this plot? I'm no good with constructing plots but have been working on a setup for some time now that I really enjoy. After reading the Hunger Games series this week (and, subsequently, becoming madly obsessed with it), I realized the setup I had going is actually quite similar to that of THG, and now I'm just frustrated because all I want to do is write a fight to the death. I want to start writing, but I really don't know where to go with it. I thought I'd fill you guys in on the thoughts I have so far and see what you think or if anyone has any ideas to get my brain working again. I really need to practice my writing but I can't do that if I don't know what to write about... Sigh.
The story takes place in a land that is divided into the rich and powerful Council and three surrounding "Divisions" that are ranked hierarchically, with Division 3 being the poorest. Each division is assigned to certain sectors of industry, and at the age of 18, every citizen is randomly assigned a job within their division and are compensated for their work with food and housing by the Council. So, for example, the people in Division 3 get the dirty factory work, working in steel mills, making weapons for the Council (which is really just a scare tactic), that kind of thing, and they are barely compensated enough to survive. The citizens are born into a particular division and but are given the opportunity to work their way out of poverty but acting as a police force for the Council. So, for instance, if someone is living in Division 3 and struggling to stay alive, if they see someone breaking Council rules, they can turn that person in for their crime and will be rewarded with food or money and eventually by being moved up a division, depending on the nature of the crime or type or information the person provides to the Council. Council members are chosen from Division 1, so if you can work your way up to Division 1, you can be appointed to the Council, where you will live lavishly.
Because people in Division 3 are starving and struggling to live, they begin to turn on each other to preserve their own lives. I thought the story could even begin with the public execution of the mayor, who is caught trying to smuggle a starving orphan boy into Division 2 so he can survive. Here's where I'm stuck. I wanted the story to revolve around a main female character, Edie, and a boy she grew up with in Division 3 who is kind of hopelessly in love with her, Dane. Their families are struggling to get by, since each of them have lost a parent to an accident in the armory and both have younger siblings to take care of (I swear I made this stuff up before reading THG. How frustrating.) I want the story to end, somehow, with the two of them helping to take down the Council.
At first I thought the land could be an island where no one has ever tried to escape, or at least not gotten out alive, and the little boy is the first to do so. That could give Edie and Dane hope that they could really get out, so they'd go looking for him. I also thought of the little boy being Edie's brother who the family had to give up when Edie's father died, knowing they couldn't care for another child. I thought of the Council capturing Edie and Dane thinking they may have information on the boy's whereabouts. I thought of Edie and Dane turning themselves in so they could get inside the Council and try to take it down from the inside. I really just don't know. I need a big plot point, an event, something, and I have nothing. Just all these little fragments of ideas running around in my brain that don't really make up a plot. I'm so bad at this. Always have been. And it's a bummer, because I love the process of actually writing it. It's just a matter of getting there.
If anybody has any thoughts (related to those I've already put out there or not), I'd love to hear them, just to get my mind unstuck. I write for fun, not to publish, and I just enjoy bouncing ideas off others. So any critiques, tips, ideas, advice, anything would be incredibly appreciated. Thanks so much!
The story takes place in a land that is divided into the rich and powerful Council and three surrounding "Divisions" that are ranked hierarchically, with Division 3 being the poorest. Each division is assigned to certain sectors of industry, and at the age of 18, every citizen is randomly assigned a job within their division and are compensated for their work with food and housing by the Council. So, for example, the people in Division 3 get the dirty factory work, working in steel mills, making weapons for the Council (which is really just a scare tactic), that kind of thing, and they are barely compensated enough to survive. The citizens are born into a particular division and but are given the opportunity to work their way out of poverty but acting as a police force for the Council. So, for instance, if someone is living in Division 3 and struggling to stay alive, if they see someone breaking Council rules, they can turn that person in for their crime and will be rewarded with food or money and eventually by being moved up a division, depending on the nature of the crime or type or information the person provides to the Council. Council members are chosen from Division 1, so if you can work your way up to Division 1, you can be appointed to the Council, where you will live lavishly.
Because people in Division 3 are starving and struggling to live, they begin to turn on each other to preserve their own lives. I thought the story could even begin with the public execution of the mayor, who is caught trying to smuggle a starving orphan boy into Division 2 so he can survive. Here's where I'm stuck. I wanted the story to revolve around a main female character, Edie, and a boy she grew up with in Division 3 who is kind of hopelessly in love with her, Dane. Their families are struggling to get by, since each of them have lost a parent to an accident in the armory and both have younger siblings to take care of (I swear I made this stuff up before reading THG. How frustrating.) I want the story to end, somehow, with the two of them helping to take down the Council.
At first I thought the land could be an island where no one has ever tried to escape, or at least not gotten out alive, and the little boy is the first to do so. That could give Edie and Dane hope that they could really get out, so they'd go looking for him. I also thought of the little boy being Edie's brother who the family had to give up when Edie's father died, knowing they couldn't care for another child. I thought of the Council capturing Edie and Dane thinking they may have information on the boy's whereabouts. I thought of Edie and Dane turning themselves in so they could get inside the Council and try to take it down from the inside. I really just don't know. I need a big plot point, an event, something, and I have nothing. Just all these little fragments of ideas running around in my brain that don't really make up a plot. I'm so bad at this. Always have been. And it's a bummer, because I love the process of actually writing it. It's just a matter of getting there.
If anybody has any thoughts (related to those I've already put out there or not), I'd love to hear them, just to get my mind unstuck. I write for fun, not to publish, and I just enjoy bouncing ideas off others. So any critiques, tips, ideas, advice, anything would be incredibly appreciated. Thanks so much!