A while ago, I posted about watching the making of Finding Nemo. I really enjoy Pixar’s storytelling skills, so to learn how that story was developed was really interesting.
I was amazed to learn how much work it takes (although I’ve certainly put a lot of work into my own stories)—but not just from one person. Movie studios use entire story departments to help identify weaknesses, brainstorm new ideas, make the jokes better, get the story structure right and more (certainly makes a regular critique group pale in comparison!).
I heard that and thought, “I want that. And I’ll bet I’m not the only one.”
And I thought this would be a great place to do it.
How this works:
The lucky volunteer submits whatever s/he wants help with: this could be the seed of an idea if you’re in the brainstorming phase, a query-length blurb if you’re looking for more specific brainstorming help or stuck in between plot points, a synopsis if you want structural advice, or even a scene or passage if you can’t quite put your finger on what’s not working. For maximum effectiveness, a short list of what you’re looking for is helpful.
I post the material on the appointed day. Then we, the kind, thoughtful and helpful readers and writers around here, put our minds to work. Think about it all day and come back with an insightful idea, or post the first thing that pops into your head.
Of course, the volunteer author doesn’t have to use anything we toss out—but now s/he isn’t the only one having to think of ideas. And even if we don’t come up with something specific to help the volunteer, maybe something one of us says will spark another idea and the story will take off again, magically healed 😉 . (The volunteer is more than welcome to engage in a discussion, of course, but we probably don’t need a full explanation of just why our ideas won’t work.)
The story
Our first volunteer is . . . me, of course! (How would you volunteer if you didn’t know about this? Silly.)
The story idea:
Title: (Uhhh…. I don’t do good titles until I finish first drafts)
Genre: YA paranormal
Sixteen-year-old Lacey Pratt already knew she wasn’t the kind of girl who got a lot of attention—a fact that’s driven home she starts hearing others’ thoughts. Her new telepathic abilities are overwhelming at first, but Lacey soon realizes how she can best use her abilities: to finally make James, her long-time crush, notice her.And it actually works. But soon after they start dating, James is murdered—and someone is thinking Lacey’s next. Now she must discover others like her and learn how to really use her powers for good if she’s going to stay alive.
What I’m looking for:
- Feedback on how Lacey should react to discovering her telepathic powers. Initially, I envisioned that as a major thrust of the book, where Lacey thinks she’s developed schizophrenia for the first few chapters. Now I’m not sure that works. Would it be too much (too dark, etc.)?
- Kind of along those lines: does it sound uneven? Does it start off too light and get too dark?
- Ideas on structuring the plot (i.e. where to place some of the milestones above).
- Ideas for other events/scenes—anything that comes to mind with telepathy and high school.
- There’s actually a lot more to my idea on the “others like her”—but I really don’t want to overload this book and make the first and second parts too disjointed. Do you think the above is enough to sustain one book?
- And, finally, is it fresh? I’ve been thinking about it so long it feels very old to me (like, I can measure this in years). Has this been done?
Note: this is the same idea that generated the scene for the KissingDayBlogFest, but my latest iteration of the idea makes that scene not work.
Want to participate? Jump in the comments! Want to volunteer? Send your material—including what you’re looking for—to storydept at JordanMcCollum.com. I’ll contact you to work out a date.
I’ll take a stab at the first part.
How should Lacey react to discovering her telepathic powers?
My gut says start light—holy telepathy, this is cool!—but foreshadow dark. This way you can build tension and let the darker aspects of the plot develop without upsetting the reader’s expectation.
Fear of schizophrenia is a valid reaction—one of my MC’s has it, with a dash of snark—but using that as a major thrust could internalize the action too much.
Thanks, Deb! I agree with you on taking it too internal. Great advice!
It’s hard to suggest anything specific without knowing a little more about Lacey’s personality. You mention she isn’t used to attention, but that could mean she’s a real introvert and would react awkwardly in social situations–especially if people were thinking unkind things about her; or she might see this as a chance to get back at people who look down on her; or she might try to remake her image to fit what her new skill tells her others (especially James) want her to be like.
My thoughts immediately turned to Carrie, by Stephen King, when I read your blurb, though I don’t think her power was telepathy. That book was too dark for my taste, but what you’ve mentioned here could work well for a suspense novel or a light-hearted one. A death doesn’t always make the story depressing. The Stephanie Plum novels are fun, despite the murder and mayhem.
Hope that helps!
Great ideas! I have a little bit of a sense of Lacey’s personality, but I usually get to know my characters mostly as I write them—so it’s really helpful to have several ideas for the direction.
I believe Carrie was telekenetic, which is slightly different, but similar. I think Carrie qualifies as a tragedy, since it is pretty dark as I understand it.
Thanks, Carol!!
As far as understanding how to portray her reaction to her new powers, I think there are 2 great sources for you. First and foremost, watch Season 3 Episode 18 “Earshot” of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. Second, read a bit of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series. Though Harris’ books are not the greatest books in the world, she does a good job of showing Sookie struggling with her powers and what it’s like to feel like the only person in the world who can do what she does. (***SPOILERS***In one of the later books, the one where she goes to Texas, she finally meets someone else with her powers, and it’s interesting to see their different reactions to meeting each other.***END SPOILERS***) In “Buffy”, she suddenly gains the powers and it drives her batty. The end goes off the rails a bit (this is the ep that was supposed to air right after Columbine but was pushed back…and is the only ep that almost never gets rerun), but watching her freak out and try to learn to cope is interesting.
I don’t think it sounds uneven at all. You could certainly take it to extremes, but if it’s YA then I think you’re fine, as long as you walk the line you’ve drawn for yourself in the sand. I’m a big believer that kids and teens need to experience death in fiction, whether it be movies or books. It’s how we learn how to process pain and suffering and recognize that life isn’t always puppies and unicorns.
Personally, I think it’s more interesting to have her think she’s the only one of her kind in the whole wide world, particularly with YA. Most teenagers feel like no one has ever suffered like they have and that they are completely alone, and for her to genuinely experience that is quite powerful. Then again, if you could slip in there another person or a few people who also share her abilities as a subplot, or maybe something gets mentioned in passing but she doesn’t have time to track them down, or something that’d also be cool.
This idea has been hammered to death, but that shouldn’t stop you from writing it. Every story has been told a million different times. As long as you can make it fresh then I say go for it. But definitely at least watch the “Buffy” ep so you know what *not* to do to keep it from being redundant 🙂
Thanks for the references! I’ve heard of Charlaine Harris’s books—the Southern Vampire series. Interesting that both those examples heavily feature other paranormal creatures. I definitely want to check out how they portrayed telepathy—I’ve searched and searched but turned up very little in the way of YA based on telepathy. (Though I’m not too worried about being redundant based on a single episode of a show that was canceled before today’s YA readers left elementary school 😉 .)
Great points on YA! Thanks, Alex!