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Ok so this is all I have for my idea for a story (please don't laugh haha)

I have an idea of this man whose a bard. He helps the foxtrot village (the fox people) but the king and the royals all kill and hunt the fox people for furs as well as other animals.

I can't think of who curses him but a witch or like his mother that has gained magical powers turns him into a fox because they are part of the royals side. He becomes half fox and must travel far and wide to recover the pieces of his lost face (one side of his face is fox the other man)


How do I develop these characters more? Any suggestions? How do I create a villain? And how do I determine where he travels?

And throughout the journey the fox people help him. Some of them are like dogs(non intelligent) while others have more human characteristics.
The all caps thread title was unnecessary.

I also feel the need to point out that what you have described reminded me of a book called "Whirligig" written by Paul Fleischman.

I've seen others say in this forum that a plot is character(s) plus conflict. There is also the wiki page if you need an explanation of what a plot is in more detail, as well as the reference list at the bottom of the wiki page.

That being said, you have the beginnings of a plot and character in what you've described, now all you have to do is ask questions and put more details into everything. "Who? What? Why? When? Where? How?" is what I've been told to ask about pretty much everything. Its helped me quite a bit when I get stuck.

Lets start with a simple example: the main character in your story.

What is his personality like? Does this person have friends or family? How are they around friends or family as opposed to people who don't fall in those groups? Does this person have any hobbies? What are his flaws? Why is this person doing what they are doing within the story itself? etc.

You also need to ask questions about the story itself. A few came to my mind when reading your description:

how is the main character "helping" the village of fox people when he also helps hunt them? I would say that isn't helpful in the slightest. Why are fox people hunted at all? You said there were "other animals" that were hunted, so there shouldn't be hunting of the fox people if the other source is available. Unless the people are just sick, murderous bastards, because reasons....

Why would the main character's mother curse him? Why would a witch curse him? If you want him to be cursed and learn a lesson, go for it, but "because he was being bad" isn't the best reason for a character to expand effort to curse another. Lots of people do lots of bad things all the time. Give a believable reason why this one should be cursed instead of others (who are also hunting and killing the fox people as you mentioned) and you'll be much better off.

In this particular story, I don't think you really need a villain, but if you want to have one, ask yourself what their goals are and why they have those goals. If the reason isn't good, then you need to refine it. For example, in the resent teenage mutant ninja turtles movie, the villain wants to create a poison to kill people so they will pay him for a cure so that he can be even more rich (he was rich already). That is a stupid villain reason. In Final Fantasy 13-2 (though a terrible game), the villain/antagonist wants to world to end because he's been watching this girl be born and die hundreds, probably thousands of times. It probably took its toll on him, and it is somewhat understandable why he was doing what he was doing.

As far as traveling goes, you can have it where he either has to find clues as to where the mask pieces are, or you can have it to where each time he finds a new piece he gets a clue where the next piece is via magic or some such. You could also think up something else. Where your character travels depends on where you want him to go. Since what you have described sounds like a fantasy world, you can do whatever you want.
The basic advice I've encountered is to think about a character's needs vs. their wants. That's one method of creating complex characters and the natural conflict that arises from those two things would help drive the story forward. You would then create scenarios where the character would need to chose between his needs and wants, and there you go.

For example let's look at Spider-man. Peter Parker's wants are to have a normal, happy life, but his need is that he feels an obligation to be a hero, and what makes the character interesting is how he sacrifices wants. Think of all the times he's late for a date because he's out saving people.

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