien...
Things we don't say---sorry, man, but i have no taste for high school idiocies- i was really grateful to escape that bleep-hole and i would never, ever look back. Death Wish---did you know there's an animae/manga in japan with the same plot? yu-yu hakisho, the spirit detective. i liked the general idea, but be aware of looking like a knock off. The Chronicles one sounds more promising, especially if you can make it really pretty without sounding like a tolkien knock-off---it could have philosophical/fortelling stuff built into the different elemental interactions. On the Road---not my bleep at all, but it does sound like the kind of thing other people would be into. i would suggest this first. don't know your background, but be sure you can talk about aging rock stars with authenicity . ennubi
Alright, some replies to everyone: On Things We Don't Say-- that is the one I am currently working on, and you can read it in the Novels forum (Under the title of "I Only Want To Know...") and I understand why you do not like that sort of genre. However, like I said, this is targeted at a teenage/preteen audience, and teenagers and preteens like reading about teenagers and preteens. Thus, that would probably be the most successful one genre-wise. As for Death Wish: Thank you for the support on that! Some of you remarked that the title would be best changed- and I have been trying to think of other titles, but that is the best one that has occurred to me so far. I would love it if someone else could come up with a good title, but I don't intend on posting anything from that up here soon, so I'm not going to ask for your help on something you haven't read. Oh, and Ennubi, I was not aware about taht Anime thing, but I'll look into that. However, I am not too worried, seeing as Marcus Lake is not a spirit detective, he is just a regular teenage boy. On Elemecca: Trust me, I know exactly what most of you are thinking, and first off let me assure you: There will be no trolls, dwarves, elves, etc. Although it would be a quest that travelled across the world, the focus would be kept very tightly on the main band of characters, and I would stay away from cliches as much as possible when writing it. That one would probably be one of the easiest to do, simply because fantasy is so natural for me, and because I have most of it planned out in my head. And as for On The Road: Your fears are correct, it would be a very complex book with much character development and plot twists and storytelling and suchwhat- but hey, that's what a good story is. That one would probably be hardest to write, not because of genre limitations or doubts or anything, but because that would probably be really hard for me to get in order and hammer out on paper because it would be so complex. Thanks for your comments, I'll wait and see if there is anything else to be added.
If you wrote Death Wish and it turns out like how you summarised it, you would be my new idol. LYK OMG SRSLY. I would kidnap your family and blackmail you into giving me a signature/writing a sequel. Not so keen on the 8th-grader story, for reasons abundant. Also, I might be wrong, but the fantasy story seems cliche'd (I mean, chosen heirs of great magic? Lordful ones? Elements?) and basically not much of a fresh read. On The Road will undoubtely be a heavy book with all that character development and plot thingamajigabobbles but has definite potential.
Dangit, now it's a three-way tie. >.> At least I know not to write the fantasy one (So I decided to put it up as an RPG instead, I guess.) Also, your use of O RLY speak makes me worship you. *bows*
Alright, I have narrowed it down to two options: Death Wish or Things We Don't Say. I didn't want to do Elemecca because it would be too cliched, and On The Road, although it sounds fun, I realized was something that I should put away until I have the writing skill and experience to attempt it. When it comes to a story with scope that grand, I want to be able to do it justice- and I can tell you right now that I'm not old enough to do it justice yet. Death Wish and Things We Don't Say, however, I'm sure I could attempt. So I need you guys to break the tie for me. Which will it be?
hey ivan, i hit wikipedia and here's the animae i was talking about....honestly, i think the beyond the veil story was more interesting, but i'd make sure you don't sound ANYthing like the following: <i apologize for the length, but it's a nice tight summary for the whole series> from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Yu_Hakusho Yusuke Urameshi is nothing more than a street-brawling delinquent with a typical tough guy approach to everything. Yusuke's mother Atsuko, an alcoholic, had him at the age of 14 and shows little interest in raising her son. He has a reserved seat in the guidance counselor's office, and every single punk in the city is trying to take him on. Yusuke is pretty fed up with life. However, no one expects a sudden act of heroism on his part: he dies trying to save a little boy from a speeding car. In fact, when he arrives in the afterlife, he is informed that no one was expecting him to die that way, and were not prepared for his arrival. After numerous tests to gauge his worth, Yusuke is eventually revived, and is assigned to work for the Spirit Realm as a detective investigating demonic cases in the human world. He comes into spiritual abilities of his own, and enlists the help of numerous friends from Reikai (spirit world), Makai (demon world) and Ningenkai (human world) to aid him in his cases, and fight off demons and humans seeking to usurp and rule over all three worlds.
I think death wish sounds pretty great. It seems original and fresh-good luck on your writing journey
