So I'm working on a trilogy and I have all the characters (the heroes) planned out. However, I'm a little stuck on figuring out a plot and figuring out who the villain is. My heroes are all related (biologically) in some way, but they don't know that and they each have a different story line. The only thing that connects the storylines is the villain, but I don't know who that is or what the plot should be. Any ideas?
The villain is the one that separated them?
What kind of world is your story written in and what kind of story are you writing? I don't want to accidentally give you a Voldemort ripoff for a Sci-Fi novel.
My story is medieval fantasy with a magic system and tons of magical creatures, if that’s any help.
It’s also adventure with some drama/romance
Okay. For your plot do you want a sort of formulaic thing with a prophecy or a journey with a big goal of some sort (e.g. Rick Riordan's books) or do you want more of a main objective but then a bunch of stuff happens and then they eventually get there (e.g. the Hero's Guide books)? Or do you want something different?
For your villain do you want your characters to have personal connection with him/her that possibly links to their backstories or histories? Do you want him/her/them to be some sort of powerful/important person in government/society, or more of an invader type?
Do you want your villain to be more humanoid or more beast? Do you want your villain to be more mindless or more intelligent? If your villain is intelligent, what kind of person is/are he/she/they? What is the threat that your villain poses and what is his/her/their motivation?
Is your villain doing this for fun? Does it amuse them? Do they think of themselves as a higher power/god or simply as more important/significant that other humans and/or creatures, or do they think themselves equal? Is your villain a more classic type, doing whatever-it-is-that-they're-doing for money or power or fame or revenge?
Wow I used a lot of /'s. Oops.
I think that if you answer some of these questions things will come more easily to you. For me, once I figure out who everyone is and what they're doing it and why and how everyone is connected, the plot just kinda happens, at least once you've got a basic idea. If you need any more help, just ask me :)
Thanks! That helped a lot!