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apocalypsosSo I've been thinking about my next story lately. This is what I know about what I want to do next.
1. I want the lead to be female.
2. I want it to have a sort-of "fantasy quest in a modern world" type feel to it.
Other than that, I've got two things, the list of things I like to read or write about, and a short list of female characters I like and what I like best about them. This is the list I made of things I like to read and write about:
kickass chicks
post-apocalypse
brothers
the supernatural
time travel
exotic foreign places
cute little shops/cafes
forests
pets
reality TV
surprise pregnancies
gay romance
baking
basketball
fashion
celebrity gossip
comedians
big band music
British stuff
superheroes
wizards
virgins
quotes
ninjas
giant robots
disasters
intentional cheesiness
overweight characters
history museums
Chinese takeout
immortality
small towns
assassins
silly sex
great quests
magic
cowboys
futile fights between unmatched opponents
emotional arguments
beautiful imagery
strange talents
characters hanging out in bars
people who didn't go to college
men who like wallflowers
writers
high teas
lovable douchebags
tattoos
American history
single-parent families
gallows humor
werewolves
sarcasm
junk shops
surprise family
elderly mentors
physically unattractive love interests
lies
swearing
couples too crazy to be with anyone else
older women with younger men
Pennsylvania
FUCK YEAH! moments
grumps
brunettes
chases
real-life settings
witty putdowns
complicated scams
That's only up until now, of course. I'm still adding to it as things occur to me, obviously. But that's a pretty thorough list of things bound to give me a happy if I put them into a story or find they're included in the blurb on the back of a novel.
And then there's the women. The thing is, lately I've been thinking a lot about Jo Harvelle, mostly because it's kind of the thing I want to go for. I was always a bit annoyed by Jo because she was a grown woman who was pretty much living at home and yet still complaining about her mother making rules about her life. It frustrated the hell out of me even though I approved of the realism, because God knows I've been there. Of course, when I was there, my mother kept saying, "Hey, if you don't like it, you're free and eighteen -- move out!" So I did. But Jo didn't for the longest time, and it bugged the PISS out of me. If you want to hunt and she doesn't want you to, you're an adult -- LEAVE. She can disapprove like crazy, but she sure as hell can't stop you.
And then she moved out, and I finally liked her, and of course we only saw her again the one time. Which was okay with me on some level, because her leaving the nest for good -- that was what I wanted to see out of her. But on the other hand, I did want to see her off hunting somewhere, or for that matter Ellen lugging around a shotgun or Missouri getting shit done or Pamela being cocky and sexy or Meg and Ruby being bitchy and diabolical together. But it's a show for the boys, and it's always going to be Sam and Dean at the forefront, and I've got no problem with that because I love them like burning even when they're being stupid. Brothers, I understand.
But ... yeah. I want to go for a "Screw you, guys, I'm going home!" sort of thing, but instead of going home, she leaves to go kill monsters or hunt ghosts or save the world or something. I'm thinking something where she has no contact with family, no money, no way to get money other than scams or thieving, and no mentor or friends. She has to do any research herself, she has to find her own damn contacts, and she can't take anything with her. Maybe nothing modern can go with her. Just her smarts and her talents, that's all she gets.
So it's sort of like, I like Jo because she finally got out of the house and went off to do what she wanted to do, and I like Veronica Mars because she's wily, and I like Parker because she's adorably nuts and game for anything, and I like Zoe Washburn because she's a loyal soldier even now, and I like Olive Snook because she's wee and sings, and I like Angela Petrelli because she's enjoyably diabolical, and I like Pamela Barnes because she's a fun cocky tease, and I like Maeby Funke because she's rebellious in whichever way she needs to be, and I like Ellie Fredericksen because she craves adventure and knows that life is one big adventure no matter how it ends up, and I like Blair Waldorf because she's determined to get what she wants and has her own sense of style, and I like Sarah Connor because she's maybe a bit too tough as nails, and ... um, that's all I can think for the moment. But, yes. I need to keep all of those things in mind because just like that big long list up there, that's also what I like to read or watch. :)
Most of the things I've been getting out of that list up there is stuff like a reality TV show about someone who can't die so it just goes on forever and ever like a even weirder Truman Show, or a reality show about the end of the world (can you tell I want to write the reality show prompt?), or a post-apocalyptic story where everybody's got magical powers, or ... hell, I don't know. I know stuff that I really do want to write about -- I still haven't given an end-of-the-world story a good go outside of fandom, really, and I've already done a novel featuring a game show as a major plot component so now I want to play with reality TV. After that ... well, I've currently got dregs that didn't make me half as bouncy and excited as Heroine Addiction has.
*sigh*
Basically, brainstorming isn't giving me nearly as much to work with as I'd like right now.
On the plus side today, I went grocery shopping today. I probably should have held off until after the dentist's tomorrow, but whatever, I didn't even get anything that was the least bit junky, so yay for me.
