Brainstorming

[orcbane]

One of my biggest hurtles is staying focused on one story long enough to actually write it. I've got half a million stories in my head, and am always coming up with new ones.

So, I decided to make a brainstorming thread where everyone can post a brief synopsis of their story ideas, and then the other members can give feedback about which shows the most promise.

[Medesha]

Man, I hear you. People always think that coming up with ideas is hard, but I'm never at a loss for them. Good thread!

I may also occasionally post ideas that I doubt I'll ever use here; I'll mark them as such. Feel free to steal them.

[Treslo Kresha]

A good plan of action is to always be willing and ready to write down these errant thoughts. I try to jot down ideas as they come. Some when I first think of them are 'epic' but then when I look into it more I find that they are really just supporting elements that would make other things even neater.

So I would just say start a log of ideas, keep catalogs of various different things you can use, combine, and rework for later.

I think the problem of having too many ideas floating around in your head is something that happens to a lot of people. Don't know that there is a solution - its kept me up at times, my brain not willing to let me rest. A curse I'm happy to have alongside you all.

[Esratihs]

Early December I went on a writing trip with my college to the Lake District. Here are some notes I got, some I find amusing, others are place names, others notable features of people or places. Feel free to use anything here. Hopefully by listing these out I can make something of them.

Names Shap Pen Ruddock The Shop Drigg Three Roods Cottage Farclose Drive

Observations (some slightly humorous) One of the first stops we went to was a stone circle. We were all stood around talking about how ancient and powerful it felt and how we where humbled being there. Next thing we know a dog went up and pissed on the rock, you can always rely on nature, right?

More will be added, I'm trying to make sense of my notes, most of which where written in pencil while I walked in the rain.

[Meatball]

Yeah, I know the feeling. There's been days where instead of writing I just down and flesh out an outline or basic storyline instead of actually working on a story.

I also find that if I take some time off from writing, one way to sort of ease back into writing is to just work on story ideas/outlines for a week. Gets my head back into things.

[orcbane]

The story I've been batting around in my brain for Ideaomancer:
A guy that sees a figure in the shadows that is mostly just a pair of white eyes and a sense of their being a body attached. For a long time, it just watches him. One day, while driving home from work, he sees it standing over a mutilated corpse. After that, a few other horrific crimes are sttod over by the shadowy creature that only the main character perceives. The shadowy creature never speaks or does anything that the main character can perceive besides be present and stare at him.

The story will be a narrative with three distinct voices.
plain text will be the words and thoughts of the main character
boldface will be the words and thoughts of the shadowy creature
italics will be the words and thoughts of a different part of the main character. This voice will vary between seeming to be an insane portion of his mind, and the last shard of sanity left in it.

The end will show the main character on the witness stand in court, where the shadowy creature is talking to him, telling him what to say, the strange part of his mind is screaming, crying and begging for some answer of what is happening, and the main character is giving his testimony in a case against another man, who is accused of the murders and assaults that the creature stood over.

Does this sound interesting at all? Are there too many cliches?

[Esratihs]

It could be interesting if done correctly, although the idea of the shadow standing over him is a bit like a ghost story (I can't remember the name of it, it's about a train signaller and a ghost turns up whenever there's something that'll go wrong).
An idea, I'm not sure whether it'll it will improve it but take out the shadowy figure and replace it with something that is or resembles something significant to the main character, maybe something dear to him in his childhood (a pet, a toy etc.) or during any part of his life.

[Meatball]

Hmm, could be interesting. What's your thought on the "eyes" is it actually another part of the guy's mind and he's actually doing the killing or is it some other worldly force. If it's actually him doing the killing, the ending of him on the stand against someone else being prosecuted would be cool. If it's not him, a good twist would be for him to arrested/convicted of doing the killings.

[Treslo Kresha]

Orcbane, for some strange reason Donnie Darko has popped into my head after sitting on the idea you presented for a day. Although like the others I think it could have merit if done properly, and the real question is why not write about it? If nothing else it gets you doing something, writing for yourself is always important. Do it if you feel you should, and I'm sure it'll turn out enjoyable.

