Wasn't sure if I should put this in fanfic section or this section. So I put it here, because readers seem to come here more, and I want readers' oppinions!

Ok, so here's my problem, a problem that I'm sure fellow members have. I mean, I was chatting with Turwaithiel Swann, and she said she had kind of the same problem. But not really, I guess.

My problem is, I really really really want to write a book. Something worth sending to a publisher for hopes of being published(I know I'm fifteen, but CP was 15 when he got Eragon published. Though I heard his parents were publishers.... anywho...), I keep trying. It's not that I'm running out of ideas. It's that I have too many! I've started *counts on fingers* five stories. What would happen is I would start one, and a just as good, if not better, idea would come to me. So I'd quit that story, and start writting the new idea. But I really want to finnish just one. But I don't know which I want to work on most. I like all the ideas just as much, that I can't choose just one!


So this is where your help comes in! I need you to help me choose which story I should work on finnishing first. As a reader and which you would want to read most! They're all set in mideavil-ish fantasy worlds. Accept for one, which has a connection to the modern day world. Two of the stories have already been put(what there is of them), on AU in the fanfiction section, and lost to the abyss of the forum. (though I would have plenty of time to dig them up)

Ok, I'm rambling *smacks self* sorry.... I'm tired. Stayed up too late last night... and it's starting to get late. Now, here are the choices(I know I said I had five, and there are only four here... but that one didn't have a plot and the idea got lost to the abyss of lost memories. All I remember is a place that can be put in one of the other stories somehow):

(titles are names I came up with spurr of the moment, kind of)

Mage's Riddle
A young boy, born to a family of noble, looses his family and home by a battle in a war that took place too close to his home, and his house becomes the battlefield. He is then sent to an orphanage in a small town where he meets a girl who would become his closest friend. But in a bandit attack, the girl is kidnapped and taken to the fortress of a mage who is hungering for power and an immortal life. The boy, not wanting to loose that last person her cared about, goes on a quest to save his friend, uncovering the mage's evil plan, and with the help of friends he meets along the road, defeats the mage and saves his friend.
(only have something that would be worth half a chapter here)

Warrioress Trilogy
A girl's home is raided by bandits led by a feared captain who serves a king who plans to eventually rule the world with an iron hand. Her brother is kidnapped for an unknown reason and the girl(named Annalett), must fight to save her brother, but in the process, finds she is part of a prophecy that could either be bad or good. She could either take down the king and put the rightfull heir on the throne, or help the king take domination over the world and gain all the power she needs. With the help of a band of rangers that helped her after the raid of her home, she fights to find which path would be the best to take.
(This story I'm farthest on. I have a book-ish story and a half really rough draft written)

Traveler's Bridge:
This one doesn't have much of a plot yet. This girl who finds she doesn't fit in with the town she lives in is swept off her feet by a handsome stranger had came to the town. He takes her out of the valley the town is in for a night, then brings her home, promising to be back. A few nights later these 'shade' things come after her wanting a key that the girl wears as a necklace around her neck. About to recieve a blow that would kill her, the stranger comes and rescues the day, saving her from the shades, and realizing that the key she has is an artifact that could change the history of the world.
(This one has a chapter's worth as well. All of which came to me in a series of dreams. And this me and my friend want to write together. But I'm haven't really talked to her about it much... soo... yeah...)

Elementals:
Four teenagers from our modern world, Earth, are connected to each other and another world, named Onercs. Upon finding mysteriouse books, then are telleported to the world of Onercs. They were called there by the force of good, who is an angel that has been captured by the force of darkness, a demon. The four teenagers, each finding they have the ability to manipulate and use each of the four elements, must find and rescue the angel before the demon over powers all good and takes domination over the world of Onercs forever.
(um... I have a prologue and I think two chapters of this one)

And those are the four stories I'm torn between for which to finnish writting first.

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

I completely understand what you're talking about. For me it isn't lack of ideas either, it's developing those ideas enough to be a decent, compelling story. It's a step in the right direction to know that you need to pick one to be successful - I remember reading about that for NaNoWriMo, that if you start a good story a bunch of times, you still just have a bunch of beginnings. I'm not an expert (hah. Expert) but I do have opinions that will hopefully help you decide.

