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“This is a story about two children. Actually, it’s story about two children and a mischievous and slightly sulky door, but I mustn’t get ahead, must I?
At birth these two children were given the names Nicholas Wilbur Rothelburg and Scarlett Jaylie Rothelburg. They also happened to have been given these names at almost the exact same time, on the fact that they are twins.”Would you read a book with this beginning? I wrote this down last night at eleven o’clock and I’ve been flooded with ideas about it since. I know there’s an enormous library with a special looking door. The owner of the library has to go away and gives the door to Nicholas. (Yes I said give the door) He opens it and….
Other world?
Characters come to ours?
Sucked back in time? Should there be a large clock on the door that can be set to the time that you go to?
I NEED IDEAS!!!!! Do you like any of those? Do you have any different ideas?
@daeus @writefury @jess @kate-flournoy @emma-flournoy @corissa-maiden-of-praise @hope @leumeister @dragon-snapper @Mark-Kamibaya @warrioroftherealm @bluejay @winter-rose @the-bean @ethryndal @sarah-h @Rolena-Hatfield @adry-grace @anna-brie @ivy-rose @i-j-andersonENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
@Anne-of-lothlorien,
I like it. I would change the first sentence, but I like the rest of the paragraph. Ideas… erm…
I’ve always fancied being able to enter a character’s world, but that was kind of done in Storybound. I like the idea of characters coming into our world, since that isn’t done very often. Or, we’re the ones in stories, and the people behind the door write our stories and we are a “fantasy” folk. Oooh, I actually like that idea. I might use it if you don’t 😉 A clock is a cool idea. time travel, or perhaps the hour you enter the door matters as to what place you are going, and when you can return, and if you can return. I’m rambling now… Any help there? 🙂How abouz having the characters enter our world and find it incredibly fantastic and mysterious compared to Characterworld? How about having them deliver us from an enchantment we never knnew about? @anne-of-lothlorien
I like the story concept. It sounds like it could turn into something really good, but the opening paragraph as it is doesn’t excite me that much.
The opening paragraph doesn’t turn me off, but it doesn’t suck me in either. I was intrigued by the description “mischevious and slightly sulky door”, but overall, the paragraph was too wordy, and I wasn’t interested in the full names of both characters. What would make this paragraph more interesting is descriptions of the MC’s character traits and how they become involved with the door.
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@anne-of-Lothlorien I like it. I agree with Daeus that it’s a bit wordy, but its a good start. Something to consider would be the POV. Is this part just a prologue, or are you going to stay in a sort of Narrator/Omniscient POV the entire story? Sorry, that’s a bit technical for the idea stage, but food for thought :). The door part defiantly got me hooked. I like all of your ideas, though whatever idea you choose I think, since you mentioned the two kids were twins in the first paragraph, that their twinness should be important to the story.
Potential conflict also rests in the fact that these two kids are related. they could have a rough brother and sister relationship which propels the story onward or in different directions. That’s a more character directed idea, but oh well.
Hope that helps in some way. 🙂@anne-of-lothlorien I would totally read this. I’m interested to see where it goes, especially since this particular door was “given.”
Have you considered like an alternate universe type deal on the other side of the door? So it appears that they come out the other side into the exact same place, with the same people, but in this particular place something is about to go drastically wrong? Not sure what, but it would be an interesting plot. Especially if the door at some point threatened to close forever and lock them in this universe. Maybe there could be something special about the twins? Like what if only certain people could go through the door, and that’s why the door was given to Nicholas specifically? I’d also think that the librarian would be important? I’m just rambling now but I like this idea.
I’m in agreement with @Daeus on the first paragraph you wrote. But hey! For an 11 o’clock idea… I’m intrigued. So here are my thoughts. 😀
When you said “gives the door” I immediately got a picture of the man handing a small door to the boy. The door could be a talking door (hence the sulky bit). I like the clock on the door idea. Maybe the door can grow to normal size or maybe it is a book…?
The door is a book :O
Hmm… that could go all sorts of ways too.
Time travle sounds like a good one, but it can be a tricky topic to actually write.
I know that I, personaly, would try to stay away from the twins being special. I mean they are because they have the door, but it’s nice to relate to the characters by them being “normal”.
