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| Paranormal/Horror/Romance Novel; Description: I'd like overall input and ideas for this novel. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 3 2016, 08:30 PM (57 Views) | |
| Sy | Oct 3 2016, 08:30 PM Post #1 |
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🌙 Loveless Darkling
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PARANORMAL/HORROR/ROMANCE NOVEL ![]() ART CREDIT Just a quick rundown of this novel. It's first draft is mostly complete, but I've found a lot of holes in the plot, one of which is the very start of the novel. I normally never have any issues beginning the stories I've written so far, but the mood I want to set for my piece is very heavy. I do not want it to be too cliche. My protagonist, the female referenced from above of Native American descent, moves with her family to a small town in Colorado a year after the tragic death of her mother, a person she deeply connected with and idolized. Her father is still devastated by the death of his wife, but he also is extremely concerned with his daughter's anti-social behavior and her cold indifference toward engaging in social events with other teenagers. Later on in the novel, my protagonist begins to see strange incidences in the town itself, which appears almost too perfect for even the most apple pie family. She is also plagued by nightmares of some hellish world and wakes up in a cold sweat. What really begins to start the ball in motion is the reoccurring ghost of a young man who screams 'Save her'. My protagonist believes this hallucination is a part of her own guilt over her mother's death manifesting and torturing her. Tie that in with the dreams and she begins to think she's losing her mind. NOVEL INSPIRATIONS Silent Hill Series, Resident Evil 1 & 3 (architecture & town layout), It by Stephen King, & personal night terrors from childhood SONGS I LISTEN TO WHEN WRITING THIS NOVEL (THESE MIGHT HELP IN UNDERSTANDING THE MOOD I'M SETTING) Witchcraft - Silent Hill Homecoming Soundtrack Arms of a Thief - Iron and Wine About Today - The National Arstonists Lullaby - Hozier Dance With the Devil - Breaking Benjamin Depraved - Mammals Smother - Daughter OOO AAA - Cathedrals Empty Gold - Halsey Harsh Realm - Widowspeak Here With Me - Susie Suh x Robot Koch Save Yourself - Claire De Lune Silent Running - Hidden Citizens See You at the Bottom - Seether (explicit!) Fear of the Dark - Iron Maiden WHAT I NEED HELP WITH #1 Introduction My biggest issue is how to introduce my character in the first scene. I want to show that she's had a mental breakdown and has been in the hospital for several months, but I don't want the opening to be ridiculously cliche. You can reference this movie to get a better idea of some of the elements I'd like in the beginning scene. My main issue here is being too cliche with it. I have mostly avoided any suicide or self harm content because I personally find it overdone in so many mediums over the last decade. I want to discuss her serious mental health issues, but I don't want my protagonist to be ridiculously dramatic about it. She's young and selfish, but she is selfish enough to want more than just killing herself. She's a defiant character, though that might not be an overtone to start out with in the novel. I've thought of making her passive aggressive and rather manipulative in order to get the needed emotional attention from her father and others, but the complexity of her desiring solitude will be difficult to balance. I'm debating whether or not that she became violent toward others or herself which led to her stay in the hospital. If she was violent toward herself, it will be heavily linked to her guilt over her mother's death, so there is a contrasting and even contradicting duality to her behavior. #2 Romance My protagonist is no virgin, but she doesn't regularly date, either. She used to be very social before the accident and even a dominant force among the males of her previous school. She's no doubt in her attractive looks, but she is still insecure at certain points in her life. When it comes to the upcoming relationships she will be a part of, I want to use two males to underline the difference between instant gratification and the purely grandiose to receptive understanding and emotional empowerment. I want to be more focused on the characters as individuals rather than a mere counterpart to a relationship. The relationship is important, but I want to show that the characters can stand alone if the romance was absent. It probably comes as no surprise, but my protagonist develops a very deep heart connection to the ghost character while she is dating another young man who gives her anything she wants physically. In the end, the attachment she forms with the ghost, though not physical, is what strengthens her resolve to stop the strange goings on in the town. I don't want to give away too much, but just know that this novel is mature. I've lots of dark and twisted elements that aren't just a part of the romance angle. #3 Playing With Dreams In this novel, dreams are used as the quintessential fabric of a person's truest desires and fears. My protagonist has nightmares of being stuck in a shadow world where her ugliest thoughts seem to take on a life or their own. At a certain point, she bumps into my ghost character who saves her from a disgusting screeching monstrosity who continually pursues her for unknown reasons. In dreams, she finds her worst nightmares coming to life, yet by the same token, she connects with this ghost character. She never knows when the dream will be safe or dangerous. Also, the dreams eventually begin to bleed into the real world and she starts to question her sanity. This is the point when her relationship with the ghost grows exponentially. My biggest issue here is not wasting the dreams. I always live by the saying 'less is more'. I want to use this theme to really drive the strength of my protagonist as an individual as well as heighten the curiosity of the ghost character and his past, how he connects to my protagonist, what's his endgame, etc. #4 Slow Dips in Timeline (Plot) I know there will be points in the novel where the story will drag and I'd like to try my best to keep this to a minimum. As far as the main plot goes, my protagonist moves to the new town and is not all that impressed with the people. She is upset to move away from the home she'd always known, but she also likes the country and woodsy areas of this new place. She will often leave without her father's knowledge or permission. He will get onto her, but he also doesn't want to trigger the guilt he knows she's hiding. Their relationship is deeply strained. Her little sister, who plays a huge part in the darker elements of the plot, is the sunshine of the family and embodies her late mother. My protagonist feels extremely protective of her and will go to great lengths to keep her safe. My protagonist meets a group of rich friends at the very start of the novel and they go out of their way to include her into their group. A new woman comes into her father's life and my protagonist obviously feels threatened by her, but soon finds out that her feelings are more than valid. Things begin to unfold and, along with all these other entanglements, my protagonist finds herself in the middle of a dangerous game of cat and mouse. What tricks can I use to properly pace this kind of plot? Any input you have would be very helpful. Thank you~ Blessed Heaven's Night .·☽ Sy
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| Sinjun | Oct 4 2016, 06:13 AM Post #2 |
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Scribbler
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maybe i have suggestions for 1 and 3 one possible way to introduce the character who has had a mental breakdown might be to start off telling the story from their point of view how they view the world but giving strange hints that not everything is what it seems. things that are out of place. There is an anime that does this rather well in the first episode called "School Live!" Spoiler: click to toggle for dreams perhaps it could be a way for her mind to try to wake her up from her psychotic break. Her mind wants to tell her something so the dreams reflect what is really happening around her as a way to try to wake her up. there is a way to play with multiple personalities with this if you want. the one with the with multiple points of view the character with the break.. and the character without it (who could be the ghost in question) it could even be a way to meld the two together as she recovers from the break they switch places until the one with the break is the ghost who ultimately fades away leaving behind the character who isn't the same as she was before but has lived through the break. Edited by Sinjun, Oct 4 2016, 06:14 AM.
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7:34 PM Jul 11