forum writing club. (Open)

Started April 12, 2023 by @IcarusFightsTheSun book

tune

Uhhhh I don’t have a lot of questionable search history but mental disorders are the main thing on my writing tips Pinterest board

mines not nearly so impressive.
"is it weird to put corn in a burrito"
bc one of my characters are in love with corn, and i want him to y'know sparkle

hey, so i need some help with something.
in my main series, the MC gets cursed and is basically destined to lose her soul.
the problem is, i don't know how the curse should work.

my ideas were:

• Every time she uses magic, the curse chips away at her soul.
  1. if she can't use magic she can't save that one friend who's dying and stuff
  2. She's basically all powerful, so this would be an easy way to weaken her
  3. a lot more conflict
• the curse wears away over time.
  1. this would make the book much faster
  2. she wouldn't have much time for sidequests
• the curse is on something she owns, and it activates whenever she comes in contact with/uses it.
  1. the reveal has a heavier impact
  2. the book would go a bit slower

there are also other factors but this is the main dilemma.

I guess it depends on your desired pacing. Personally, I like options 1 and 3. Option 2 would work in a 'the world is ending in a week if you dont fix it' kind of way. Option 3 opens the door for this object to sorta corrupt her, kinda like Frodo's interaction with the Ring. So there's the added dynamic of her choices based on this thing potentially stealing bits of her soul (Is that a part of it, or is she just losing her soul every time she uses said object?)
Option 1 though makes the MC both the hero and the villain of her own story, which introduces so much conflict, like you said, and is a chance to explore self-sacrifice, which is a huge driver in so many books.

That's my two cents. 1 and 3 have the most potential, in my mind.

You could also have the power only chip at her soul in proportion to the amount of power she uses. Like, not how often, but how big the task is she has to accomplish. Fix someone's injury? Small drain. Bring someone back from death? Big drain. Stop time? HUGE drain. You mentioned she's kinda omnipotent, so this would be a way to limit her from being too OP.

You could also introduce some other entity. For instance, instead of an object, the MC has to interact with a person, maybe some kind of deity or spirit, who empowers them, in exchange for slowly taking their soul. Deal-with-the-devil kinda vibe.

Weirdest things you've researched while worldbuilding / plot-planning / etc? Here's a few of mine:

• Can bear-traps break human bones?
• How much blood is in a human?
• How long does it take for a child to bleed out?
• How long can you survive on raw meat?
• How to survive an avalanche?

hello I'm here now

• Would an 80 foot free-fall into water kill someone
• How many lashes from a whip would be fatal
• How many gunshots near the ear does it take to deafen someone
• How close can you be to an explosion
• Rock seal teeth

• How many lashes from a whip would be fatal

I heard for a cat of nine tails it took around 40. I may or may not be wrong tho…

• How many lashes from a whip would be fatal

I heard for a cat of nine tails it took around 40. I may or may not be wrong tho…

oh that's actually really helpful thank you!

(sry this is late) @Davadio thanks, those were actually my thoughts as well. I'm most fond of option 1 for a lot of reasons but i like option 3 because it's kinda like a gut punch when they realise that this was all VERY easily preventable.

actually i just had a great idea, the person who cursed her was one of her best friends and he also went along with them the whole quest. so (building one of your ideas) what if he did something, like making cursed friendship bracelets or something similar, that steal her soul (and maybe magic) as long as he's nearby. thoughts?

Not a bad idea. You thinking a betrayal situation?

I would write it as an accident. As in, the friend doesn't realize that's what he's made, until it kills someone or steals all of a soul, and then the party realizes what's up. Still hits on the 'preventable' plotline as well as guilt and angst XP

the betrayal is actually part of the plot. a real quick summary:
it basically goes, MC is a really nice person with a good life and two best friends, one of her friends secretly curses her (bc he's literally the worst person to ever walk the fictional earth), so they leave on a quest to break the curse so MC can go back to living a "normal" life. not too long after they start the quest, they form a ragtag team of adventurers but as MC starts to visibly lose her sanity it becomes a mission to save their friend and possibly the world. (it fails btw)

oof ok then. first off, cool. second, are you just kinda trying to figure out how he curses the MC? object or otherwise? Am i understanding that?

Yeah, kinda. I never figured out how exactly I really wanted the curse to work.

the betrayal is actually part of the plot. a real quick summary:
it basically goes, MC is a really nice person with a good life and two best friends, one of her friends secretly curses her (bc he's literally the worst person to ever walk the fictional earth), so they leave on a quest to break the curse so MC can go back to living a "normal" life. not too long after they start the quest, they form a ragtag team of adventurers but as MC starts to visibly lose her sanity it becomes a mission to save their friend and possibly the world. (it fails btw)

Out of curiosity, other than being a vile human being what reason does he have to curse the MC? is there any benefit to him?

the betrayal is actually part of the plot. a real quick summary:
it basically goes, MC is a really nice person with a good life and two best friends, one of her friends secretly curses her (bc he's literally the worst person to ever walk the fictional earth), so they leave on a quest to break the curse so MC can go back to living a "normal" life. not too long after they start the quest, they form a ragtag team of adventurers but as MC starts to visibly lose her sanity it becomes a mission to save their friend and possibly the world. (it fails btw)

Out of curiosity, other than being a vile human being what reason does he have to curse the MC? is there any benefit to him?

