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Do You Have a Story Idea (Novel or Short Story) in Your Head Right Now?

-Carlos-

-Carlos-

New Member
If so, tells us something (not all of course) about your idea(s) for a novel or short story. Warning: Don't post anything that would allow another viewer of this thread to steal your idea(s).

I have one which I want to title Dream Runner. It's a treasure hunt (adventure) in the Amazon jungle. It's one heck of a long novel (if I ever do decide to write it) and it all fits together very well...nice ending too.

I also have a couple of short story ideas. The titles being: Asleep in Death, Inventing Love, Bottomless and others....

Do you have a new story idea(s)? :cool:
 
I've written a short story before. It was about 2 or 3 years ago, in a vacation. I don't know why I suddenly decided to write in that time. The thing is that I aways liked the idea of writing, as if I could write the stories I don't see published to fill in the lacunae, but I had never written it before. Anyway, in that summer things were different.

---------------------------------

The story was entitled The hate book. It was about two guys who were met in a train during a 20 hours trip. They start talking and one of them--who was called John--was reading a manuscript with the title “The Hate Book”. The other guy was named Horatio. He was full of scars and used a wheelchair. He was visibly the victim of an accident or something alike. So Horatio asks John what was that manuscript about. And John says it was a book written by himself that he was trying to publish. So Horatio gets curious and asks if he could read the manuscript. John says it was ok.

So Horatio starts the reading and see that the book was the story of a young boy who was bullied in school by his classmates. The manuscript described many scenes of bulling the fictitious boy suffered. So Horatio remembers about a boy he and his friends used to bully in the same way 30 years before.

The second part of John's manuscript is about the bullied boy's adolescence. It describes some events he suffered due to the same boys that bullied him before and also what happened in a day these boys were drunk in a car and crashed in other car. This other car was the one the bullied boy's parents were inside. The similarities could not be coincidence. So Horatio realizes that John's manuscript was not about a fictitious story, but it was the story of the boy he bullied years ago.

In other words, John was the bullied boy.

Horatio starts to shake and jumps to the ending part of the manuscript. It was a narrative of that bullied boy--now a grown man--entering the same train they were inside.

So the final scene is a suspense in which Horatio (now invalid) can't fight against John. And John laughed and laughed because the train was empty. There was just the two of them in that carriage. And John could do what he wanted against Horatio.

(the end)
----------------------------

I never had the guts to show my story for anyone and now I post its abstract here. I can't understand myself.

Did someone understand the story?
 
Unfortunately, I have ideas constantly running through my head, and very little to show for them (if anyone has any magic remedy, please PM me!)

Current ideas include:

"My Day With Denny", novella dealing with a young boy with a sever mental problem, and an adolescent who's assigned to the care of Denny for one day, only to find out that Denny has much more to offer to the world than he shows on the outside.

"The Manuscript": Novel, deals with an unwritten Book that has a secret bloodline, and only those who belong may contribute to the completion of the Book. The catch: time is running out, and the newest (and, incidentally, the last) member of the Line must decide how he wants to finish the fate of what could possibly be the remaining pages, and years, of his family history, and the world.

Those are the largest projects, both started and humbly truckin' along... now, if only I could pull through and make 'em successful!
 
And I still have no comments about my short story idea, heh... I don't intent to publish it (of course) but I'd really like to know if such story is interesting, boring or at least understandable. All these years I showed it to nobody and now that I post its abstract--a really short abstract, by the way--it would be nice to know how do it looks like in the view of others.

I'm just curious. :sad:
 
Bookworm Fellow
Thinking about it. Clearly understandable, not boring and could be interesting.
 
Very good Bookworm fellow but beware of the "pulled by the hair coincedence"


There is one nagging at me but i think it be better in a movie scenario.

I live in a muslim country,with lots of veiled women,and i though how convinient it would be to be veiled for Bank robbery.So the story would be of a group of girls,who start to plan a series of attacks and become deadly in the country.
They can approche the banck and live it veiled no probleme.
It's turnning to be such a matter of security(for it spread to other sectors)that the governement is thinking or prohibiting the veil.Then from a country to an other.
It could be a feminist story on the background with hardwomen having enough and finding the right "action" solution.

