Which one? (Please skim the teasers for all of them, at least)
| Each year I like to do something serious_ so don't worry, I'll finish this for sure. This year, my goal is a novel, published online in which a chapter is released each week. You won't see it until I've written three chapters ahead of time and until I've planned out the details and logistics, but the first step, is, of course, to narrow down on my ideas. To make sure I write a novel that I really want to write (so I don't end up giving up once I get started) and to ensure that people want to read the story (so I don't feel like I've been working in vain), for the past 1-2 months I've been challenging myself to come up with many structured story ideas from a range of genres. Yes, some genres were harder to come up with stories for than others. I will probably make another post, after the votes are in, with more details about how my whole plan is going to work and the story I will do. Whether you like it or not, you're all in for a journey with me, haha. Anyway, I've managed to compile them into these ideas below. I wrote a teaser, sort of like a MAL description, then a spoiler. But seriously, I don't suggest opening the spoilers unless you like to know exactly how things play out_ they really do give away the ending to the entire story. If I feel that it's necessary to tell you whether there's a plot twist or an overarching storyline, I'll mention it in the teaser. I would appreciate some questions/comments about the stories as well. Though, of course, as with the poll results, I may not necessarily follow the suggestions. However, I will try my best to answer all questions. Oh, and these are just ideas, so they're probably going to change at least a little when I actually write and post the chapters. And fair warning_ some/all could be entirely cliche, but hey, think about it this way: Maybe I have this new angle of writing! Feel free to suggest story titles and character names as well. (But be serious, please.) I didn't put in titles or names yet because I believe they take a lot of thought, but I didn't want to waste time thinking about names and ruin story development. Here goes. Don't worry. I consider myself a much better story writer than teaser writer. Please deal with my perhaps-inadequate descriptions. Vote for the stories only in the poll. The extras are possible side-projects. If any seem interesting, just put "Extra1" or "Extra2" in the comments to vote. Ideas (I think they're enjoyable just to read, so give them a skim, at least, before voting please!): |
einonymousNov 24, 2014 2:35 PM
| I guess I'll just give my comments.. [spoiler] Story 1: This doesn't really make much sense to me. Why would people jump to the idea that they're living in a virtual reality? Also, why use the word "controllers"? In this case, it'd be more like a "god." Story 2: I guess it could be okay provided you have a decent understanding about how to run a business. Story 3: This is a bit tricky. From what I know, it is still a bit unknown whether genes have an influence on personality. This is also a bit far-fetched since it's so specific. Even pretending that this kind of thing could possibly happen, why does the cat die? Why is the son going to die? Why seven years? Why does he get cancer, and how does it make him go back to normal? And people don't die from anxiety. Panic attacks are bad, and they can make people feel as if they're dying, but I don't think people can actual die from it. Chronic anxiety can increase the risk of life-threatening diseases and conditions, but it doesn't actually kill people. Story 4: To be honest, it sounds like it could be way too preachy. If you're going to go the life lesson route, it's better to focus on just one main one without stating anything outright. Story 5: Sounds fine, although it may run the risk of being preachy. Story 6: This reminds me a lot of the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong. Except with different powers, different characters, and a slightly different kind of organization. Not that it's really a bad thing. Story 7: Fine, but does run the risk of being preachy. Story 8: Not really my thing, but I guess it's fine. Story 9: Sounds like a School Days-esque story. Seemingly normal, but actually messed up. I guess if that's the point, then it's fine. Story 10: Sounds fine. |
| I love all of them but it's between 3 and 6 so i picked 3 |
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| I voted 10, but I think 3 would be fine too (though "he gets cancer and it mutates him back" doesn't sound like a very convincing way to fix his problem). Story 9 makes no sense to me. She can hear the sound of souls leaving their bodies... okay. How is that going to help her find her mother who's already dead? I also don't get why would the organization you mentioned go as far as killing people close to her, just so she wouldn't find out that her mother was a bad person... uh. Unless they ordered her mother to develop the weapon and then killed her. Idk, I think that idea needs some more work. I like the Extra 2, too. |
