[imsurroundedbyfish]

For Christmas I am writing a novel/novella for one of my friends. He is sixteen and I am a strong writer. I normally write sad and tragic things, like war or upsetting things that happen and the affects they have on the main characters life, and he says he likes reading this sort of thing so that is good. I will be writing in the first person as that is my preferred narrative. He wants me to write so that the main character is a boy, which to be honest I don’t normally do.

My original idea, was that the character would be a girl, and that it would be an action/tragedy/romance which would start with her sitting, scared out of her life, because her dad had told her to stay there until her mum came to get her. A war is raging right outside her door and she can hear bombs and gunshots etc, and is desperately trying to stay quiet. The enemies break into her house and come to kidnap her. The idea of her being hidden is so that the enemy won’t find her, but they do and she is taken away. I don’t know what exactly would happen next but I had it in my head she would have been abused but made a getaway to the country and had her baby there while lodging on a farm and working there in return. I was going to try to vary the genre so horror in the war part, romance when she meets true love, sadness when she has the baby etc. But now I don’t think this idea will work so much if I try and change it round to a boy.

(PS this idea is MINE and I hope you all have enough respect for me not to copy my idea)

Does anyone have any idea how I could make it work, or even of new plots that I could use, that would fit for all the requirements I’ve given? He says he’d also like it to be ‘deep’ and I have no idea how you make a story ‘deep’ so any help there would be appreciated!

Thanks

[Wondergirl]

I'm a published writer and am thinking about a plot with a boy as the main character. Give me a bit to fill out my ideas.

How old do you want the boy to be?

Do you have any ideas on what type of background he is to be from -- country boy, city boy, from a large family or is an only child?

[imsurroundedbyfish]

I'm a published writer and am thinking about a plot with a boy as the main character. Give me a bit to fill out my ideas.

How old do you want the boy to be?

Do you have any ideas on what type of background he is to be from -- country boy, city boy, from a large family or is an only child?

Umm, I hadn't really thought about it.
That depends, if I was going to somehow turn around the old idea I had, at the beginning of the story he'd be quite young - maybe 10 or 12 or younger. Then we'd skip through time and he'd be 16. Also he'd come from the city but end up in the country.

If it was a new storyline, perhaps the boy could be 16 already or I could still use that same idea. I do extremes so I'd rather have the charactar either be a busy city or remote country side but again, I like the idea of him moving between the two extremes.

[Wondergirl]

What about using a modern-day conflict situation, such as a terrorist attack situation with the best friend being a Muslim child/teen? That would add tension for the friendship.

Or two best friends living in the city, and one of them has a father involved in dogfighting and gambling? They end up in the country on a farm. The two main characters can be male or female or one of each. There can be just friendship or a romance or a friendship that turns sour and then is healed.

[imsurroundedbyfish]

What about using a modern-day conflict situation, such as a terrorist attack situation with the best friend being a Muslim child/teen? That would add tension for the friendship.

Or two best friends living in the city, and one of them has a father involved in dogfighting and gambling? They end up in the country on a farm. The two main characters can be male or female or one of each. There can be just friendship or a romance or a friendship that turns sour and then is healed.

Hey I like these ideas! Thanks! I will try and use some of these and perhaps get back to you?

[Wondergirl]

Hey I like these ideas! Thanks! I will try and use some of these and perhaps get back to you?

I'm here and ready to help!

[lJ.]

If you are writing it for him, you should fine something in the story that he can connect to. I've noticed that sometimes stories that are good are character-based. Try to use description enough to provide visualization.