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Okey dokey,
So I’ve been thinking about starting this topic for a while, and when you do that, eventually you give in. I’ve got this idea for a novel I want to write. I want to write a dystopian time travel story – well, what I actually want to put on the cover is a dystopian time travel epic, but that’s just to make it sound cool. Now what I’m thinking is, since I only have a basic plot written down so far, maybe you guys could help me formulate some ideas. It will probably be several months before I actually get started, but I like to have a lot of time to polish off the rough parts in my mind before I get started.
So let me give you a run down of the basic plot (avoiding the ending, because that might be a spoiler assuming some of you will probably read it). It goes like this:
Start: 2050 A.D.
Location: Somewhere in Britain.
What happens: My MC is some British Teenage guy who is either snooping around or goes into hiding inside this time machine made by this mad scientist guy (though he doesn’t know that it is a time machine). His sister is also with him. She is younger, but not by much. That is when the mad scientist enters his creation. *dramatic music* They hide so he won’t see them. He doesn’t, but proceeds to start up the time machine. They are then (all three) transported back to some time in the medieval ages. The mad scientist exits and the two kids follow when they think it is safe.
Now I need to point out that my MC (The teenage British guy. We will say he is 19 and his sister 16-17ish) is not very mature. For his time, he is decently well behaved, but he still has a lot of learning to do. And this leads to another point which is very important to both the plot and character development. Britain 2050 will be a terrible place. Just immorality everywhere and desolation. As far as his sister, I hadn’t thought about her much until now, but I think it would suit my purposes best if she were more on the mature side.
Anyway, so they come out of the time machine. The mad scientist is gone. They are now lost in the medieval ages with no friends, no knowledge of what just happened, and only the clothes on their backs. I’m not really not sure yet what they do next, but I’ll tell you what end’s up happening.
What ends up happening is that the mad scientist uses his scientific knowledge and technology to try to take over all of Britain with the goal of then taking over the world and establishing himself as world dictator. The evil men in the country turn over to his side and many others he subdues with fear. Only the courageous will stand up to him, but they have swords and stuff and he has all sorts of modern weapons.
The British only have one hope. You guessed it: My MC. Now my MC is not a scientist at all, but he knows a little bit about technology and I’m thinking he will have stolen some technological books and manuals the mad scientist guy had in the time machine (he’s not super mature, remember?). My MC and his sister end up siding with the resistance. This is where the character development happens. You see, the resistance is made up all of honest people from every class who love freedom and will sacrifice their very lives to have it. This is something my MC admires, but had never seen or felt before. My story will be a story of a bunch of medieval guys trying to resist an evil modern dictator, but it will also be the story of my MC maturing as he tries to help them achieve that goal.
And you guessed it, they do achieve the goal, but this is one of my larges story gaps. I really haven’t thought of how they will do that, but somehow they will. Yes, the dictator will be defeated. Then I will conclude with one or two more chapters in which a certain something happens, but I won’t tell you what. I’ll just say it’s bitter sweet.
So, does anyone have any ideas for how I could fill in the plot gaps, or add a twist or some spice, or add some character development? Or even character ideas? I have a lot of characters left to create. Any ideas are welcome. If you need any more info, I don’t have any, but I can create some. ???
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Oh, I guess I should mention that my main point for the book is basically, “Changing the world starts with you.” The second point is, “Change the world.”
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Ooh… oh boy. I volunteer for beta reading already. I’ve gotta run right now, so I’ll let this stew in my mind for a while, but believe me I will be getting back to you as soon as I can. Which will probably be sometime tomorrow. 😛
This idea. Is extremely awesome.
Okay, sorry. I couldn’t resist. XDAh, thank you. I now know I’m not the only one who has that sort of vague story-ending problem. 😛
Okay, ideas on fixing that. What happened to the time machine, anyway? You could use that again. Go through your story concept, find as many Chekov’s Guns as you can, and figure out some clever way to use them in defeating the bad guy. That was my solution anyway.
I personally think using the time machine against him would have a bit of poetic justice, though. 😉
Other general story ideas… I think the kid joining the resistance thing is a great jumping off point for some cool things to happen. Character-wise, tons of revelation. Humor-wise, you’d have a lot to run with, especially if he’s trying to hide that they’re from the future. It might be a nice moment when everyone finds out that he actually is as well.
Stunned silence. Something like that. 😛
I’ve got more. But I’m not going to dump it all at once.@writefury I don’t mind info dumping. That is what I do to the rest of you.
Those are some good ideas. I never thought about them trying to hide they were from the future. I’ll have to toy with that.
Now I have to ask, what is a Chekov’s gun? I’ve never heard of that.
As to what happens to the time machine……….
……….I can’t tell you that.
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@daeus I will feel free to do so in the future, then.
