Brainstorming Room

[Taylor]

Come here to throw out ideas and get help on developing them further.

[Saru (Queen of Bookland)]

HELLO.

I would post here but I'm afraid that random lurking members would steal my ideas.

[Taylor]

So…I have this idea for a character.

Whenever he hears music, it starts something similar to Parkinsonian tremors, and his head rocks back and forth uncontrollably with a pain in the back of his head and neck. Not to the rhythm of the music, but somewhat erratically.

The thing is, I don't know what genre of story I want to fit it in. Should it be a dystopia? I'd considered having it be a torture method for one or more characters. Perhaps it is a genetic disorder in a society? Is it fantasy? If so, why is the music thing important?

I just don't knowwwwwww….

[Grace]

Saru (Queen of Bookland) wrote: "HELLO.

I would post here but I'm afraid that random lurking members would steal my ideas."

No I won't... *Takes out notepad and pencil and waits to steal someone's ideas.*

[Taylor]

I'm not worried about idea stealing. The odds of anyone stealing an idea and publishing it first are slim.

[Grace]

Taylor [Pardon me while I fanboy over you] wrote: "I'm not worried about idea stealing. The odds of anyone stealing an idea and publishing it first are slim."

Yeah, and I'm sure if I told anyone my ideas for a strange unicorn human story where there's a prince who isn't gay at all, he just looks that way and a heavy metal band member who is the prince's brother and they all have unicorn horns, it's weird. But, I really don't think anyone would steal it...

[Taylor]

Lol.

So…any thoughts on my little idea?

[[deleted user]]

I wish I could help you guys but my brain is fried and I can't even come up with my own ideas.

[Grace]

Taylor [Pardon me while I fanboy over you] wrote: "So…I have this idea for a character.

Whenever he hears music, it starts something similar to Parkinsonian tremors, and his head rocks back and forth uncontrollably with a pain in the back of his ..."

Well, it probably make a better dystopia than fantasy... but I really stink at helping people come up with stuff, I mean besides helping my sister come up with a good zombie story...

[Taylor]

I could also pull it off as a neat little realistic fiction.

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Taylor [Pardon me while I fanboy over you] wrote: "So…I have this idea for a character.

Whenever he hears music, it starts something similar to Parkinsonian tremors, and his head rocks back and forth uncontrollably with a pain in the back of his ..."

Hmm, that's interesting. I think it could have an interesting place in a dystopia, as you said ... the torture thing might work. I mean, that's definitely a vulnerability that more villainous characters could take advantage of.

There would be some details to think out, though. Like if it's a genetic disorder, what causes it? And also, what qualifies as "music" in accordance with the disorder? Like, would just a drumbeat set off an attack, or would it have to be something more complex than that? (Or maybe the attacks are worse the more complicated the music is? ... I don't know.)

[Sevania]

I like the dystopia idea. Realistic fiction would work, but I can't see a torture scene being incorporated into it that way. But... you never know. I also think the genetic disorder idea is intriguing, but you'd have to come up with some
reason that it makes sense.

[Sevania]

Grace wrote: "Taylor [Pardon me while I fanboy over you] wrote: "I'm not worried about idea stealing. The odds of anyone stealing an idea and publishing it first are slim."

Yeah, and I'm sure if I told anyone m..."

I would totally read that.

[Taylor]

Have I written a ramble on how intelligent Brigid is?

No? Coming soon to forums near you….

THANK YOU FOR THINKING THE WAY I HOPE SOMEBODY WOULD. THESE ARE QUESTIONS THAT NEEDED ASKING. XD

So…I'm thinking it might be related to Parkinson's in some way, as far as the chemical aspect is concerned. This is actually based off a real-life issue I have with synesthesia. The migraines I occasionally get from overstimulation cause me to rock back and forth slightly. But…there has to be some way that rhythm can set off this chemical reaction.