*Laughs really hard and wonders what normal is*
I hope some of that made sence XD
@anne-of-lothlorien@Anne-of-Lothlorien I might be interested in continuing a book with that beginning, though probably not if it was very long. 😛
Something I thought could be neat (though it’s not like the ideas you brought up), is if the door opened into just another room of the library, but a super secret one, with all sorts of books that have something (exactly what, to be intriguing, would need figuring 😉 ) really special in them. Not other world stuff, but what was written in the books… *shrug* Just an idea. It seems like the whole other world transportation, etc., stuff has been done too often; I’m not sure how interested I’d be in another book like that. 😀 It’d have to have an incredible blurb and first few chapters (and all after, of course) to keep me reading.Hmm, here’s a spin-off of Emma’s idea. Maybe it could be a portal to another world, but sometimes it will just lead you into a special room. Then, whatever’s in the special room could be the key to solving the conflict in the other world.
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I’m sorry, but I thought it was a little cliched. It does seem a bit overdone, but the other room idea is pretty good. Or you could run with the transportation idea, but have it only go to a certain room in multiple other worlds. What’s in the room? That’s the question, isn’t it?
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
I like the bit about the sulky door. I think there is great potential for that. A door with an attitude? Maybe it’s stubborn and decides not to open sometimes? Maybe (if you’re going with other worlds) when they’re trying to get into one world, it will randomly dump them in another, just to be annoying?
Just a thought.
INTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/
Yes, I decided to go with a omniscient, narrator sort of voice throughout the book, but who knows how that will work. Here’s a bit more, and yes this is wordy @daeus, but I sort of did that on purpose, and sort of not.
Now, I hope you know that twins mustn’t always look alike, and in fact most times are quite different, so please do not suppose Nicholas and Scarlett to be identical. There are quite a few differences between them in reality.
Nicholas has dark hair, Scarlett has light. Nicholas prefers being addressed by his nick-name, Scarlett detests hers. Nicholas likes peace and solitude, Scarlett enjoy bedlam and chaos. Nicholas eats his porridge hot, Scarlett, hers cold.
Really, these two children are nothing alike, except for their love for waffles and the Great Thurntown Library. But before I tell you more of that wonderful place, I must give some more history on the Rothelburg twins.”Any ideas on how to make their names more interesting @daeus? I’d be willing to change the last name and the middle, but I want to keep Scarlett and Nicholas. I wanted to do Ransquate, but Nicholas Ransquate is a character in another book I’ve read.
About the door… no it’s not a tiny door he hands him. It has a personality, which is why it gets sulky, but the kids don’t know it at first. Whatever it does to them, time travel, teleportation, mystery rooms, sometimes it puts them somewhere else for fun, and sometimes it doesn’t open. Here’s some part of the plot
The libarian has to go away and entrusts the door and the key to it (which might only work some of the time?) to Nicholas, (which is a conflict point with Scarlett, cause she’d jealous and Nick keeps reminding her the door is his, not hers Yes the twins will have conflict) But the guy goes away and the library gets locked up, but the kids sneak in to use the door.
And sometime,
Now… I like the idea of going to another world sometimes, and other times going to a room that has something that helps them, but it does sound a bit like another series I read, the Castle Glower series, by Jessica Day George. (read them now) The castle grows new rooms and changes doors and hallways around at will, and helps the royal kids by taking them to certain towers, or rooms, when they need it, and stuff, and giving them things. Honestly though @Mark-Kamibaya, since I don’t want my story to be just ‘go to another world and save it’ I want to do something non-cliche, but it didn’t sound terribly cliche to me to begin with. I must not read a big variety, cause the only other books I’ve read with magic doors are Narnia, and the Glower books. And this won’t be like Narnia with ‘oh we’re in another world and the special children sent to save them and we’re fulfilling the prophecy’ as the plot.The three books that actually gave me inspiration for these were the Mysterious Benedict Society series, by Trenton Lee Stewart, Castle Glower books by Jessica Day George, and Hugo, the movie and book, by I don’t Know Who.
The library was inspired by a picture my grandparents have of a big quirky house, and I actually haven’t figured out where the door will be located in the library. Tower? Cellar? That might be interesting.
So, any more ideas about name changing? Oh, and how would I change the first sentence to be more interesting? @daues @jess @ethryndal @Mark-Kamibaya @emma-flournoy @the-bean
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
Ooh, if the door’s not going to be in the main library you may as well put it in the cellar @Anne-of-Lothlorien.
@anne-of-lothlorien Just so you know, only twins with the same gender will be identical. So you are correct in having your twins different, but people shouldn’t picture them the same if they know the facts. 🙂 This is an interesting story btw. 🙂
@anne-of-lothlorien What if it led to a secret passage hundreds of years old? Would that be less cliché?
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