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dream_eater1012 said: I guess I'll just give my comments.. Thanks for the comments and tips. I'll keep them in mind if I happen to write about one of those stories. I can actually answer your questions for Story 1 and 3 (I didn't have space to put details in the teaser, but I do have explanations in my personal notes). Story 1: The idea of living in a virtual reality had been floating around for a while now, but no one really believed it. After all, they have been developing video games that come close to complete virtual reality, and it seems strange that everything in the world works out so evenly. So the idea that everyone got moved into a virtual reality long ago comes slowly, but suddenly gains popular support when the murder occurs. Story 3: In this world (in which people can develop such advanced drugs that precise gene modification is possible), people can also measure the length of telomeres. The drug shortens the length of telomeres because the drug causes the body to replace all its cells (after all, that's the only way the new DNA can spread). Since the cat dies 3 years after receiving the drug, the human dies 10 years after receiving the drug (I did this by a rough comparison of life-spans. A cat lives around 20 years, a human lives around 70.) Thus, 7 years left. Of course, I am no professional scientist, and my explanations are only rough estimates based on my understanding. However, as my audience hopefully isn't full of cancer researchers, my understanding, and some extra research, should be enough to twist up a sci-fi story. |
Kalypze said: Haha, if you think my solution to number 3 is deus ex machina, I guess I've got nothing to answer here except to say that the solution to The War of the Worlds was pretty random, too. However, I did offer a more technical rationalization above if you wanted that. You make a good point about number 9, though. Who would go to such an extent? I do want the organization to be a collection of good people so I can't have your solution. There's probably a solution out there... maybe the organization comprises of her long lost relatives (family would care about her!), or maybe she is in some way crucial to the better future of the world (a mysterious prophecy or something they have to follow). Or maybe they were once friends with the mother (who is evil but did care for her daughter a lot), and the mother had left her trusted friends with the note to never let anything happen to her daughter, and never let her find out about her work, no matter what. Yeah, that'll probably be interesting, since it would bring up the idea of whether final and absolute instructions should always be followed, even if they unintentionally end up causing more harm. As for your first question on number 9, perhaps I should have put in the teaser that the closer she is to the dead body, the louder the"woosh," and the "woosh" gets quieter over time. By finding other spirits, communicating with them (through conventional methods like ouija board, etc), and tracing her mother's own sound, she can narrow in on her mother's body. Souls take 10 years to leave the body, leaving "loudly" at first, then traces of them keep disseminating. Sort of like radiation, I guess. |
| Story4! ... as long as there's yuri! |
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einonymous said: Story 1: The idea of living in a virtual reality had been floating around for a while now, but no one really believed it. After all, they have been developing video games that come close to complete virtual reality, and it seems strange that everything in the world works out so evenly. So the idea that everyone got moved into a virtual reality long ago comes slowly, but suddenly gains popular support when the murder occurs. How is it strange for everything to be even? Something is strange only when it's different from what's considered "normal." But if people grow up in that kind of environment, they don't know anything different. That kind of thing is normal. Sure, it's strange from the perspective of what we know, but that's because it's something that's different from what we consider normal. And how does the murder make people think it's a virtual reality? Why do people connect the two together? |
einonymous said: As for your first question on number 9, perhaps I should have put in the teaser that the closer she is to the dead body, the louder the"woosh," and the "woosh" gets quieter over time. By finding other spirits, communicating with them (through conventional methods like ouija board, etc), and tracing her mother's own sound, she can narrow in on her mother's body. Souls take 10 years to leave the body, leaving "loudly" at first, then traces of them keep disseminating. Sort of like radiation, I guess. That makes more sense. I think it'd be good if you added that to the teaser. Maybe the mother's spirit (if she does find her at some point) could try to manipulate her daughter into finishing/activating the biological weapon, and the organization just wants to avoid that at all costs. Afterall, a couple (or a dozen) lives are nothing compared to the millions that could die because of the weapon. And you could add the part about the note, to justify not killing the girl off instead of all the other people. |