As for what qualifies as music, I am thinking anything with a steady rhythm will cause the tremors. Like, even someone pounding their fist repetitively. And the stronger the beat, the more severe the tremors will be. (For example, the bass line of dubstep will be more severe than Mumford and Sons guitar interludes.)

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Bahaha you're welcome.

And okay, that's intriguing ... kind of a mix between Parkinson's and synesthesia. I'm not sure how that would work like ... scientifically, but I guess it always comes to that point in sci-fi where it's just like, "Well ... it happens, okay?" But I don't know, maybe look up the causes/symptoms of both and kind of combine them somehow?

Cool ... that makes sense.

[Taylor]

*cocks head*

There was just another comment here. Where'd it go?

[Raevyn]

I deleted it.
Anyway....
My problem is sort of the same: supernatural or realistic?
There's a love triangle and a hurricane. The thing is, I'm not sure whether one of the boys in the triangle has uncontrolled powers and made the hurricane, OR if I should make it realistic (two boys, a girl, destroyed city).

(Unimportant information: The girl's name is possibly Bluebell, and the boys are Finn and Meriwether.)

[Taylor]

Elizabeth's latest post on Freewrite just inspired something.

What if this character, rather than having what I believe is an essential tremor (which has as close of a description as I'm looking for), has (a?) dystonia that is aggravated?

The cool thing about this is that drug therapy can be a cause of this tremor, so maybe it isn't a genetic thing, but maybe there is a drug that this kid has to take that makes him very sensitive to even rhythms.

Then that calls into question whether uneven rhythms (such as 7/8 time signature) would set it off. Musical people, what do you think?

[Sam~~ we cannot see the moon, and yet the waves still rise~~]

Raevyn wrote: "I deleted it.
Anyway....
My problem is sort of the same: supernatural or realistic?
There's a love triangle and a hurricane. The thing is, I'm not sure whether one of the boys in the triangle has u..."

i feel like it would be somewhat more unique if it was realistic. but the whole thing about a love triangle... you have to be careful. it's been really overdone lately, so you'll have to show why your story is so much better than the books with love triangles that have already come out.

[Raevyn]

Good point. :D

[Taylor]

Well that died fast.

I'm brainstorming a few stories right now. This one particular tale is bothering me, though.

The way I have it envisioned is that a few kids wake up in a library with little recollection of who they are. (Cliche, I know. This is meant to be a story for young kids.) The library is locked from the outside, so they can't get out. Well, they decide to read the books to see if they can figure a way out from there. As they read, they learn from the nonfiction and greatly admire the characters in the fiction.

Then they realize, though some very specific hints, that the people in the stories are themselves.

Basically, I'm trying to create a story that kinda shows how people can find their hidden talents and gain respect for themselves. However, I understand there are a lot of gaping holes.

-How they get there
-How they're going to eat
-How the story ends (like how they get out)

And more.

If you have any suggestions for those things, or have any additional questions I should consider, let me know.

[Raevyn]

I think a good end would be something like there's an epic battle between the characters and the kids who are the characters? I hope that makes sense...

[Taylor]

But the characters in the books aren't real…and the kids like them. :D

[Raevyn]

I can't think of any helpful ideas besides that. Well, I have one, but it's an epic battle idea again...x_x

[Elliott]

So this might be too late, and you might have everything you need, but this is about the weird seizure type things for Taylor's story... just in case you want to play around with this side of things.

I watched a show in which one of the main characters had PTSD, and every time he heard music he would have flashbacks because in his mind music was the same as the sirens from the traumatic event he was remembering. So if you wanted it to be more realistic and less dystopian, you could play around with PTSD and research it. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but it might be easier to come up with a backstory for that than for Parkinson's and whatnot.

[Elliott]

Raevyn wrote: "I deleted it.
Anyway....
My problem is sort of the same: supernatural or realistic?
There's a love triangle and a hurricane. The thing is, I'm not sure whether one of the boys in the triangle has u..."

I'd say realistic. The disaster story has a lot of potential without throwing in supernatural stuff, you know? But I prefer realistic fiction, so I might be a little biased.