[orcbane]

Estratihs:
I don't mind if that aspect has a resemblance. The whole inspiration for the story was the shadowy figure, so I don't feel I can abandon that.

Meatball:
"is it actually another part of the guy's mind and he's actually doing the killing or is it some other worldly force."

YES! Muahahahahaha! Yeah, I'm not going to put that in. It won't be explained what it is, and make the reader consider the possible implications.

Tres:
Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies and definitely has an influence over my darker stuff. I'm going to write it no matter what, I only ask for critiques because I'm trying to decide wehther I should try and see if Ideomancer will publish it.

[Medesha]

Idea bumbling around that I'll probably never do anything with: A woman in a strained marriage decides against having a child because she feels it's unfair to bring a new life into an already potentially explosive situation. She can't stop reading motherhood message boards, though, even though they distress her. One day she stumbles across a support mb for infertile women trying to get pregnant. She feels a kinship with the posters, even though they're trying to have babies and she's decided not to (though she wants to). She pretends to also be infertile, picking up cues from the other posters and reading medical journals to perpetrate her deception. She justifies it by saying her situation is "like" these women's, and she needs the same support they do, even if her situation is self-imposed. Eventually she develops strong friendships with a few posters, who want to meet her in person. Lies build upon lies, perhaps she eventually pretends to be pregnant online...it goes from there.

Yeah, not fantasy, but whatever.

[orcbane]

Could be good. Nothing like some pop-culture horror!

[Esratihs]

Brainstorming for a character for a story): Dalgras, a clean cut, highly disciplined mercenary commander with a few skeletons in his closet. He rarely shows emotion, locking it up inside him, exploding out at times. Military is his life, he has interests in women, but he doesn't have the time for courting. He is a quiet man and thus has to rely on his Sergeant to relay his orders. Although he's quiet he has an expert tactical mind and his mercenary company is highly renowned in [Insert place here]. He uses a hand crossbow and a longsword.

[Treslo Kresha]

So my mind went to the topic of characters and then I stumbled a page of latin phrases and thought up a little game that goes along with brainstorming. This is something that could be done with any language, but I just happened to stumble this particular site. Also, it happened to stumble straight to the love phrases so, there are other options if your not interested in trying it out with those.

Here is the game/exercise.
http://www.just-quotes.com/latin_love_quotes.html
Take these phrases and use them much like some people use "tag lines" to describe a character in general. These simple phrases can act as a initial focus for your character design. Ask yourself, what does this phrase say about a character and or story? Where does it lead, and see what you can come up with.
This concept is the same type thing as simply using words and then building an idea out of the single word for description.

Some of my examples.
(One not in Latin but simply for explaining the idea.) - He was the Reaper. - No, not a demon, instead the nickname an IRS agent who takes all too much joy in his work adopts. He sees the work he does as pulling in a harvest, gathering the errant citizens and slowly ensuring that each is in accordance with his standards. This is the man who people should fear, all 5'3" of his pale bony body - he longs for it. Or something.


Ad eorum memoriam quos valde amo - In memory of those I love. - In this one I see not some angst-filled individual who has lost all from war or time, instead something else. Trevor Kallow is a man no cares to remember, he's one of those men you hear about in the stories who is missing - but not through any of the given reasons. Those are all lies. There was no war that took him. No plague. He had simply left, abandoned those that relied upon him.
Those were the stories they told. None of them were true. He hadn't abandoned them, no he loved them and that is why he left. Trevor knew the truth if they chose to ignore it. He loved them and only through leaving could he show it - he didn't know any other way. (Basic idea is that of a typical man who has abandoned his family - except does he see it that way? Most likely not, that's the problem - he loves them still.)

So that's the basic idea of this, just a way for you to expand your creation process. I'll maybe be posting some others of mine as time allows.