Story Ideas, AKA Why do you write like you're running out of time? (HAMILTON REFERENCE)
Soooo.... What's up, peeps?
I've been working hard on my Camp NaNoWriMo novel, currently under the working title The Wacky Factor. This will probably change, but for now it's a cool title and it works.
What I thought I'd do for today's post (because Wacky Factor is still under wraps for the rest of the month [or at least until I get to my Word Count Goal of 60,000 {I'm at 16,000 now!} and I don't have to feel bad about spoilers or anything]) is to give you all a look at my ideas list for the rest of the plot bunnies I have kicking around in my head right now. And maybe you can give me advice on which to write next.
I'm warning you, though: Steal my ideas and I will send my pet dragons to quickly and stealthily slay you in your sleep. You have been warned.
So, without further ado:
The inner workings of Faith's weird author brain!
(To see my actual WIPs, check out the "My Writings" page here on my blog.)
#1. Finish the Pentegreen Saga
Any books I wrote in this series would be a sequel to the book I'm kind of in the middle of right now, The King's Daughter. It's a (sort of) epic fantasy story (that genre tag is debatable), and it revolves around Princess Esma Pentegreen, a girl struggling to survive a war that threatens to destroy everything she holds dear. Some of my favorite characters I've invented are in this series: Esma, the princess who's kind of a wimp but learns to develop a spine as the story progresses. Martin and Bernathel, her warrior parents who are completely different from most other parents in YA fantasy. Rishatta, the boy who everyone thinks is the enemy, although there's no real way to tell for sure. Kariana, the spy (ever tried writing a character who has a very British accent but doesn't live in our world, so you can't say British? Try it sometime. It's strangely fun). And Derek and Torin and Anna and everybody else.And of course, there's Clark. Good old Clark. And Elensha and Burashna and Dauthang. They're the villains.
These books are my babies. You can't tell, right?
#2. Finish the Watched Trilogy
Watched was my NaNoWriMo project for November of '16, and you can find a synopsis on the "My Writings" page. It's a dystopia where I attempt to answer the question, "What will America look like for Christians in twenty years?"Because you can't write dystopia without it being a trilogy, that's what it ended up being. I've written the first one, and it needs a lot of edits, but that's okay - I'm actually excited about editing a book.
#3. Les Miserables Retelling
I was talking to my mom one day, and I was like, "What would it be like if Les Mis was set in the world of Nazi Germany? And instead of the students being part of the June Rebellion, they were part of the White Rose or something?" And this got me thinking, and now I have this really cool idea for a Les Mis retelling where Jean Valjean is a Jew and Enjolras is leading some kind of underground operation.
That's about all I have so far, but this idea excites me. I've never written a historical fiction before, and I feel like this would be really fun.
#4. Robin Hood Retelling
I like retellings. You can't tell, right?
But this one would actually be Robin Hood set in a world far from Earth, and would also be Robin Hood meets The Seven Swans. If you don't know that fairy tale, look it up - it's kind of decent-ish? The gist of it is that the evil stepmother turns a girl's seven brothers into swans, and she takes a vow of silence for seven years and vows to sew them each a shirt in that time. If she can do both of these things, they will turn back into men. And of course there's evil queens and stepmothers and husbands and infants and other such things, but that's the basic synopsis. And I've never seen a story use that as its inspiration, so I figure it's original-ish?
#5. Gritty War Story
This one is still in the "honeymoon-I-just-got-this-idea-and-OM-goodness-this-is-the-best-thing-ever" stage, but it involves a beautiful princess and a tomboy princess. And a city burrowed into the rock. And a relentless enemy. And a boy with wings. <3 It just has that feel to it of "Wow, this is such a good idea". And I love it.
I have other ideas, of course, but some of them have hardly moved past the idea stage and some of them still need a lot of work. These are the most interesting ones and, if you count, there's 10 of them, so it's not like this is a short list. :D
Which of these ideas do you like the most? Which should I keep writing after I finish my Camp NaNo book (which is coming along nicely, thanks for asking!)? Do I have to send my dragons after you? Talk to me!