[Taylor]

Ooh…that's interesting. There's something a lot more humiliating about that, too….

I'll consider that. You weren't too late, by the way. Unless I say otherwise, most of the stuff I'll come here with are "rainy day" sort of projects because I'm not in the mood to make progress on my WIP (which has been my life for about two weeks).

[Elliott]

Taylor [Pardon me while I fanboy over you] wrote: "Well that died fast.

I'm brainstorming a few stories right now. This one particular tale is bothering me, though.

The way I have it envisioned is that a few kids wake up in a library with little..."

I think you need to figure out who wrote the books, and then you can play with that to figure out why they're there and how they get out. Like you could make it be someone evil or something who is trying to take the kids personalities to sell books because he can't think of plots of his own. Or it could be someone who is trying to help the kids learn in some way. Or it could be some terrible experiment gone wrong, so it's not really someone completely evil or completely good.

[Taylor]

@Alicia

AHHHHH YOU ARE BEING A LIFESAVER TODAY

I now declare that Wednesday is to be renamed Aliciaday because Woden is out of style. :P

As for who wrote the books…hm. I'll have to think on that. It's a benevolent being, I am sure (because this scenario actually has religious symbolism, so the author of the books would represent God, in a way). As for why…I'll figure that out.

[Elliott]

Taylor [Pardon me while I fanboy over you] wrote: "@Alicia

AHHHHH YOU ARE BEING A LIFESAVER TODAY

I now declare that Wednesday is to be renamed Aliciaday because Woden is out of style. :P

As for who wrote the books…hm. I'll have to think on tha..."

Ah, that could be pretty cool. If it's going to be a allegory type of a story, it'll be a little easier to figure out why they're there and how they get out, because you don't have to have super logical explanations for things. I mean, obviously it's good to, because your story will stand out above other stories that are similar to it, but you can always play around with how the world is kind of surreal and not everything needs to make sense.

Maybe you could show the kids before they're in the library and find themselves? So you'll have something that shows why they need to go through this change?

This is all just me blurting out random ideas so they're not that great. But this is really great for helping with the thinking process, haha. I like this topic.

Have you ever read i am the messenger?

[Taylor]

I'm just thinking out loud as well.

Tell me what you think of this -- each of these kids is a suicide victim (I hate that word to describe people like that, but whatevs). Perhaps they die and this is where their souls end up. However, it doesn't really resolve how they get out or how the story ends.

Another idea that is very different…this is a room where people come to deal with unfinished business after they die. So you have this kid who commits suicide and reads the books to realize his own value and to help him forgive the bullies who drove him to do it. Thoughts?

I haven't read that yet, though that author is one of the most brilliant men on Earth. :D

[Elliott]

That could be interesting, and play with a lot of crazy themes. I'd be careful with how deep into that you go, though, if it's for younger kids. Not that younger kids don't experience that stuff, because they do, but people are kind of reluctant to publish children's books that deal with such heavy topics? Maybe if it's for middle grade kids.

Aah, you should. It's very... allegory-ish, and kind of reminds me of the idea you're playing with. (Not enough that it'd be a copy, but enough that you should check it out and bounce ideas off of it.)

[Taylor]

@Alicia

Yeah…the more I think about it, though, the more I'm reconsidering the audience. This was originally thought up as a story I could write for my kids, but maybe that's not my intent anymore.

LOL…have two versions…rated PG and unrated director's cut. :P

I will add it to my to-read list. No guarantee I'll get ahold of it soon, though…I'm too tired to read a lot of stuff lately, and I have a long list of stuff that needs to be read, like, this month. :D

[Elliott]

Yeah, I would just write it and then see who you want it to be for as you go.

[Sevania]

*ahem* Random idea time!