Power. Without a soul her will weakens, making it possible for him to use ✨magical mind control✨ (bc lore reasons).

the betrayal is actually part of the plot. a real quick summary:
it basically goes, MC is a really nice person with a good life and two best friends, one of her friends secretly curses her (bc he's literally the worst person to ever walk the fictional earth), so they leave on a quest to break the curse so MC can go back to living a "normal" life. not too long after they start the quest, they form a ragtag team of adventurers but as MC starts to visibly lose her sanity it becomes a mission to save their friend and possibly the world. (it fails btw)

Out of curiosity, other than being a vile human being what reason does he have to curse the MC? is there any benefit to him?

Power. Without a soul her will weakens, making it possible for him to use ✨magical mind control✨ (bc lore reasons).

Oh! Actually he’s even worse bc he’s only half human lol
He’s half demon, and demons are really nice but have a horrible rep, so when everything’s revealed the whole world starts hate the innocent people even more (cuz the world is real messed up :)

wowza. so 'deal with the devil' wasnt too far off, huh…

Joining this

Okay question:
So I suck at creating villains. In the short story I’m writing, the villains main motivation is jealousy and arrogance – so she basically hates the heroes, because they get recognized and appreciated, and she feels like she’s better than them and she hates them for it so she basically does what she does because of that, like she wants to be recognized and be better than them

Is that like a good villain motive?

Okay question:
So I suck at creating villains. In the short story I’m writing, the villains main motivation is jealousy and arrogance – so she basically hates the heroes, because they get recognized and appreciated, and she feels like she’s better than them and she hates them for it so she basically does what she does because of that, like she wants to be recognized and be better than them

Is that like a good villain motive?

I don't know if I've seen that motive before, but I really like it :) it makes the villain seem more vile- like, what she did was all just for attention, to feed her ego. I think it's a great motive.

Okay question:
So I suck at creating villains. In the short story I’m writing, the villains main motivation is jealousy and arrogance – so she basically hates the heroes, because they get recognized and appreciated, and she feels like she’s better than them and she hates them for it so she basically does what she does because of that, like she wants to be recognized and be better than them

Is that like a good villain motive?

I don't know if I've seen that motive before, but I really like it :) it makes the villain seem more vile- like, what she did was all just for attention, to feed her ego. I think it's a great motive.

Woo! Thanks :)
Follow up- would that pair well with her being like… nochalantly dramatic? Like she’s so casual abt what she does but she also loves keeping up mystery around her and being dramatic

Okay question:
So I suck at creating villains. In the short story I’m writing, the villains main motivation is jealousy and arrogance – so she basically hates the heroes, because they get recognized and appreciated, and she feels like she’s better than them and she hates them for it so she basically does what she does because of that, like she wants to be recognized and be better than them

Is that like a good villain motive?

I don't know if I've seen that motive before, but I really like it :) it makes the villain seem more vile- like, what she did was all just for attention, to feed her ego. I think it's a great motive.

Woo! Thanks :)
Follow up- would that pair well with her being like… nochalantly dramatic? Like she’s so casual abt what she does but she also loves keeping up mystery around her and being dramatic

I think that'd fit well! Is she actually nonchalant or just pretending to be to further the act?

Okay question:
So I suck at creating villains. In the short story I’m writing, the villains main motivation is jealousy and arrogance – so she basically hates the heroes, because they get recognized and appreciated, and she feels like she’s better than them and she hates them for it so she basically does what she does because of that, like she wants to be recognized and be better than them

Is that like a good villain motive?

I. NEED. THIS. MELODRAMATIC. VILLAIN. IN. MY. LIFE.

Okay question:
So I suck at creating villains. In the short story I’m writing, the villains main motivation is jealousy and arrogance – so she basically hates the heroes, because they get recognized and appreciated, and she feels like she’s better than them and she hates them for it so she basically does what she does because of that, like she wants to be recognized and be better than them

Is that like a good villain motive?

I don't know if I've seen that motive before, but I really like it :) it makes the villain seem more vile- like, what she did was all just for attention, to feed her ego. I think it's a great motive.

Woo! Thanks :)
Follow up- would that pair well with her being like… nochalantly dramatic? Like she’s so casual abt what she does but she also loves keeping up mystery around her and being dramatic

I think that'd fit well! Is she actually nonchalant or just pretending to be to further the act?

Uh… kinda both actually

Okay question:
So I suck at creating villains. In the short story I’m writing, the villains main motivation is jealousy and arrogance – so she basically hates the heroes, because they get recognized and appreciated, and she feels like she’s better than them and she hates them for it so she basically does what she does because of that, like she wants to be recognized and be better than them

Is that like a good villain motive?

I don't know if I've seen that motive before, but I really like it :) it makes the villain seem more vile- like, what she did was all just for attention, to feed her ego. I think it's a great motive.

Woo! Thanks :)
Follow up- would that pair well with her being like… nochalantly dramatic? Like she’s so casual abt what she does but she also loves keeping up mystery around her and being dramatic

I think that'd fit well! Is she actually nonchalant or just pretending to be to further the act?

Uh… kinda both actually

She sounds so awesome

Outward question to whoever wants to share their input, do you gravitate to two protagonists or three?