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| There are some interesting ideas, but I think 2 seems to have the most potential to have an interesting and solid plot. There are some rather silly plot twists (I feel), like story 10. Story 3 is also definitely a deus ex machina, but that doesn't mean it won't have the potential to be good. Lord of the flies also has a deus ex machina but it doesn't mean the novel itself wasn't interesting. |
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| Personally, I feel that the first and fifth have the most promise. The ideas certainly sound like they need some tweaking but they could be something special if treated properly. |
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| I like the 3rd and 9th stories. They're both Psychological. But I think the 9th is more interesting because all of us can relate with the forum stuff. |
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| Story 6 I like the superpower thing, but i don't like the generic rpg party roster. Person1 (and probably together with his partner) against the world would be great. |
| I like most of the ideas, but I ended up voting for #3 |
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| I couldn't decide between 2 and 4, but I voted 2 in the end. I also want to point out that 6 seems to be a good idea but... not my cup of tea Dx Okay, so I read all the storys WITH the spoilers so Im going to put all my quick thoughts into a spoiler tag |
dream_eater1012 said: I'll answer the murder question because it's easier. Obviously, the controllers (if there are any) can really only instigate events, but they cannot control the feelings of the people in that reality. Since murder isn't some random event, but directly caused by some person, and since murder happens to end someone's life, making the controllers unable to make it up to the person later by some lucky event, murder is really the only thing that can't be evened out. For example, if someone punched someone in the face one day, the next day the victim will win a new radio at a raffle or something. Meanwhile, if the person is dead, there's no way to even the balance of happiness. However, luckily, murders are usually done in private, so no one would know about it. Usually, when a murder occurs, the body just disappears before anyone can find out, and when no one's looking (except, if these people exist, people dispatched to remove the body). But either way, it's kept a complete secret that killing another person is even an option. When a murder occurs in public, too many people see it, too many people to be disposed of. Thus, people realize that it's weird that more irregularities don't occur (for example, why does the person I punch get to win a raffle the next day, while the people that are killed, just get killed?). People start listening to the crazy rumors that have been floating around for a while. I guess that also resolves the first issue automatically, since it's the murder that makes the general population realize an abnormality. |
| Ok, a whole pile of responses to questions/explanations/comments on your comments. Kalypze said: PerfectScore said: KuroyukiH said: |
einonymous said: I'll answer the murder question because it's easier. Obviously, the controllers (if there are any) can really only instigate events, but they cannot control the feelings of the people in that reality. Since murder isn't some random event, but directly caused by some person, and since murder happens to end someone's life, making the controllers unable to make it up to the person later by some lucky event, murder is really the only thing that can't be evened out. For example, if someone punched someone in the face one day, the next day the victim will win a new radio at a raffle or something. Meanwhile, if the person is dead, there's no way to even the balance of happiness. However, luckily, murders are usually done in private, so no one would know about it. Usually, when a murder occurs, the body just disappears before anyone can find out, and when no one's looking (except, if these people exist, people dispatched to remove the body). But either way, it's kept a complete secret that killing another person is even an option. When a murder occurs in public, too many people see it, too many people to be disposed of. Thus, people realize that it's weird that more irregularities don't occur (for example, why does the person I punch get to win a raffle the next day, while the people that are killed, just get killed?). People start listening to the crazy rumors that have been floating around for a while. I guess that also resolves the first issue automatically, since it's the murder that makes the general population realize an abnormality. But in that situation, it'd be more likely for the population to think that the murder is the abnormality than themselves being the abnormal ones. Also, how do these rumors originate? Why did people even start to think about this virtual reality in the first place? It's quite a big jump to go from "virtual reality can exist for games, so maybe our whole existence is a virtual reality." |