So you know how in the action-y fantasy books, there's always this one point where the bad guy says to the good guy, "Join me, and I will spare you and yours," or something along those lines? And the good guy spits in the bad guy's face and goes, "Screw you," after possibly being a little tempted? Well, what if the good guy does join the bad guy? Like, maybe they realize the bad guy was right all along. Or they believe it's a hopeless cause and they're trying to save themselves and their friends.

[[deleted user]]

I've actually read a book where that happens. It definitely adds to the drama. You just have to be careful with how you execute it.

[Colby]

Sev, I think that would be very interesting to read.

[Elliott]

I love stories like that, and they don't exist often enough. I think you should go for it!

[Isaac]

Brainstorming boom

Okay I want to write a novel about an aromantic asexual agendered girl and this boy has a crush on her but can't accept the fact that she won't ever be able to feel like that back but how do you write

[Isaac]

Sev–I tried being normal once. It was horrible. wrote: "*ahem* Random idea time!

So you know how in the action-y fantasy books, there's always this one point where the bad guy says to the good guy, "Join me, and I will spare you and yours," or somethin..."

Whoa that would be so cool!

[Taylor]

@Emily

Write it about a ten-year-old. XD

[Elliott]

Emily [CAESAR AND THE EAGLES OF FEMINISM] wrote: "Brainstorming boom

Okay I want to write a novel about an aromantic asexual agendered girl and this boy has a crush on her but can't accept the fact that she won't ever be able to feel like that ba..."

I'd say just take it one chapter at a time, you know? Don't look at it as this giant daunting task of writing a novel, look at it as one chapter. And then another.

[Elliott]

Okay, so I've been playing with this idea about a novel about teens who work at a summer camp, but I need an interesting plot. I want to play around with the idea of teenagers who don't have their lives together taking care of a bunch of kids and being their role models and the kids not exactly getting what goes on behind the scenes with the staff. But I'm not sure what the main story would be about.

[Taylor]

Well…do you have an idea of what things you want the reader to take away from the story? Your idea of having kids who don't have their lives "together" makes me think that they're cutting or getting high after lights-out or something. XD

[Elliott]

Yeah, kind of. Like the kids act really spiritual and responsible in front of the younger kids, but in the staff cabin people will like sneak out to be with their boyfriends and some people will go drink on their day off and some people struggle with depression and stuff like that. Just like normal stuff that teens go through, but it feels wrong because they're in charge of kids and then there could be some big thing that happens (amongst the staff) that creates a ton of drama, but the kids don't even know about it?

[Taylor]

I kinda love this. Because it's sorta my life -- counseling teens while dealing with struggles behind closed doors. But it almost sounds…humorous, in a way. :D

[Isaac]

That's actually really interesting. The thing I like about your stories Alicia is how real they are. Screw typical teenage story plots, you bring in the hard stuff.

As for the main story... I don't know either welp

[Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.]

Emily [CAESAR AND THE EAGLES OF FEMINISM] wrote: "Brainstorming boom

Okay I want to write a novel about an aromantic asexual agendered girl and this boy has a crush on her but can't accept the fact that she won't ever be able to feel like that ba..."

I love the idea, as I think I've told you before. :) And I think Alicia gave some solid advice. It helps to just think of it chapter by chapter, instead of stressing yourself out about how you're going to write the whole thing. It always helps me to try and come up with at least a basic outline (like, knowing the beginning and end and at least a few important things in the middle) because that takes some of the pressure off.

This also sounds like it will be more of a character-driven story, so you could probably benefit from doing some character outlines/inventories. Here is a good one I found on Tumblr, for a start. (Coincidentally the person who posted it is genderqueer & aromantic!)

It also might help to complicate the plot a little more ... like, maybe the girl doesn't realize she's agender/aromantic at first, and then when she realizes it that's what complicates things? Or maybe you were already planning that, I don't know. But yeah, I think it could definitely be a really powerful story!

[Isaac]

THANK YOU BRIGID FOR THAT LINK

[Katarina]

I just decided to do something realistic and in poetry.!!!
I will post it soon, but its called Neglected or Death Wish Note. Idk, I'm still deciding