Okay, I had an idea about a possession TG story. The reason I made this thread is for ideas to help the story come along, because all I have is the basics of the beginning.
Anyways, here's the summary of the beginning:
Alex (the protagonist) has always been a loner. He doesn't keep up with trends, and doesn't care about anything popular. He would skip school, but his mother insists on giving him a good education. While going to get groceries after school one day, he get's run over by a car. He sees a flash of light, and then everything turns black. Alex feels like he's floating in the darkness, but then a light appears in the distance. He is pulled toward the light, and can't get away.
At the same time, a group of girls that have found a magic book are trying to contact an otherworldly spirit. The spirit they get in contact with is Alex. Alex is forced down into the body of one of the girls in the ceremony, who was designated as the 'possession doll'.
Unfortunately, that's about as far as I got. I'm pretty sure it'll make a good story, but I'm still having trouble thinking of the next parts. Anybody got any opinions?
No Suggestions but Some Questions
Why were the girls doing this? Did they have some desperate need for a ghost or a demon to do something for them? Does Alex gain any abilities? Is the possessed girl conscious? If so, does she cooperate? How do you want this to end? Is the possession permanent, do they merge or does one kick the other out or does solving the girls original problem lead to some other solution?
Are there any spirits or powers looking for Alex since he probably didn't end up where he might have? Is his original body actually dead? Is this going to be a pretty mundane story with one supernatural element or is it going to be more like Buffy, TVS or even more supernaturally oriented?
Answer enough of those questions and you've got your story well on the way to being written. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Um..... Ditto?
Ah....... Ditto what Erin said. ;)
I think you have the makings for a decent story in that.
it couldn't be any worse than a boy becoming a girl at a summer camp. ;)
A.A.
Or would the body of Alex
become possessed by a female spirit, which could then give you opportunities for the disparities of behaviour when one or other of the entities was in control of his body, a sort of psychic schizophrenia, and if said female spirit has some unfinished business with someone still living - could give you lots of scope for mayhem.
Angharad
Angharad
Professor Marvel never guesses. He knows!
Have you ever read the Wizard of Oz? Just write your story like that.
You might want to start by describing Alex's world with quite a bit more detail. What problems does Alex have that he needs to solve? Are there bad people in Alex world? Good people who will help him?
You've created a way for Alex to leave his world and go to another world. What kind of world does he ariive in? Are the girls munching on unicorn sandwiches? Do they have three eyes? Does he like the new world? Is it his wish to go back to his old world? Who and what stands in his way? Who will help him? Who will hinder his progress? How will he change? Will he like those changes?
Take Alex on a series of adventures in his new, extraordinary world and in the end take him back to his old world, but show us how going to the other world has helped him with his old problems.
Of course, along the way, dazzle the reader with wonderfully innovative characters and never seen before scenes.
"The last to go will see the first three go before her. And her little dog too."
Now -- don't be a Baum about it. Write!
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Possession ...
Well, that's weird. I had something of the same idea. In mine, a moderately dysfunctional teenager plummets off an icy road into a river at night. Freezing and out of air, he swims desperately towards a bright light which may be headlights from a passing motorist who stopped to help, or the famous "white light of death." That's as far as the parallels go, though. In my version, he wakes up in the body of his kid sister, except that he never had a sister. To further confuse him, at his/her bedside, he sees not only his mother, but his father, who had abandoned them years before -- and himself.
Anyway, it sounds like you have a start. Next, as you say, is the plot, and what you want to "prove" with the story.
Unfortunately, it's been my experience that a plot more or less has to come from within for it to work. If a story is there, then it will eventually percolate to the surface. It might help if you looked at a list of established plots, though.
Plots
Good luck,
Aardvark
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
Two improbable events need to be linked
I think it's fine to write a story containing one improbable event (some kind of afterlife) - readers will generally accept that.
But the way you phrase the idea, there is then a separate improbable event (finding a magic book enabling contact between the real and spiritual worlds) and I would find two improbable events difficult to accept.
I feel you need to link those two separate events into one universe that Alex discovers on the other side, where being pulled back to the real world is a normal event. So you need to make readers aware almost from the start that this is a fantasy and that normal rules don't apply.
I'm not certain why you feel the need to tack something on the end of this basic plot. Every story should have an ending, so why not end it with discovering that life in the new body is something very different (and perhaps not welcome) to Alex, eg: she loves blokes with huge genitals which horrifies Alex; she is pregnant; she doesn't enjoy sex but has a partner who does; she wants sex but is fat or ugly or old and no one wants to have sex with her. The list goes on.
From lots of experience of getting superb story ideas, I know that the idea is the all-too-easy bit - it's spending the next few months turning that into a completed story before the next superb story idea comes along that I find almost impossible.
Good luck
Lindale
Thanks
Thanks for all the advice! You've all been really helpful. I tried to make another story before, and it sucked. But I think that I'm actually doing a decent job with this, and it has a lot to do with the help I got from you guys. Once again, thanks.
Edit: Finished part one of my story, and submitted it to the site! It's here if you're interested:
click here