I think them hiding that they’re from the future would create a nice sort of tension undercurrent with them and the resistance. I mean, if they told them “Hey, we’re from this wacky future world and we came here in a time machine”, they’d probably think they were insane and not even listen to them. It would be an interesting subplot to use.
Oh, Chekhov’s Gun is fun. It’s the plot element of bringing back a small, insignificant detail from earlier in the story and having it actually be something important. Like, if someone is going to shoot a gun, have someone else take it down and polish it a few chapters before.
Okay, while we have time travel, why not use Back to the Future as our example?
There’s Marty’s flyer about saving the clock tower as the best example. It was a minor annoyance when he picked it up, but it turned out to be the saving grace of the whole story. Or Doc Brown’s rambling story about his revelation on the flux capacitor and his typing the date in on the time machine. Marty’s knowing that story was what earned him Doc’s trust.
I’ve begun a habit of making a mental list of possible Chekhov’s Guns as I go through books and movies. If a minute detail seems to be rather off topic or out of place, it’s usually coming back later.Oh. Well, I’m sort of glad of that. It has exciting plans and there’s now something I really want to know about the story, so that’s good. 😛
Oh, so that’s what a Chekhov’s gun is. Those are really really cool. I’ve actually got one super-major Chekhov’s gun in my Edwin Brook story.
Those back to the future examples sounded pretty good … but I’ve never seen that movie. In fact, I suppose I probably don’t consume hardly a tenth of the average person’s entertainment. Oh, well.
So, Chekhov’s guns. Perhaps I could have my MC have this really random item in his pocket when he enters the time machine that ends up being what he uses to defeat the dictator. Maybe it could be the 2050 version of the iPhone. I’ll have to think this over.
Thanks for the ideas.
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OK, this is good. So @writefury, I came up with an idea for a great Chekhov’s gun that I could use for the overthrow of the dictator. But of course, it wouldn’t actually be enough, because that is just lame. I wan’t things to be desperate from start to finish. I will use this Chekhov’s gun to turn things from impossible to only insane.
Now, the most major hole in my story is what the dictator would do to take over Britain. Suppose you all were mad scientists who had lot’s of technological skill (but let’s not get to insane. One person can only know how to invent so much. He couldn’t entirely reinvent 2050 technology) What would you do to take over a country of mediaeval people?
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I would go for the king, terrify him to death with my ‘magical powers’ and start from there. Hey, I would make a pretty good mad scientist. 😉
Another thing I’m thinking about the MC (he sounds absolutely stunning, by the way) is that maybe some of the way he destroyed the dictator has to do with something he stole out of the time machine. (Being immature and irresponsible and all that). If you can find out something for this thing to be, you might have a plot twist. Aaaand you could also have him be in a quandary about using this thing when he only has it because he stole it— after he’s ‘on the mend’, of course.
Um… um um um um… let’s see. Characters. Well… you could have some fun playing around with the king’s cabinet* and the different ways they react to their new dictator… you could also choose to have as a leader of the rebels someone who embodies everything the MC is not. Someone whose honor and integrity stick very clearly off from the MC’s immaturity. Aaaaand if you want this to have a love story in the plot this guy could fall in love with the MC’s sister… and she with him.
Let’s see, how many other blind, ridiculous suggestions can I throw out there? The king himself… you could have fun playing around with his character… and the leaders of the Mad Scientist King’s army… minor villains are always fun to do.
Oh! Oh, and you could do some stuff with the Mad Scientist King terrifying all his soldiers and the soldiers of the opposition alike with his crazy contraptions and horrible ‘otherworldly’ skills. I’m guessing his army will obey him out of terror… and a good way to show that while we’re following the rebels would be maybe have a few rebel spies in the enemy ranks who send back regular reports. You could have fun with the spies too…
Yeah.
Hopefully that was helpful… I’m not quite accustomed to my new and self-inflicted capacity of genius-generator. 😛*NO PUNS, DAEUS, PLEASE— NO PUNS ABOUT KINGS’ CABINETS!
Thanks. You sparked some great ideas, especially with regards to the king. And, hehe…
You could also choose to have as a leader of the rebels someone who embodies everything the MC is not. Someone whose honor and integrity stick very clearly off from the MC’s immaturity. Aaaaand if you want this to have a love story in the plot this guy could fall in love with the MC’s sister… and she with him.
Hehe, yes, already planing to do that – all of that. That’s the only reason the MC’s sister exists actually (well, I mean the only reason so far). It’s all so I can pull off a powerful punch of an ending (hopefully).
You need have NO fears about me making puns about the King’s cabinet – I’m still trying to figure out how to get out of the governor’s cabinet. *You’d think there’d be a door knob on this thing. Hmm, maybe there’s an owner’s manual somewhere in here.*
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Totally agree with @kate-flournoy’s ideas. The Chekhov’s Gun is usually better used if it starts out being a hinderance or a symbol of something bad.