| I gotta' say story #1, #3,#5, #10 and Extra #1 all sound interesting. I'm gonna vote for... #10. It'd be nice to see an adult woman MC in a mystery series. |
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ⛩️  |
| Here are my comments as promised! Fair warning, I didn't open the spoiler tags for individual stories as I want to read this should you complete your work! Story1 Genre: Military, Utopia/Dystopia Overarching plot, no particularly large plot twists yet Comments: Story2 Genre: Business, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Slice-of-life Overarching plot, could be a little episodic, no particularly large plot twists yet Comments: Story3 Genre: Sci-fi, Drama, Psychological Overarching plot, plot twist at the very end When a new gene-editing drug works on the family cat, an exhausted mother decides to try it on her own delinquent son. It starts to work as well: The son studies harder and begins to voice his aspirations. However, three years later, the cat dies, and the mother frantically takes her son to the hospital for a medical analysis. The son only has seven years left to live. Is there some way out? Or, at least, some way to deal with the dread? Comments: Story4 Genre: School, Drama, Comedy, Slice-of-life Overarching plot, could be a little episodic, no particularly large plot twists yet Comments: Story5 Genre: Drama, Slice-of-life Overarching plot, large event at the end, though not really a twist Story6 Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Super Powers Overarching plot, hopefully plot twist at end (though I still have to come up with one) Comments: Story7 Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural Overarching plot, though mainly episodic, plot twist near the end Comments: Story8, Possible title: The (Setting-Up) Art Club Genre: Drama, Romance, School, Comedy, Slice-of-life Overarching plot, could be a little episodic, no particularly large plot twists yet Comments: Story9, Possible title: Chasing [Last name of MC and her mother] Genre: Horror, Psychological, School, Romance Overarching plot, could be a little episodic at beginning, plot twists at the very end Comments: Story10, Possible title: Heaven Weather Facility Genre: Mystery, Romance, Slice-of-life, Drama Overarching plot, plot twist near the end Comments: |
| I voted for story 10. I would have voted for 7, but I don't like the ending. I wish it would stay fantasy rather than having a huge twist at the end. The anime world needs more good fantasy settings. |
| I feel like Story 2 has the potential to be truly "slice of life" while also letting the reader who has no interest in the genre get through it with some mystery thrown in. Extra 2 sounds really awesome, but the execution is what matters most at the end of the day. |
| It's hard to choose in my honest opinion. But for me, #7 is slightly more interesting. Though I have to question some things, like, if the mirror had that much significance to the old couple, maybe it wouldn't be in the shop itself, but maybe a back room which the protagonist could stumble upon or something. And the manner in which it seemed like you intended for the old man to drug the main character may be too abrupt, unless you omitted something from the synopsis. (Maybe the MC apologizes and wants to pay, the old man however refuses with a smile, then has 'tea' ready for him the next time he comes there :P ) I think it would be better if he knocked him out on the spot pretty much right after the incident with a blunt object. That way, from the protagonists perspective, the last thing he would see pre-coma would be the cracked mirror, and then it would transition straight into the dreaming, which means the whole thing could be played as if the main character (and thus the reader) assumes he simply got sucked into the mirror, only for the real reason to be revealed later. Was fun reading your synopses :] |
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| Story 4 sounds amazing!!! (><) |
| Read all of your ideas. Lots of efforts and thoughts put into these, good work. Voted for story 1. I'm a big fan of dystopia series and this sounds right up my alley. I would prefer if the ending was more explosive and not to remain the status-quo. Extra 1. |
| My Twitter My Tumblr - Anime Blogging on current airing season as I watch them. My deviantArt - Anime FanArts. Please leave replies on my profile page, as I am unlikely to see them otherwise. Thanks. |
| i like idea one or six! |
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| I couldnt decide between story 2,5,6,9 and extra 2. Prolly 2 it does have potential like what someone said. But I'm leaning more towards extra 2 since I enjoy a darker and angst story. Anyway some of them do sound cliche but I dont mind at all. |
The higher I get , The lower I'll sink. |
