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What’s a story idea that you want to write but haven’t yet? Because your afraid, don’t want to ruin it, haven’t done enough research with, etc.
Growing up, my siblings and I dreamt up a world with characters, fictional histories, languages, and stories to go with them. Right now, we have a bunch of notes, fictional artifacts, family trees, artwork, and maps, but no novels. (We’ve been doing this for ten years, mind you.)
We’ve always intended to write novels with that world and those characters, but for some reason we still haven’t. The world building never ends, and we were always hesitating because if we did write the novels, we wanted to do that fictional world justice.
Does that make sense? Basically, it just boils down to perfectionism and wanting to give this special world we created a good book.
Do you have a really great story idea (maybe it’s even your dream novel), but you are holding off until a better time? Maybe because you need to do more research, planning, or you are waiting until you become a better writer? What is the idea? And what’s the reason you haven’t you written it yet? How long have you had the idea?
Since I was eleven I’ve wanted to write a series of novels about the same cast of characters, but in each book they’re placed in a different world/genre. So for instance, book 1 could be a sci-fi world, book 2 could be contemporary, book 3 fantasy, etc, etc, etc. I think there’s probably stuff like that out there (can’t think of examples; anyone?), but I’ve always wanted to try it. Tho… seeing as I thought it up when I was eleven, who knows if it’s actually a good idea XD I feel like, if handled the right way, it could turn out quite well. But it could also be rather boring >.< It’s a little hard to drop the idea tho because I’ve already created several of the characters and am kinda attached. 🙃I have some ideas for the novels (plot-wise), but nothing concrete, so I suppose I’m waiting on inspiration as well 😉
@kathleenramm Every day, I always get new story ideas, and if it’s good enough, I’ll write them down. I have maybe…14 I want to go on with?
Essentially it just comes down to time and experience. I don’t have time right now because I’m busy with a different story, but after I’m done I’ll work on that. And once I’m done with all of these, I’ll work on that because I’m a better writer by then.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@devastate-lasting I have the same deal. I have long lists of ideas that I want to write eventually. Some I like and want to write, some I write down but will probably never actually write, and then others I like so much that I may have already started a chapter or two.
@kathleenramm So, I have my Daughters of the Seven Seas series which is six books, then a prequel series, a spin-off series, and a sequel series about the next generation. I also have ideas for the descendants of my main characters about a hundred years in the future, but that’s debatable. So of course I want to finish all four of those tied-together series, and I have three more (unrelated, of course) series after that, so pretty much any other idea is automatically pushed to the back burner.Therefore, I have two specific series that I know I want to wait on, regardless of having other projects/ideas I’m working on. One of those is my historical rom-com (you read that right) series–which is tentatively titled The Life of Lady Samantha. And the other is my Speare & Farrah detective series, which is in two four-book parts and focuses on the detectiving duo of Nathaniel Speare and Evelyn Farrah in the early 1900s. I want to wait on Lady Samantha because (1) it’s a long project, (2) it’s more comedic than I’m used to, and (3) it’ll take a ton of research. I also want to be a little older when I write it, in hopes of appealing to a more mature (as in older) audience. Speare & Farrah, on the other hand…well, I’m not an accomplished mystery-writer, so I want to glean a little more knowledge before I start on that one.
I have other ideas (a historical YA duology, an adult speculative series, a Regency romance series, and a fairy-tale retelling series, etc.) that I’m not quite sure about. I really love the ideas, but I don’t know how to bring them about successfully. Make sense?
Ooooh, I like that idea. I feel like if all the books were connected with an overarching goal and a reason for why they are going through different genres, then it could be really cool. With a series like this you could really get to know the characters well, and seeing them in different genres would be really interesting.
Yup. Story ideas are endless. What are some of the story ideas that you are particularly looking forward to writing?
@gracie-j
“I don’t know how to bring them about successfully” that totally makes sense. Like, I’ll think of a great story idea, but doubt if I can fully take advantage of the premise and bring it to its full potential. So I put it on hold and work on a simpler story. XD
Daughters of the Seven Seas series sounds really interesting. What’s the premise? And is there a reason for the series being six books?
Historical Rom-com? Woah. Hats off to you, because I would have no idea how to go about writing a romance. XD What was your inspiration behind the story idea?
@kathleenramm Hmm…I kind of want to write some cliched system novels sometime. Maybe one about a restaurant system, and another about leveling up in a truck…
I also want to work on my unsatisfactory endings. You know, because a satisfactory ending allows you to stop thinking about it, but a good unsatisfactory ending makes you think about the thing forever. I have a thing for such endings; it’s a love/hate relationship.