Yeah, I’d say the mad scientist should use his technology as manipulation and make people think he’s more powerful than he is. A magician of sorts. But he could also have a sort of limitation he’s trying to hide on exactly how much power he can use. I mean, he’s in the past. There aren’t exactly electricity outlets to charge his stuff and he knows that. He’ll be sparing and do things in the fewest amount of moves as possible.
I like the thing with the sister as the contrast. That should probably be expanded on as to why, though. What was she exposed to in the future that changed her so much from her brother? Why are they so different in the first place?@writefury I like that thing about the Chekhov’s gun being a hinderance. I’ll have to think on that one more.
And I simultaneously came to the same conclusion about the mad scientist – except I went a little farther. I think I’m going to have this guy proclaim himself a god. Yes, this guy is just absolutely wicked. It’s a good thing he looses in the long run.
I’m not quite sure what your point was about the sister. She does start off more mature than her brother, but not as much as the medieval resistance forces. Both of them mature along the way and by the end of the story they will both be very pure and respectable people. I’m thinking the reason the sister was more mature to start with was just because of her nature, not so much circumstances.
Now what do you all think of this ideas I just had? John Wycliffe lived in the 1300s, so maybe I could have some of my characters be Lollards?
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I don’t make a habit of talking to people through cabinet doors, @Daeus. 😛
What other character positions do you need filled in? Are there any positions you specifically want to fill right now? ‘Cause I work better if I know what I’m working with. 😉
I agree with @Kate-Flournoy about the bad guy pretending he has all kinds of power to take over. Have you ever read A Connecticut Yankee in King Aurther’s Court by Mark Twain? You really should if you haven’t…it might give you some ideas (and besides, I love the story). In there, the MC is knocked from the 1800s (I think) into Aurtherian times. He’s not bad, but he has to fight Merlin and prove his position and things like that with knowledge he knows, such as using gunpowder and electricity.
You could have lots of humor with things like that…characters wondering what archaeologists are going to think about bullet holes in armor or if they’ll find the watch or gun they lost. Also, the bad guy will probably use such things to gain power, but what happens when the good guy uses them? Is there a temptation to pretend he has power too? Or it could be a contrast between using technology for good or for evil.
And I agree they shouldn’t tell anyone they are from the future, at least at first. Everyone would think they were crazy. That could help fill up the first ‘hole’ between the kids arriving and the resistance. Though you might want to give them an even greater reason to hide who they are. Maybe the scientist has sent out rumors about them, that demons with powers like his own are lose (well, I say demons because you said he’d make himself a god…does he figure out they came with him or no? Maybe they could somehow stage their deaths or narrowly escape death so he thinks they’re gone.) And then the kids hide their identity but finally reveal it at a crucial moment to save/start the resistance even at risk of their own lives. I would also assume they are trying to figure out how to get back home; perhaps trying to play a double game of hiding from the scientist while also trying to hide what they are doing with whatever friends they have somehow made in the past.
Oh, and one note…Make sure you give the characters enough emotional thoughts about being thrown into the past. In several stories I’ve beta read which involve traveling to the past or another world, the characters don’t seem to have enough natural reaction to the shock of it.
Speaking of beta reading, I’d love to look over this story. 🙂 It sounds really interesting. But, pardon this question, would 2050 be considered dystopian? It could be, I suppose, but it’s within out life time…when I think of dystopian, i normally think of a hundred or so years into the future. But that might just be me.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
As far as characters, the next step for me is getting down the main characters in the resistance. I’m thinking I’ll have people from all sorts of backgrounds in the resistance leadership. Of course there would be my MC, and then there would be one or two noblemen, and of course a blacksmith, then a couple knights, and probably a minstrel, and maybe a farmer or something. I can’t have the leadership be too large. I want there to be many different skills among them and many different character types (some of which will rub grain. *diabolical laughter*)
I have read a Connecticut Yankee! Great book. This one will be similar in some ways.
I hadn’t thought about my MC having the temptation to use his modern knowledge to become an evil dictator himself. Of course, the mad scientist would eventually squash him if he did, but that could be a real and dramatic temptation.
Now here’s the really embarrassing thing. I hadn’t even thought about how as soon as my character have recovered from traveling back in time (and maybe doing some exploring), they will wan’t to return. But of course, I can’t let them do that. Ooooh, maybe I could have them kidnapped! I’ll have to play with this.
The mad scientist did not know that my characters traveled back in time with him at first, but he may find out later. I’m not sure yet.
Now here’s the thing about the dystopia. 2050 is a dystopia, but medieval Britain also becomes a dystopia after the mad scientist takes it over. It might be unconventional to write of a dystopia in a time period the author and readers will eventually live in, but I’m thinking this will help lend the book extra force and emotion. Since the book is kinda about changing the world, I think it will be good to get people thinking about the world in times they will live in. And you know, I could honestly see Britain getting really bad by 2050.
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