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When I was in the middle of planning a historical fiction OYAN, I hit a wall once after writing a workable synopsis…
On the verge of WWII, nineteen year old Hazel Shelten becomes snagged in an adventure that bristles with trepidation. Cleverly ruthless, a thief has been plundering innocent families in America; however, once his havoc is traced abroad, her father decides to tap into his vast channel of business connections in London to solve the mystery.
Entrusted with a secret designed to protect the family fortune as well as to hide dangerous clues regarding the unknown criminal, Hazel leaves their bustling home in New York for the serene farm of her aunt and uncle. The North Carolinian countryside seems safe enough to harbor a secret, yet she must risk threats, brave broken trust, and receive a blackened name to protect the ones dearest to her from being taken hostage, severely injured, or killed.
Hazel knows that love is precious; however, is she willing to prove her loyalty no matter the cost?
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I’m missing something with the plot. I want my MC to have a more important, purposeful role than protecting the family fortune–one that leaves room for adventure, too. The only role I can think of is volunteering with the Red Cross, but I hate to dispense with the farm idea. Any suggestions or thoughts?@moriahs Are you looking for additional plot lines because you’re worried that protecting a fortune isn’t meaningful enough to carry a whole plot, or are you looking for additional plot lines because the story is too lean, and it needs more things happening in it? Not sure which you’re wrestling over.
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. Guiding authors at Story Embers.
@moriahS If you want her to be taking part in more than just farming, which can be a lot just in itself, then there are several things I can think of from the top of my head. I know that in WWII, women often went to work in factories and other shops because most of the men went to war. They also knit socks and built things for the entire army. Maybe if she volunteers in one of these things, that could help expand it?
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Oh yeah, and she could work at the arm during the day, then maybe have to work at a factory or something at night.
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@aratrea Sorry I wasn’t clear enough. I’m worried that protecting the family heritage isn’t meaningful enough to carry the whole plot. My goal is to have a gripping story that captures how costly freedom is by showing how so many soldiers poured out their lives for our country to maintain that freedom.
So, that being said, family fortune doesn’t seem to help me achieve that goal.
I was hoping to find an account where a young woman guards vital secrets related to the war or something.
I’ve toyed with the idea of having her volunteer with the Red Cross after her brother dies serving. That way, she will see the sacrifices firsthand as she dresses wounds or helps write letters to home. The only problem is there must be a villain and I have no idea how to incorporate one if I take this angle.
@Dragon-Snapper Those are great suggestions! Thanks 🙂
@moriahs Ok; cool. I think that you could turn protecting a family heritage into a meaningful plot if you showed why achieving that goal was important to the MC’s personal development. That being said, if your goal with your story is to show the costliness of freedom, I agree that a different central plotline would be better to display that theme. Here are the couple ideas that first spring to my mind:
-Make a family member or close friend a spy in the war. That person has somehow given the MC some confidential information that the MC needs to protect to keep that person safe.
-Make it that the family heritage is going to be used to fund some important aspect of the war. Then the MC needs to keep it safe in order to help with the war effort.
Both of these ideas would have to be refined to avoid plot holes and fit well with the story, but maybe they’ll help to spark something on your end. 🙂
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. Guiding authors at Story Embers.
Those are definitely intriguing ideas. I’ll have to think on those and see what I come up with. Thanks, I appreciate your input. 🙂 @aratrea
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