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Author Topic: Need some help deciding on a concept to expand upon  (Read 2924 times)

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Offline ExoGrimz

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Need some help deciding on a concept to expand upon
« on: October 02, 2021, 08:18:09 PM »
Hey, in the middle of taking a break from my current story to work on another one, but I am having trouble deciding on which one to pick:

Story idea 1: This is a story covers vigilante inventor Tobias Grim. Tobias is an augmented human (cyborg made using technology from a pure metal alien race called Droids) who crafts all of his augments and upgrades himself. The story would be covering Tobias has he eventually get caught by law enforcement and coaxed into working for them as a "free agent." The themes would be that of humanity (what makes someone human) and justice (what it means to seek justice/do the right thing)... as Tobias is a augmented human who fights primarily out of spite towards his father (a big name assassin) and out of a thirst of vengeance for his mother's death.

Story idea 2: This story covers former military commander and newly promoted "guild leader" Arthur Mithril as he deals with a world ravaged by Demons and other magical beings. This story pulls loosely from Arthurian legend with some alterations (such as Merlin being Arthur's younger brother rather than a wise, old mentor) as well as being an adaptation of an RP I ran but never finished (using my characters only). Definitely gonna be tackling themes of race and bias with this one.. with Arthur likely taking a bit more of a flat character arc since he already knows that not all demons are evil.

Story idea 3: This story covers millionaire playboy/crime boss Bark Shineguard as he recruits powerful magic users into his organization to overtake the criminal underground as a whole. Among those he picks up during his efforts is the mysterious and ruthless killer Aiden Shaytan. This story will likely have a larger case than the others, which might cause issues depending on how ham I end up going lol. Looking at themes culture and how that effects your perception of someone (with many opponents scoffing at and underestimating Bark for being a "pretty rich boy")

Feel free to give feedback and let me know which one you find the most interesting of the three :D

Offline NO1SY

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Re: Need some help deciding on a concept to expand upon
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2021, 04:28:34 PM »
Hey there Exo, thanks for sharing :)

What stage in the writing process are you at with these? Are you still worldbuilding, character profiling, planning and outlining, or is this all done and you just need to start writing? Personally, when I had time to work on multiple projects I finished my planning for them all and then just started writing in short bursts for each, whenever inspiration struck for a scene. But you need to be way more organized with managing the projects in that way than I was at the time, so none of them saw the light of day in the end... But, if you can manage it, then you can work on all three and not have to choose! (Suuper-san is actually really good at this in my opinion -I recommend checking out his progress thread, wherever it is).

You haven't given us a lot to go on for understanding your plots here (although giving us the themes is something), and because your descriptions are so generalized it makes them seem a little generic story-wise and therefore hard to judge/get very interested in... That said, I found a kernel of something to be interested in worldbuilding-wise for each idea:

1) The standout thing for me in this one is human augmentations/cybernetics being taken from mechanical/metal aliens. It reminds me of X-COM a bit with how they reverse engineer alien tech to equip the soldiers with. The "what makes humans human" aspect is something that has been pretty well explored in Sci-Fi (Asimov's I, Robot being the prime example...), but I think there are still interesting options for you. For instance, you could throw in an element of humans using the tech but not really ever truly understanding it or even bastardizing it. Or look at it from the point of view from the aliens; maybe they don't like being hunted for parts, generating conflict? Perhaps you could go a slightly different angle, where the aliens are rather small metal creatures that enter into symbiotic relationships with the humans to confer the augments?

2) I have a soft spot for Arthurian aesthetics and legends. Is this idea based on a Pendragon campaign then? Also, I think this idea could stand out a bit if the world is already in a post-apocalyptic state when the story begins - this would set it apart from the myriad of other stories that are all based in standard European Medieval Kingdom settings with a "protecting the realm" plot.

3) Quite light on the details with this one. In all honesty this basically sounds like the plot of One Piece to a large extent... not necessarily a bad thing, but I think you'll need to lean on 1. a really vibrant setting, and 2. a really robust magic system that interacts with the setting, to set this idea apart. Not many stories focus on the crime boss though, no one of this particular disposition - the closest I've seen is probably Tsuna in Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, another favourite of mine. Once again, I think a really unique and integrated setting and magic system are required to make this one seem different enough.

So my advice is to research, conceptualize and plan for all of them, then get to writing bits and pieces and see what sticks. Good luck!

Offline ExoGrimz

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Re: Need some help deciding on a concept to expand upon
« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2021, 05:09:10 PM »
Hey there Exo, thanks for sharing :)

What stage in the writing process are you at with these? Are you still worldbuilding, character profiling, planning and outlining, or is this all done and you just need to start writing? Personally, when I had time to work on multiple projects I finished my planning for them all and then just started writing in short bursts for each, whenever inspiration struck for a scene. But you need to be way more organized with managing the projects in that way than I was at the time, so none of them saw the light of day in the end... But, if you can manage it, then you can work on all three and not have to choose! (Suuper-san is actually really good at this in my opinion -I recommend checking out his progress thread, wherever it is).

You haven't given us a lot to go on for understanding your plots here (although giving us the themes is something), and because your descriptions are so generalized it makes them seem a little generic story-wise and therefore hard to judge/get very interested in... That said, I found a kernel of something to be interested in worldbuilding-wise for each idea:

1) The standout thing for me in this one is human augmentations/cybernetics being taken from mechanical/metal aliens. It reminds me of X-COM a bit with how they reverse engineer alien tech to equip the soldiers with. The "what makes humans human" aspect is something that has been pretty well explored in Sci-Fi (Asimov's I, Robot being the prime example...), but I think there are still interesting options for you. For instance, you could throw in an element of humans using the tech but not really ever truly understanding it or even bastardizing it. Or look at it from the point of view from the aliens; maybe they don't like being hunted for parts, generating conflict? Perhaps you could go a slightly different angle, where the aliens are rather small metal creatures that enter into symbiotic relationships with the humans to confer the augments?

2) I have a soft spot for Arthurian aesthetics and legends. Is this idea based on a Pendragon campaign then? Also, I think this idea could stand out a bit if the world is already in a post-apocalyptic state when the story begins - this would set it apart from the myriad of other stories that are all based in standard European Medieval Kingdom settings with a "protecting the realm" plot.

3) Quite light on the details with this one. In all honesty this basically sounds like the plot of One Piece to a large extent... not necessarily a bad thing, but I think you'll need to lean on 1. a really vibrant setting, and 2. a really robust magic system that interacts with the setting, to set this idea apart. Not many stories focus on the crime boss though, no one of this particular disposition - the closest I've seen is probably Tsuna in Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, another favourite of mine. Once again, I think a really unique and integrated setting and magic system are required to make this one seem different enough.

So my advice is to research, conceptualize and plan for all of them, then get to writing bits and pieces and see what sticks. Good luck!


To answer your question about where I am on the process, I am in the planning stage for all three (with some of the world building for idea 2 already covered).

In regards to idea 2 as well, I was aiming for a more modern setting compared to a medieval one

Offline NO1SY

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Re: Need some help deciding on a concept to expand upon
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2021, 03:48:10 AM »
Sorry, didn’t mean to quote my own message…
« Last Edit: October 05, 2021, 05:44:01 AM by NO1SY »