So underneath that category there’s probably going to be one about alternate universes and doppelgangers, and also one about a lost demon who declares himself a the true evil but ends up making friends who don’t seem to think so…
There’s also one about a mafia/underworld thing since that’s my favorite historical subject. I want to wait to write that one because I want it to be really good. I’ll plot every inch of it.
I’ve also wanted to write contemporary fiction, and I have one that’s a little dark and sad…one that’s a story about high schoolers who ACTUALLY GO TO SCHOOL and not fall in love or any other things like that… Why are all school stories romances? It’s ridiculous. Where’s the actual school? It may be contemporary fiction, but somehow magic realism always finds its way into my works… For this one I want to pull something like Christopher Nolan would: make it confusing as possible but also really beautiful.
Maybe I’ll write something more lighthearted, like something to appeal to female readers. I have one idea about writing the adventures of a cpop group through the eyes of their cameraman. I think that would be a fun concept to explore.
Also I have ideas for Chinese works that I’ll want to translate into English sometime. One will be urban fantasy and connected, somehow, with most of these other ideas, while the other will be Eastern Fantasy about spirits on the moon. I’m quite excited for the latter because I’m going to build a whole new fantasy world for it.
Oh, oops. There go my ideas.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@kathleenramm Exactly! And I never know for sure if I’m accomplished enough in the genre. I don’t read/write as much fantasy as I do his-fic, so anything fantasy is always pushed to the back burner–for reasons like handling clichés, retaining a biblical worldview, etc.
The inspiration behind Lady Samantha…hmm…I can’t really say. I’m trying to think…ah, yes! I wanted to write a story about an peeress in her own right (as in, a duchess/countess/marchioness who inherited the title from her father, as his only heir, which is still not a very common practice, as titles most often go to male heirs, no matter how distant they may be). Therefore, I contrived a character named Samantha Harcourt, the Marchioness of Rotherham. Well, she was such an interesting and different sort of lady that I just had to write an entire series about her. Each books is based on a comedy of errors on her part. The first is her debut into London society (she’s from the Regency period) as the newly-entitled marchioness and her subsequent attempts at matchmaking her best friend. The second is when she is match-made by her aunt to a man she has never met. She ends up disguising herself as a maid and working in her fiancé’s household to get to know him outside of polite society, and eventually falls in love with him. From there out, she is thrust into murder mysteries, escapades with highwaymen, and even ends up taking a temporary seat in Parliament (which was never heard of until the 1960s, so I toy with the rules a bit) when her cousin falls ill.
*gulps in a breath* Romance isn’t all that hard at all, I should think. With the different ways each love story plays out, there is rarely ever a wrong way to write a romance. Plus, I pretty much read straight romance, so that may have something to do with it.
The Daughters of the Seven Seas series starts with Held Captive. The first three books (which was all it was going to be, originally) are both a continuation of Rina’s story (my reformed female pirate captain) and romances. In HC, it’s Rina’s love story, both with God and the man who leads her to him. In Prisoner at Heart, it’s her first mate and one of her many enemies who fall in love (while Rina battles quite a few other things, as well). In Bound and Determined (my WIP), it’s a romance between Rina’s quartermaster and his childhood friend–which has been pushed onto the back burner for the moment, as I’m focused on the action in the story and Rina’s continued arc. She’s one of those characters you never stop writing, you know.
I had a story planned for Rina’s brother that branched off from Rina’s story, as her POV isn’t present. I didn’t really want to just completely separate it from hers and call it a stand-alone, since you really have to read the other three to get the whole picture, so I threw it into the series. Now, I have a book after that one and a book in between the original three and Julius’s (Rina’s brother) story, which kind of bridges the gap.
And then of course I have the seven million other series that all tie in. I love to milk things. Perhaps too much.
@devastate-lasting That’s quite a list! Your ideas are very original…and I totally agree with you on the school stories! (Even though all of my ideas for those may include romance… I have no school experience, you remember.) And I love the mafia. Okay, I don’t love the mafia. But the underworld themes are so interesting–particularly the Italian Mafia. (I mean, that’s the Mafia, y’all.) I’d like to explore that one a little more myself, especially the role the Mafia/black market played in Nazi-occupied Italy.And there’s another idea I’ve held back–my Nazi-occupied Rome series. I have several things for research I want to do before I begin writing that. I want those stories to feel more real and alive than anything else, you know?
@gracie-j Going to the Mob Museum was probably the singular most interesting museum I’ve ever been to. And the amount of time I spend on the Organized Crime pages of Wikipedia is unhealthy.