12 comments
They all sound good, but the Pentegreen saga looks like something I would pick off of a shelf, read the blurb, and fall in love with the story on the first page!
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks! I feel that way too, or I would if I could figure out the story XD
DeleteThe Pentegreen Saga sounds like my new favorite series!! Just curious, how did you come up with the name Pentegreen? I have name troubles (specifically, they're unpronounceable) so I am always looking for tips. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks!
DeleteYeah.... The only way I ever come up with name ideas is that they just kind of come out of nowhere. It's actually really annoying :)Some of my best names just kind of appeared. I have no tips. Sorry. XD
Weeeell... I love fairytale retellings! (I actually have a Robin Hood thread in my Camp WIP, too. :D) But that city burrowed into the rock sounds really intriguing - like Petra, or not so much? The princess's warrior parents sound great too... but so does the 'what will America be like for Christians in the future' (because that could be some real scary distopia right there... scariest because it's realish). And students in an anti-Nazi underground... HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE? YOU CHOOSE THEY'RE YOUR STORIES!! xD
ReplyDeleteBut please don't send any dragons after me. I'm still trying to get rid of mine. (she's cutting teeth)
That's so cool! I love Robin Hood. It's probably pretty similar to Petra, but as I said, it's a fairly new idea, so I have no real idea of what it will look like.
DeleteThe dystopia is really scary. And I just keep coming up with new ways to make it worse XD
And the Nazi underground one is so appealing. I love that one, but the amount of research that would be involved is kind of daunting.
Okay, I will keep that in mind. XD
OOOOOHMYGOODNESS. These sound AWESOME. I love your brain. o.o These are brilliant ideas!
ReplyDeleteEpic fantasy is my favoritest thing EVER, so the Pentegreen Saga 100% appeals to me. And dystopian is awesome, too! Plus a Les Mis retelling?? That...that is an epic idea!
But but but THE ROBIN HOOD RETELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, okay. I must calm down. But, you see, Robin Hood is one of my greatest obsessions and has been since...the beginning of time basically. I. ADORE. ROBIN HOOD. But not only that! THE SIX SWANS. That is one of my favorite, FAVORITE fairytales, and it seems like no one else has heard of it. BUT IT IS SO COOL. But...just...ROBIN HOOD AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE FAIRYTALES TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!! YOU MUST WRITE THIS THING. The Six Swans is a fairytale I've wanted to do a retelling of myself for...ever. XD I can't think of a time when I HAVEN'T wanted to write a retelling for it. And yet I still haven't... *shakes head* BUT WE NEED RETELLINGS OF IT SO YES, YOU MUST WRITE THIS THING.
I love my brain, too, to be honest. That's not a bragging thing to say, right? XD
DeleteYeah, I need to write all of these, but the Robin Hood one really excites me. I have no idea where that idea came from, but it's so epic that I think I must do it and soon before it fizzles out and loses all of its excitement.
You should write one of those when you're done with BT! That would be awesome! :)
A Les Mis retelling set in Nazi Germany among the White Rose? Sounds Epic (although inevitably tragic)!
ReplyDeleteGritty War Story also sounds cool.
No need to send the dragons. I'm already crushed by my own stack of ideas. (help me!)
It would be tragic, but I've realized recently that I like writing books where half the characters die (you have been warned) so I'd probably do it and cackle evenly while I did it. You know. The joys of authorship.
Delete*sends help in the form of a pen* Write them all down and then prioritize them! That's what I do!
Oh, I love the sound of the Les Mis retelling. Sooo good. Also the Robin Hood retelling (I am also a huge fan of retellings, if you couldn't already tell). Good luck with Camp NaNo! You sound like you're going so well.
ReplyDeletethanks!
DeleteI'm working really hard, and I'm actually doing OK for once!
Hello, friends! Do make yourselves comfortable and stay for a while--I'd love to chat with you! I simply ask that you keep it clean. :)