I am writing a story about a modern day princess. I have the begiing but I can't think of a problem for the story. I mean every story has a problem. Help me out, PLEASE!
2006-07-20 13:31:27 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Maybe it's just me and the way I write, but I tend to come up with a problem first and then work backwards. I rarely even know who my characters are until I've started writing. But anyway, having said that, I have a few questions about your princess.
She's a modern day princess...in a world where royalty is at best a symbolic thing, so perhaps the major problem she could be dealing with is the fact that even as a princess, there isn't much of a fairytale life that she can lead. Thus she'd most likely be foreced to find a way to make herself relevant to a world that doesn't really need princesses...
Is she in love with a commoner? That's always a problem.
I guess the main question is What do you want this story to be? A story about a princess doesn't distinguish it from any other princess story out there. There has to be something YOU want it to be about. Is it about a clumsy princess, an ugly one, a princess who is actually a prince? A princess who isn't even royal at all? A princess who is politically active in a way that betrays her royal lineage and thus, a princess in trouble with mommy and daddy who want to maintain the monarchy while their daughter has just gone off and joined a campaign for neo Communists?
There are zillions of problems you can introduce into your story, but before doing that, you'll need to know more about the story itself...more than just "its a story about a modern day princess." So my advice would be to play around with ideas, have fun with it and see what you come up with. No one can really GIVE you ideas, since you're the one who knows your story. But also, if you're interested, you can do a google search on something like online writing workshops or writing communities, and you can also do a similar search on princesses throughout history. Maybe one of them had a particular problem that would work well with your own fictitious princess.
2006-07-20 14:14:40 · answer #1 · answered by chipchinka 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you're setting it as a modern story pick a modern story - guy problems, being on her own, maybe the princess could find out she was adopted or really isn't a princess and is forced out into the real world
use your imagination
2006-07-20 14:26:50 · answer #2 · answered by Angelina 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't use the old cliched "need to find a guy" or "I'm in love with a commoner" story lines. Mabye feature a princess who has no desire to ever marry or produce an heir.
2006-07-20 15:47:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well it can be many things. I would first find out who is your Antagonist. The Antagonist can be any force working against the main character. The Antagonist Could be her father (the king), an outsider, a peasant, The man she is supposed to marry, the weather, a person trying to control the empire... etc. Once you come up with a antagonist and what he is doing to work against the main character and why, you can figure out the rest.
2006-07-20 13:44:11 · answer #4 · answered by LLH 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A conflict? Perhaps she is in the middle of a lesbian love triangle? Or maybe, she is royalty in the middle of revolution by the people. Or...she is cheated on by her prince husband and ends up in an automobile accident....or maybe she goes to Jerusalem and protests against Jewish occupation of lands not granted to them by the UN, and against violence on both sides? Or maybe she is the daughter of a Russian Czar, and is tied up in a relationship with a Russian druglord...or maybe the conflict is within and she cannot deal with the monotony and seeming pointlessness of modern-day life.
2006-07-20 13:40:37 · answer #5 · answered by keats27 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I write stories myself, so here are some ideas.
She wants to explore the world....
She wants to live like a "normal" person
Her family is in debt, and her country is powerless after the War.
I hope that helps!
- Emelita Rosaria, age 10
2006-07-20 14:52:27 · answer #6 · answered by Jeffrey 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try something from today's world. It's modern day, so try living on her own. That's problem enough. Give her a cute guy she likes, or a nemesis. Is she controversial? Does she have a job? Apply your real life, it helps.
2006-07-20 13:36:42 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about the press constantly stalking her. Think about it whenever someone famous (and a princess would be famous) she has photographers (aka the stalkeratzi) following her every foot step, while she is dating, while she is shopping, while she is visiting with friends.
2006-07-20 13:44:27 · answer #8 · answered by mom of girls 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you want it to be a fantasy then it could be something like she's the next princess of faerie and they need a ruler and faries are popping up everywhere wanting her to go rule.
A reality/relations book- she could be a regular junior wanting to be prom queen and date the prom queen
2006-07-20 13:39:43 · answer #9 · answered by Emily C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The problem for her could be that her status might not get her everything she wants. Have someone say "no" to her more than once. How would she react to that? Would it be a learning experience or not?
2006-07-20 13:40:55 · answer #10 · answered by Call Me Babs 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