I would steal the title to westlake "Adios sherazade"
 
Thanks for your opinions. It's really interesting for me to know what others think about my piece.

The “original” version was an almost 40 pages .doc file. It was saved in an older computer which I don't own anymore. I remember it was infected by annoying viruses and due to it's long usage I decided not to format it neither reinstall the Windows but just to throw it away. And that's how I lost the file.

Anyway I didn't like the final result. The idea for the plot might be good, but I had not the required writing experience by the time. And I still have to enjoy many fine literary works to capt the skill of writing novels or short stories before I dare rewriting The hate book.

If it was easy, I'd quit my gradation and would go for this project, because I love so much literature, writing and reading. But due to the circumstances, that would not be the smartest thing to do, though a remarkable experience.
 
I have always wanted to write about my life, I started last year and after 20 pages , I reread it. I realized I was spewing venom for and hatred for whoever
didn't help me so I shredded it. It was cathardic though.:D
 
Whenever I get a good story idea in my head I start writing it down.

Most of the time they become novels.

So far I've written seven. Two are published and two more will be released soon.
The other three are looking for contracts.

But yes, I now have a new story idea. It came from a very bizarre dream I had the other night. I liked the dream ... it was so unusual.

It is a paranormal romance about a magic portal and time travel.
 
I have tons of story ideas in my head. But I've never been able to get it quite right when I try to put them down on paper. I'm working on it though.
 
dele said:
I have tons of story ideas in my head. But I've never been able to get it quite right when I try to put them down on paper. I'm working on it though.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean.

I feel that the best way to become a good writer (no matter if you'd like to publish your stories or not) is to read a lot. Not that you'd use plot elements from other authors. The idea is to acquire the writing skills, like learning how to describe scenario's details in the most opportune moments of the story and without making the narrative boring; you also can learn how to make a narrative faster or slower, the way you'd like it most; you shaw get the skill of making the dialogs interesting and natural, I mean, if you have no practice in writing your characters' dialogs may seem artificial, mechanical; and a lot of other text elements you'll discover.

I say "discover" because I only realized the need of the elements above when I gave a try in putting my story idea in the paper.

You will acquire these skills gradually and by osmosis. So one day, when you decide put your story ideas in the paper again you'll see how you handle words and sentences better and easier; you'll be able to give life to your characters by tracing so real dialogs that it could be real people's. Really spontaneous dialogs.
 
i'm not a very good writer, but i have an idea for a short story that's an interesting twist on the story of Pandora from greek mythology.
 
A comment on Bookworm Fellow's story:

Just a couple of comments – do not take this the wrong way, I am not trying to crush your work, I just see a couple of week themes in it.
First of all the names seems a bit off. Horatio must or at least should have some meaning, as should john, in describing the characters. Horatio does not seem to get any point, when looking at the name etymological and the most famous reference from Hamlet seems completely off – he is no ‘just’ man what so ever. Am I missing something here?
Also John (he who God is good to; God is good) - for giving him the opportunity of revenge?!? See?

Names should mean something! They are an easy way of adding depth and nuances to the characters.

Is this a story of getting revenge – if so, it seems a bit banal: If you do wrong you will be punished, not only once (crippled), but delivered on a plate to whom you bullied – that be you will be punished indirectly and directly! That just seems wrong to me – well…

The narrative seems clever, I really like that, the metanarrative of the manuscript. The tree separate events (child, adolescent, and adult) could be reduced to two, to keep it clear and strong. Most really good stories which uses flashback in some sense, do it to reflect directly on the current time, and short stories that needs two or more flashbacks often tends to be week in their structure, as several flashbacks (that be through dream, manuscripts, stories etc.) becomes redundant, unless they accomplish to focus on specific aspects of the current time. This might be the case in your story, as it serves to explain the wheelchair, but also it becomes weak when it is seen as adding to the grudge. Here you must be careful.

I would love to read the entire piece, as you have gotten me intrigued – as what happens when people tells just too little to give anything away ☺
 
bookworm fellow said:
Thanks for your opinions. It's really interesting for me to know what others think about my piece.

The “original” version was an almost 40 pages .doc file. It was saved in an older computer which I don't own anymore. I remember it was infected by annoying viruses and due to it's long usage I decided not to format it neither reinstall the Windows but just to throw it away. And that's how I lost the file.