#1 - on first read-through, this sounds a bit generic. I would be cautious with the peasant-orphan-hero plotline, because you have to be pretty careful to not make it ridiculous. How likely is it, really, that a boy who's had a pretty normal childhood (I assume) is going to have the means to defeat a mage? Even if he has help, it seems contrived that he'd just randomly meet people along the road. That kind of thing takes planning. There's also the possibility of having to make your villain stupid in order to make the plot work, which I think is a mistake. Are you planning romance, though? That could be kind of sweet. I think it would be more likely to work if the boy were, say, born to a family of warriors and raised to be one from a young age. That would give him a background that would justify his determination, and a slightly better means of accomplishing his goal.

#2 - w00t, you've accomplished a lot on this one. While I would caution you on the female-warrior-prophecy plotline, as it can be redundant, there's definitely potential. Figure out what motives are. Why does the king want to rule the world? Why did he kidnap her brother? Why is she SO determined to save her brother, if she's just a normal kid? Why are the rangers helping her? Also, if it's a choice between doing the right thing and gaining power, honestly have her need to make the choice. Power can be tempting, and no one should be immune to that. If she's already stubborn and headstrong and likes to have her own way, it'll be something she wants. Kudos to you for getting so far, that's a big accomplishment.

#3 - I'm the most intrigued by this one. I realize you don't have a lot to go on, but *cough* what did they do that night? And also, if all that is important about her is that she has the key, it makes more sense for said stranger to be like "k, thanks for this, I'll make sure you get a footnote in history as Girl Who Had Key. Bye." Again, motivation. And backstory. Excellent things.

#4 - this reminds me of an RPG, so I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. Do you plan to switch between four viewpoints? Also, why the heck does this angel want four teenagers from earth who a) know nothing about his world and b) are young and angsty and inexperienced? (All teenagers are angsty to some extent.) Why wouldn't he want experienced warriors? Also backstory, and some solid reasons for *why* things are *how* they are.

I think I'd have to say 3 for the one you should pursue, and as a second choice 4. Also, I must link you to a resource I've found very valuable:

http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memori ... filter=all

[Definitely some coarse language, and 'mature themes' but heck, they are helpful.] They're 'fantasy rants' by an experienced writer, and a lot of them are common sense, but common sense can be really helpful on things you've overlooked. I'd encourage you to read the ones that look like they might apply to what you're writing.

Good luck

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Mage's Riddle
It sounds like a cute story and I can sympathise with the boy. It's not clear to me why a noble-born would be sent to an orphanage and why not to distant relatives? So either try to work some logic into that or make him a more common boy. It might not be the way you intended it, but from your description I imagine the story much like a folk tale, a young, inexperienced boy goes out in the world to accomplish a task and returns a grown man! Why did the mage choose the young girl? Was it accidental or did he kidnap more than her and does he need the girl to obtain immortal life? I like that the boy is driven by his love and care for the girl and will try to find her even though he doesn't know how to fight a mage, courageous heart, we like! I don't kno how much you wil have him fight but I like the idea of the boy being able to pick up skills along the way and get by mostly on his luck. You know solving things with his mind and wit more than sword and bow, also because you chose a title like the Mage's Riddle hinting that there is a mystery to be solved rather than a huge battle in the end.

Warrioress Trilogy
Interesting story. I agree with Meldawen, you need to figure out those questions she poses. Then I would be very careful with the 'common girl being the Chosen One'-plotline.. it's a classic but be careful to make it original. That's why I really like the twist that she can choose the good and the bad side. I would love to see the question of what is Good and what is Evil... if perhaps you could escape the stereotypes "I have a manic laughter and I kill, so I'm bad" and "I only kill for the Greater Cause and I like reading poems, so I'm good". I mean the world is not black and white and the people fighting on each side of a war both believe they are figthing for the right cause! The story reminds me both of the story of Darth Vader and Galadriel's choice. They both had the power in their hands to gain power to do good - unless it would destroy them. I think you need to work on it to make it believable... I mean... we as readers must understand how difficult the choice is.. Right now I'd say, go for the Righteous and leave world domination, but it's easy to say for a reader who is not out there fighting! But it's a great plotline so try to work on making the choice she has to make a believable one!

Traveler's Bridge
Like Melda, I can't give you much feedback on this yet... Interesting starting point though. And yeah, what do they do that night? And who is the stranger? And what are his motives? And how is the key ahem.. the key to world history?

Elementals
It has elements from Narnia - four kids coming to another world to save it from doom. Umm.. do the teenagers know each other? How do they use their powers, why do they have them? And why do the teenagers care about all this, after all they're teenagers.. probably busy with their own lives, lol!

Alright, this is my feedback... you have some really good ideas and I'd love to see how you go on with them. Post again if you need more elaborated feedback!

