forum Hey, all! I could use some help;;;;

Started April 10, 2019 by @Cassiopeia

tune

Hi. So as the title implies, I could use some help….

I have two projects that are both about two years old. Let's call them A and B…

So project A takes place 400 years into the future, in what would probably be what remains of the U.K area. It's a sort of like a Hunger Games meets 999 plot, where young participants have to showcase their abilities, outsmart and/or kill opponents to earn their place on a new habitable planet. I had the world built, and the stage set, but was unable to create characters to match the world I had created for them.
Project B went similarly. I had planned the story to be in the horror/thriller genre, taking place during present-day Japan. But project B, contrary to A, has a problem of plot. I came up with four characters, but then couldn't come up with a plot that was good enough to thrust them into… I have scrapped both projects, to later try and pick them up again, changing things up to make them work… And then scrapping it again. It's been a vicious cycle. Heh.

I have been suggested by multiple friends to do one of the following:

• Scrap the projects entirely (It'd make me sad to do this, but maybe I can put them on the adopt-an-idea thread and someone can do something wonderful with them…)
• Merge the projects together (Only problem with this is that everything would have to be re-written and I don't know if I have the mental capacity to try and find the medium between a present day horror and a dystopian fantasy. :'''D)

What do you think I should do? Have you ever been in a similar situation? What did you do to resolve it?

Many, many thanks in advance. This has been driving me insane.

I've been in a similar situation! I had like three hundred tiny little ideas and characters floating around and it nearly drove me up the wall.
My two cents:

• If you have a world, but no characters - just do little drabbles. Come up with throw away characters and toss them into your world. It helps with worldbuilding, it solidifies your writing, and who knows - maybe some of them will intrigue you enough to stick. There's no pressure for them to be your MCs, or to know them very well at all - just go crazy.
• Or just iron out random worldbuilding - what's the culture like? How are people expected to interact? what are some crazy stories or traditions or legends? Maybe something like that will give you a character you can work with.
• Characters but no plot? (story of my life haha)
  Same advice, actually. Find silly character prompts online and toss them in wild situations that have nothing to do with the world around them. Write odd pairings that make no sense. Get to know your characters, and odds are the more you know about them, the better you'll understand the story they want to tell.
• Alternatively, what I did/do a lot is writing out aspects of my character's backstories - how exactly did this thing go down? What did this interaction look like? It doesn't need to be canon necessarily, but it's fun and it's good writing practice.