1. I want the lead to be female.
2. I want it to have a sort-of "fantasy quest in a modern world" type feel to it.
Other than that, I've got two things, the list of things I like to read or write about, and a short list of female characters I like and what I like best about them. This is the list I made of things I like to read and write about:
kickass chicks
post-apocalypse
brothers
the supernatural
time travel
exotic foreign places
cute little shops/cafes
forests
pets
reality TV
surprise pregnancies
gay romance
baking
basketball
fashion
celebrity gossip
comedians
big band music
British stuff
superheroes
wizards
virgins
quotes
ninjas
giant robots
disasters
intentional cheesiness
overweight characters
history museums
Chinese takeout
immortality
small towns
assassins
silly sex
great quests
magic
cowboys
futile fights between unmatched opponents
emotional arguments
beautiful imagery
strange talents
characters hanging out in bars
people who didn't go to college
men who like wallflowers
writers
high teas
lovable douchebags
tattoos
American history
single-parent families
gallows humor
werewolves
sarcasm
junk shops
surprise family
elderly mentors
physically unattractive love interests
lies
swearing
couples too crazy to be with anyone else
older women with younger men
Pennsylvania
FUCK YEAH! moments
grumps
brunettes
chases
real-life settings
witty putdowns
complicated scams
That's only up until now, of course. I'm still adding to it as things occur to me, obviously. But that's a pretty thorough list of things bound to give me a happy if I put them into a story or find they're included in the blurb on the back of a novel.
And then there's the women. The thing is, lately I've been thinking a lot about Jo Harvelle, mostly because it's kind of the thing I want to go for. I was always a bit annoyed by Jo because she was a grown woman who was pretty much living at home and yet still complaining about her mother making rules about her life. It frustrated the hell out of me even though I approved of the realism, because God knows I've been there. Of course, when I was there, my mother kept saying, "Hey, if you don't like it, you're free and eighteen -- move out!" So I did. But Jo didn't for the longest time, and it bugged the PISS out of me. If you want to hunt and she doesn't want you to, you're an adult -- LEAVE. She can disapprove like crazy, but she sure as hell can't stop you.
And then she moved out, and I finally liked her, and of course we only saw her again the one time. Which was okay with me on some level, because her leaving the nest for good -- that was what I wanted to see out of her. But on the other hand, I did want to see her off hunting somewhere, or for that matter Ellen lugging around a shotgun or Missouri getting shit done or Pamela being cocky and sexy or Meg and Ruby being bitchy and diabolical together. But it's a show for the boys, and it's always going to be Sam and Dean at the forefront, and I've got no problem with that because I love them like burning even when they're being stupid. Brothers, I understand.
But ... yeah. I want to go for a "Screw you, guys, I'm going home!" sort of thing, but instead of going home, she leaves to go kill monsters or hunt ghosts or save the world or something. I'm thinking something where she has no contact with family, no money, no way to get money other than scams or thieving, and no mentor or friends. She has to do any research herself, she has to find her own damn contacts, and she can't take anything with her. Maybe nothing modern can go with her. Just her smarts and her talents, that's all she gets.
So it's sort of like, I like Jo because she finally got out of the house and went off to do what she wanted to do, and I like Veronica Mars because she's wily, and I like Parker because she's adorably nuts and game for anything, and I like Zoe Washburn because she's a loyal soldier even now, and I like Olive Snook because she's wee and sings, and I like Angela Petrelli because she's enjoyably diabolical, and I like Pamela Barnes because she's a fun cocky tease, and I like Maeby Funke because she's rebellious in whichever way she needs to be, and I like Ellie Fredericksen because she craves adventure and knows that life is one big adventure no matter how it ends up, and I like Blair Waldorf because she's determined to get what she wants and has her own sense of style, and I like Sarah Connor because she's maybe a bit too tough as nails, and ... um, that's all I can think for the moment. But, yes. I need to keep all of those things in mind because just like that big long list up there, that's also what I like to read or watch. :)
Most of the things I've been getting out of that list up there is stuff like a reality TV show about someone who can't die so it just goes on forever and ever like a even weirder Truman Show, or a reality show about the end of the world (can you tell I want to write the reality show prompt?), or a post-apocalyptic story where everybody's got magical powers, or ... hell, I don't know. I know stuff that I really do want to write about -- I still haven't given an end-of-the-world story a good go outside of fandom, really, and I've already done a novel featuring a game show as a major plot component so now I want to play with reality TV. After that ... well, I've currently got dregs that didn't make me half as bouncy and excited as Heroine Addiction has.
*sigh*
Basically, brainstorming isn't giving me nearly as much to work with as I'd like right now.
On the plus side today, I went grocery shopping today. I probably should have held off until after the dentist's tomorrow, but whatever, I didn't even get anything that was the least bit junky, so yay for me.