Anyway I didn't like the final result. The idea for the plot might be good, but I had not the required writing experience by the time. And I still have to enjoy many fine literary works to capt the skill of writing novels or short stories before I dare rewriting The hate book.

If it was easy, I'd quit my gradation and would go for this project, because I love so much literature, writing and reading. But due to the circumstances, that would not be the smartest thing to do, though a remarkable experience.
Click to expand...


Bookworm fellow,
I think your idea for a story is very good & very intriguing. I think you should definitely pursue it. Someone said that the NAMES have to mean something. No they dont. Forget that. Also, theres nothing wrong w/someone suffering multiple times for the sins they have committed. Stick w/your original idea & dont take the advice of others too seriously. What they want out of a story should not mean too much to you. The story you want to tell is the most important thing.
 
I can not write a story for the life of me, which is too bad because I like to think I have some good ideas.

The last story I attempted to write was about a Russian chess master who due to certain circumstances (with the government etc, this is set a few years in the past) was forced to flee Russia to America almost completely destitute, where he realizes his there is no real chess profession, he ends up having to work a completely mindless low paying job.

Or something like that >.>
 
Most of my ideas have been along the line of imaging fantasy "worlds" than actual plotlines. Usually abandon them within a few weeks.
 
Yes. I have about 1 million ideas just floating around pointlessly in my mind- no doubt waiting to be expressed.

Unfortunately, when it comes to actually writing short stories with these ideas, I seem to only get so far and then move on to other ideas, leaving me with nothing more than a long trail of half finished work.
 
This is a relatively old thread, but I'm gunna do it anyway because I like the subject!

(A small bit of this story is posted in the showcase.) Before I start a synopsis I'd like to point out that the absence of a clear setting or character background is metaphorical.

The story is about a VERY old man named Virgil who is traveling along an unmarked path. He decides to sit and take a rest. He plans on eating an apple but decides against it and lets the apple fall.

Right as he is about to fall asleep he sees another traveler who is quite young and cheerful. They meet and Virgil let's the young man have his apple. Soon after it is noted that young man's name is also Virgil (and the older one is from then on refered to as Old Virgil and the younger one is refered to as young man, boy, lad, or just Virgil. Through the entire story it is implied that Old Virgil has actually met himself as a younger yet omniscent man but it is never stated.

Finally Old Virgil asks Virgil why he is traveling and Virgil tells him that he is willingly on his way to be hanged. This confounds Old Virgil (who does not realize that Virgil is him) to no end. He then begins to struggle with a multitude of things. He is unable to comprehend what he had been doing, where he came from, where he was going, and why the young man was treking to his death. It seems like the poor old man might have been able to come up with something if he didn't have to concentrate on keeping up with young Virgil. After arguing with Virgil (who is determined to show up at his own hanging) he just gets frustrated and gives up.

Finally, they reach their destination which is a small, yet bustling village. When they reach the crowded market square the young man disappears and leaves Old Virgil in the crowd. Out of nowhere a rock flies and shatters a window and Old Virgil gets blamed for it. Then everyone starts blaming there problems on Old Virgil and the whole town agrees to put have him hanged. When he's at the gallows he then again sees the young man next to him with a noose ariound his neck to match his. Young Virgil has this sympathetic yet I-told-you-so additude and just when Old Virgil starts to seem okay with the idea, they both drop.

The story ends back on the unmarked path and introduces two other unaware and slightly self-absorbed travelers named Simon and Peter (Yes, that's right). They notice a dead man on the side of the path with an apple in his lap. Simon seems slightly concerned and asks Peter what they should do. Peter takes the apple, eats a chunk out of it and tells Simon to just leave him there.
The End.

I don't know if that's wierd, boring, not understandable or what. Oh well.
 
I've had ideas flooding into my brain about a book on the topic of government and how the government is allowed to do things to us regular people that wouldn't be thinkable vice versa. It's a book of injustice, crime, corruption, and the search for equality and true fairness. I don't have a title yet and this is my first actual book im attempting to write, ive just been so mad and in shock lately that I had to write some of my feelings down.
 
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