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>>Be the change you wish to see in the world<<



Banner credit: Shadowcat & Nurrantiel Mashiara

Seems I made a good choice coming here for help! And I thank you guys!

It seems most of the problems are motivations of the characters, good or bad. I know my little... pathetic-ish summaries didn't show much of that. It was late last night when I typed those down...


I also see that you guys almost seem most interested in the story that has less plot and stuff to it. The thing with the key... I haven't decided anything about that yet. I swear the idea came to me about only a month ago and I haven't dwelt on it much. And they didn't do anything too suggestive... *swiveleyes*

All the motives of all the characters are thought up, I just didn't type them out...

Though still not sure which to work on most. The warrioress trilogy is the story I've had being kind of worked on the longest. It's a few years old, and there are alot of kinks to work out(there are alot of kinks in them all...)

The elementals one is the second oldest. And the way I have it, the whole adventure that the four teens go on turns out like it was a dream. Yet none of them knew each other beforehand. They lived on seprate corners of the US you could say. Yeah, just in what I just typed I see kinks...

the Mage's Riddle is next and... yeah... suddenly the whole noble orphan thing doesn't sound that much like a good idea. Like, how exactly did it happen? I see whats wrong here... grr...

and traveler's bridge is the newest. And I honestly have no idea where it's going.... honest...


And Melda, thanks for the link. Really helpful. And kind of entertaining at the same time! It's letting me know what I should try to stray away from...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

I don't know how much more I can add to what Ea and Melda said, since those were my thoughts as well. I'd have to say #2 and #3 are the most interesting to me. It would be interesting if the girl (#2), learning about the "evil" person, would find out the evil person wasn't evil after all? I don't know. Just a little plot twist from basic "good hero fights evil villain for a just cause" type of thing. The Traveler's Bridge is also quite intriguing. I'd like to see where it goes.

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going on a journey through my old claims

You're welcome - I'd definitely encourage you to read them all, they're amazing for avoiding pitfalls and realizing what your fantasy needs for depth and believability. Limyaael = love.

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No problem Eruraina. It sounds like you've already come a long way. Like I said in my other post you can post here again with more plot info once you've decided which novel you want to finish first and we can try to give you more detailed feedback.

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>>Be the change you wish to see in the world<<



Banner credit: Shadowcat & Nurrantiel Mashiara

Hm... I think I'll finnish the second because it's the farthest I've gotten on one, but I'm going to be doing alot of editing and adding on it. It's late right now, and I'll be busy tomorrow, so I'll see when I can post a more indepth summary about it, Ea, for you.

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Sounds like a great idea.. finishing the second one. I'll be looking forward to reading more about it. Hopefully, you will also get some other feedback on it if you post here, because I'm not a fantasy expert compared to so many others here!

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>>Be the change you wish to see in the world<<



Banner credit: Shadowcat & Nurrantiel Mashiara

Just wondering. What sort of age group would you be aiming this book at? Teenagers, I'm assuming?




The first one seems like a nice idea, but like the others have said, the characters would need backstories and motivations.

I think the second one, the one you're farthest along on, has unfortunately been done. Kind of a lot, actually. While it's a good plotline, perhaps putting a unique twist in it would be good?

The third one I think needs a bit more work plot wise (why does she have this artifact?), but it's a good start.

The fourth one also seems very... done. And I agree that it doesn't make sense that the teenagers were randomly selected to save the world. But if you could find a way to explain that, I think it could be a fun read.



I know CP published Eragon when he was young, but that doesn't necessarily make him a good writing role model. Don't try to write something just to say you published it when you were 15; write something that's unique, well written and well thought out and then try to publish it. Don't rush it.

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- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
~art credit~

Grrr, I have the same problem as well. Tis very annoying.

Your first idea does seem a little "done." Of course, most plots are "done" because they prove time and time again to be interesting. I'd throw in some odd twists here and there just to keep it fresh.

I agree with Melda on your second idea. There's a lot potential, but those questions should be answered.

I have a bit of a preference for your third idea. It might just be that I have a thing for swashbuckling rogue stranger men . It needs a bit more fleshing out, but this is the one that I'm most interested in. And it also sounds a lot like a short story I wrote. Which also came to me as a dream....oooooo, creepy.

Your fourth idea could be very interesting. I don't really have much to comment on it though...

But keep up the writing. I wish I could have as many awesome ideas as you do.

Oh, and beware Melda's link. I've been to that site, and once you read one rant, you can't stop. You just can't, its like some wierd cross between crack and potatoe chips.