Whoa, I’d love to write historical fiction if it wasn’t for the fact that researching is a big pain for me. Maybe I will one day. Your ideas all sound really interesting.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@devastate-lasting Thanks! Historical fiction does take a ton of research (most of which I do not do 😆). One thing that helps the most is to read books set in the era you intend to write. For one, those authors have already done half the research for you, and for two, you can easily get a feel of how that time/culture felt without having to live in it or read a 1000-page book on it. Unless you’re writing about a specific historical event–like a war–you can pretty much wing it. Wikipedia and historian’s blogs are the best places to find your info. I have so many sites saved that are just about the clothes and foods of certain areas (I even found a blog all about the perfume of the past!). Once you understand the way people ate, talked, dressed, and lived, you can make the period come to life without bogging yourself down in research. Most readers (at least of the fiction/romance genres) don’t like lengthy paragraphs of boring details anyway. (Or at least I don’t.) In fact, most readers who truly love historical fiction read a lot of classics–like Austen and Dickens. And since these authors lived in the times they wrote, they didn’t need to bog the reader down in stuff they already knew. It was contemporary fiction for them, and if you can make your historical novel feel that real to a modern-day reader, you’ve pretty much taken the cake. When you want to include the politics/events of the day, Wikipedia and History are the best places to go, if you ask me. You can actually find the Wiki page for each year (i.e., 1776, 1963, etc.) and get a list of the big events that happened and on what day they did, as well as births and deaths of famous people, so you can make a reference and seem like you totally did hours upon hours of research.
And you did not ask for all that information. 🙄 My apologies. I get fired up about historical fiction. (And why there is no emoji for that I will never know. 😪) I would encourage you to look into writing historical, if that’s something you’d really like to do. That is such a broad genre–from period fantasy to romance to mysteries to comedy–that has an even broader market.
@gracie-j Since the time periods that I want to write don’t really have books (or the right type of books) for them, Wikipedia is my trusty friend. I will always rely on Wikipedia.
And I probably will go into historical fiction someday. Thanks for the encouragement; I don’t mind long paragraphs. I’ll just get through all these story ideas first…which reminds me that yesterday in the middle of the night I woke up with another story idea…I hate my brain sometimes. Just let me rest and finish stuff first! But yeah.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into daysA story where the villain has to team up with the hero to fight and even worse bad guy.
A story where my characters have to travel around the world.
A retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice’s story.The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
ekseaver.wordpress.com@gracie-j
Rom-coms aren’t usually my taste, but Lady Samantha sounds really interesting. Her dressing up as a maid to spy sounds totally up my alley. XD
Yeah, your probably right. I’ve read like, umm… ZERO romances, so no wonder they seem hard to write.
Woah. The Daughters of the Seven Seas series sounds like a really fun, interesting, but hard project! Do you ever get overwhelmed by all the different characters and plot points? Or do you a system to keep them all organized?
I get what you mean by unsatisfactory endings. Those are my favorite. But I prefer to call them open endings. Because with closed endings it almost feels like the author is telling you “hey, the story is over, just stop reading now. Leave.” XD But with open endings from time to time you can think, “I wonder what so and so is doing right now…” It feels like the story is still alive.
Each of your story ideas are so creative and are something I would immediately pick off the shelf if it existed. XD
Orpheus and Eurydice’s is one of my favorite Greek myths! Have you ever written/plan on writing any other Greek myth retellings?
@kathleenramm, no, I’ve never written a retelling. (Well. I did once upon a time. Long story.) but yeah, I want to write several Greek retellings. There’s so much untapped potential.
The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
ekseaver.wordpress.com@kathleenramm Ooh, I’ll have to use that term from now on. A bit more positive.
So happy to think they’re creative! I hope if they do exist someday people will read them…
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into daysSooooo many. I have no fewer than 80 story ideas on my list. BUT, since I have to pick one… I read Love and the Sea and Everything in Between by Brian McBride a few months ago and loved the overall tone/feel of it. Between that and other aesthetic things I accumulated around the same time, I decided I really want to write a contemporary novel that’s just hyper-aesthetic and lovely. The problems being… 1) I don’t write contemporary almost ever. I stink at figuring out conflict for contemporary novels. 2) I can’t build a plot off of an aesthetic. XD So. It’s going to be really cool eventually! But I’m not sure how it’s going to come together. I also want it to be set at a college, and when I was researching schools that would work I… kind of… stumbled across the perfect college for myself (I wasn’t even looking seriously at going to college, so…) and now I kind of want to wait and write it while I’m there (Lord willing I get to go) and have that firsthand experience. So. Lots of reasons it’s waiting. XD But I’m kind of excited about it anyway. ;D
Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.
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