forum Need help?
Started by @Tiani
tune

people_alt 43 followers

@Darkblossom group

I have sooo many half baked plot ideas that need fleshing out. Let’s start with…Pegasi! So, basic idea I have right now is there is this Pegasi prince who always wanted to be king when he grew up, but when he turned around 12-13 he realized how much work and emotional effort it actually is, and at 20 stepped down a few months before he was coronated. Now it falls to his younger, 16 year old sister Ari to become queen in his place, but she doesn’t really want to be ruler. She is mostly doing this for her brother because she is an absolute cinnamon roll. Anyway, it may sound like a coherent plot here, but there isn’t much to make a good story, and I feel like there needs to be more to it for some reason.

@Tiani

Well, I’d start by answering the following questions to solidify your story. I usually find that while I’m solidifying the story I can think of more interesting things to add to make it interesting. The questions I would focus on would be

  1. What drives/motivates each charecter
  2. How does the monarchy and government work
  3. What are the characteristics of your charecters’ species
  4. What are the relationships like in the story(this can be anything from how the siblings get along to how people’s view them)
  5. Where are the twists and turns in the story, and where can you add some

@Darkblossom group

Okay, thats actually really helpful. Let’s see…
Motivations: The prince, Soarin(forgive the pun name I originally thought him up when I was like 8 or 9) is mostly motivated in the story by getting out of being king, and his sister Ari is probably motivated to help her brother and everyone she cares about.

The monarchy: Classic monarchy, eldest child normally becomes king or queen unless they decide not to and a younger sibling is willing to take their place. Normally that’s decided when they are much younger than Soarin and Ari are though. Will have to research monarchies later.

Characteristics of the species: So many. So, so many.

Relationships: Ari and Soarin are pretty close to their parents, but don’t have many fond memories of them as the family can’t just go out and do normal family things. Soarin and Ari get a lot of advice from the king, their dad. Ari is often mocked when she isn’t around by other Pegasis, as she is a part-breed Pegasus and Unicorn, her mother a half breed without the Unicorn physical appearance.

Plot twists: No idea. It’s hard to have plot twists when there isn’t a villain.

Deleted user

Sometimes the best plot twist are those in a story without a villain. Maybe there's a fault in the internal government? Maybe the prince has other secret reasons for stepping down other than stress? Maybe stepping down was all a set-up for some reason? You don't have to turn one of your characters into the villain, but don't be afraid to give them villain-ish qualities to add conflict and make the story interesting. Good people do bad things, too. Just an idea.