I WANNA WRITE BUT HAVE NO PLOT

[flagpole sitta]

I WANNA WRITE ABOUT
a strong female lead
something fantasy
something sci fi
something coming of age
something that could be one book or a series- because OPTIONS

I DON'T WANNA WRITE ABOUT
a love story focus
a boring overdone fantasy
a nonsensical sci-fi
something that DEMANDS more than one novel




...anyone wanna help me plot?

[waterkat33]

Hey, I'm doing nanowrimo too and the plot is always the hardest part to think of.
So let's see if maybe I can help you 4laugh

The thing to remember is that more than one plot can happen at once on varying scales.

Here's some things you might find inspiration for character-plot in:
- loss of a loved one
- discovery of a loved one
- learning about themselves
- learning about others in relation to themselves / the over-arcing plot
- romance (which you said you didn't want to be the focus but could be a nice back burner plot and useful if you are having a hard time shoving your character into a situation)
- Acceptance of self (gender/sexuality/personal hidden talent)
- Beginning/ending of a rivalry between two characters.
- Getting stuck in the wrong body

For plot-plot:
- Discovery of a new species
- War between two nations/species
- Assassination attempts on the ruling body
- Find character/place/object
- Victory / Defeat of evil forces
- Victory / Defeat of evil forces, told from the point of view of the evil forces
- Enforcing the masquerade
- Revealing the masquerade
- The quest for the perfect Zombie Dance Party
- A prank war between powerful wizards
- Space Soap Opera
- Dinosaurs in space
- Dimension-hopping
- Time travel
- Shakespeare in space
- A story wrapped in a tale fitted in a book

This is all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment, the important thing during nanowrimo is to enjoy yourself.

One last thing I want to mention is that you said no "boring overdone fantasy" and no "nonsensical sci-fi". Stories are only boring or non-sensical if you let them be so. I once read a fic where the main character got turned into a octopus and it was so good I cried while reading it, seriously nobody should cry over octopi suprisingly sensical and very entertaining. Also anything "boring and overdone" can always be made new again through differing techniques, eg: subversion.

I wish you the greatest of luck even if my suggestions are ultimately unhelpful.

[Chai Senpai]

Take a classic fairytale idea, one with stereotypical female and male roles, and flip 'em?

[1aphy]

I like Madam Chai's idea. Maybe something like a female knight tasked with the protection of a prince, and when the prince gets kidnapped she sees it as her sole duty to rescue him. -shrug- I like strong female leads so I hope you find a plot you like. smile

[kill anime]

tab let us know if you figure out what your muse calls for. strong female leads are the best [/swoon]

[Aeronn]

I think plot elements are the best way to show the strength of your character. If she is physically strong, there needs to be plenty of action. It would also be good to show some kind of contrast - against a weak character, or before-and-after actions. In a coming-of-age story it would make sense to have her develop as a fighter.
If she is mentally strong, there could be moral dilemmas she would need to face. She could also face her shortcomings and accept them.

I think the best way to find inspiration is to read or watch other things and think about what you would change to make them more interesting.
For example, Diana Wynne Jones' Magicians of Caprona is more-or-less Romeo and Juliet, in a magical Italian town controlled by

a giant rat-demon.

[TheGreatCuban]

My personal favorite stories are sci fi short stories with a strong female lead, but recently I've been writing horror stories and I can't get that out of my head.

Last night, I was having side pains and I ended up writing a 200 word short story about the pain in my side turning into an insane craving to kill everyone in sight, or something like that. It was a good story(for such a sucky author as I), so maybe you can do what I did and start it off without planning and hope for gold!

[arrows and guns]

The adoption forum of NaNoWriMo has always helped me.