| Between 6, 9, and 10 for me. 6 sounds interesting as long as the team's dynamic is a focus. I liked 9 more after reading Kalypse's suggestions on the mother's spirit guiding her towards executing her will, I think that would allow you really to dig into MC and her feelings and eventual closure towards her mother. Though I'd suggest maybe introducing the organization and the whole biological weapon premise somewhat simultaneously with the "Spirit Whispering" premise and adding depth/focus to both sides along the way so that one of the two don't end up feeling plot devicey throughout the story. In the end I went with 10 because I think it has the most potential for payoff with its twist. The whole dynamics behind it and the prediction:guilt aspect needs more tweaking/fleshing out for me to be able to connect the dots but I can definitely get behind the whole idea of being apart of the Weather Facility and the build up to realizing the truth behind it. Only thing is you'd really have to throw a lot at the reader to keep them from figuring the twist out before you make the reveal or put the writing on the walls for a gradual reveal that sets in over time with the reader and the MC. Either of those three I would most likely end up reading though, along with 1, 3, and 7 out of interest in the concepts. |
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| I like number 3 but i would like instead of mother there would be a cooler character. Maybe an older brother or so :) |
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| I don't like any :/, but 5 and 10 seem the most passable. |
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| Focusing more on number 10 (though not closing the poll because I need to determine an order, anyway, and it's fun/helpful watching votes/more comments come in): FadeFrost said: It could be great if done right. I really like that plot twist (I accidentally opened the spoiler, again), though I must say that I don't feel it really connects. The disparity between her own memories / death and her friend's is kind of an area which needs alot of explanation or hints. I wouldn't see how predicting a hurricane and then a friend's death would spiral you into guilt either since neither are within personal control. That supernatural prediction aspect of it, based on the teaser, also has no real impact on the direction of the story. Hence maybe alter the circumstances behind the story? I feel like a lot of people would feel guilt about something out of their own control. For example, she even thought that it would happen (even if it were jokingly, the thought passed her mind), so why didn't she meet her friend to go over to her house like they planned? (He could be her childhood friend. She could've decided to do something else instead, or maybe she ended up being too nervous since her house was small or something, and she had always been embarrassed by it, so even as kids, she played at his house. She'll feel guilt because she left her friend outside waiting right before he "died." Her only friend, because she doesn't feel like she needs any more friends/doesn't make friends very easily. She could run out during the storm trying to meet her friend. Then that would also make the friend that almost got killed guilty, because they were talking about the prediction earlier he knew she died because she was running out into the storm for him. He regrets not calling off the meeting, knowing she was nervous about her house.) Phew, there. That was a tough one. As for the supernatural aspect, it's not really supernatural. She isn't really psychic, but of course the event is going to stir her enough that she'll shut herself away until she arrives at HWF and try not to make any offhand predictions lest something like that happens again. Or maybe I could have a flashback chapter in which she and her friend were young, and they had made a tiny offhand prediction that came true (though they're both actually coincidences, which she finds out after she gets stronger and tries to use the predictive ability as a power). (For example, she could point to a branch with a nest on it and say, "Wouldn't it be weird if a cat jumped into that tree and knocked the eggs off the tree so that they broke?" An the next day they could find that the eggs were on the ground, all cracked. It would be like confirmation bias; once the hurricane happens, she finds evidence.) I have to play it that she doesn't originally have many friends because I can't have her realize that her companions aren't her old classmates. Though she won't really look carefully either, having shut herself off from the world afterwards as well. |
| I don't know why, but Story 7 really reminds me with xxxHolic |
  “Be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” "Just don't overdo it"  *nods* |
| I saw this on someone's comment section, I decided to check it out! :3 i voted for 10! plot twists 4 lyfe |
          Galaxy's Dorkiest |
| Dunno, didn't really like the majority of the options. But Story 2 sounds like a good read. |
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