Help with my book?

Question

Set in English 1831

An inspector finds a prostitute unconscious by the river. Assumes she attempted suicide; but it's not,someone tried to kill her and cover up the crime to make it look like suicide. The prostitute gets amnesia, forgets her past, becomes as innocent as a child. So, basically, she symbolizes how humans were before they were affected by the ways of society. Anyways, the inspector hates her at first, because she is, after all, a prostitute, but later on comes to love her-of course, this happens towards the end of the story.
The question is WHO tried to kill her?A clergyman who had an affair with her,but tried to cover it up for the sake of his reputation?Or would this bring a lot of contraversy,as it might make Christianity look bad?
Should I have the inspector find a diary of the prostitute's which tells of her life before she got amnesia?
How should the story end?Turn her back into a prostitute,by the influence of society?

Should she have a diary, and WHY???
And if she does have a diary, why had she gone into prostitution when she was able to read and write???

And what should the inspector's surname be? Frederick...what?? Gerald? Grammond? Garamon? Lydgate? Garth? Renfield??? Any suggestions??

Also,what should the relationship be b/w the prostitute and the inspector?Should it be tragic,like,the woman only views him in a fatherly way,but he really loves her??? (though he despises her at first,as he is against prostitution)

Should the inspector be the protagonist, or the prostitute?? And WHAT DOES THE INSPECTOR LEARN (EMOTIONALLY?) FROM THE PROSTITUTE....HOW DOES SHE CHANGE HIM?

Answer 1

whoa, nice book. well, i suggest that the one who tried to kill he prostitute would be a clergyman (its 1831 anyway!) with a dirty little secret and he tried to kill her coz she knew sumthing. if u like u can connect that dirty little secret to a case that the inspector is currently investigating (or sumthing like that), well, with regards to the diary, umm...i don't like the idea coz it'll make the story easier, with all that's happened to the prosti already written. i suggest that a tatoo on the girl's body will be the key on how the inspector will find out about her...a tatoo that will connect her to the clergyman who tried to kill her (u can make the clergyman some one who's helping the politicians to get into their throne by doing really bad things)and then one by one the girl's identity will fall into pieces and her memory will eventually go back. with regards to the protagonist,either the prosti or the inspector will be a good choice...if its the inspector...the story can be broaden even more since he doesn't have an amnesia and u can broaden the story by telling details on the inpspector's life(like his family,work, friends and all that stuff)...if u'll choose the girl to be the protagonist...it's like the readers will be innocent like the girl and will eventually learn about their identity based on the events that will happen...it will be like making the readers feel thay have an amnesia and their memory will only return depending on what the girl remembers...which is really good...i think. well, i still believe in happy endings...put all the tradegy and sadness in the story but at least put a happy ending as well so the readers will feel better after reading it, it will put a smile in their faces after reading the book. since its a lovestory...let them be together...i suggest u put a REALLY good twist on it..readers like me love twists....hope u'll keep me updated with ur book...good luck!

Answer 2

Um. You need to do a little more thinking on this. If it's set in England (not English) in 1831, you need to find out what living conditions were like then. And choose a city for your story to be set in. Why did you pick 1831? Since you have, go back to the newspapers and magazines of the day and find out what happened in the city you choose for the location of your story and weave some of the events of the day into your story.
There is no problem with having the attacker be a clergyman -- again, make sure you know enough about the clergy you choose to provide the background information. And a little controversy never hurts book sales.
How should the story end? that's your decision. As you begin work on it, and start developing the characters, they will tell you how it should end. But you have to know your characters a lot better than you do at present.
Good luck with it.

Answer 3

That's a ton of questions...are you sure you can claim authorship after wanting so many suggestions? Just kidding. It sounds like a pulpy fiction sort of murder mystery. I would suggest thickening the character study of the prostitute, make her into a real woman with depth who happens to prostitute, not just a yucky "hated" prostitute who happens to be a woman. That's all very cliche. To make the inspector vulnerable as well might be the cohesive glue that brings them together. Make the strong inspector have some weaknesses, and while he "saves" the prostitute, the strength in her saves him right back.
I would advise you to avoid such a predictable plot, with the diary and the amnesia. Are you writing for a daytime soap or an actual mystery worth its paper? Do a ton of research, involve something political perhaps, and know your stuff. Create a "trail of bread crumbs" that's difficult to decipher (think "Silence of the Lambs" or "The Pelican Brief")

Answer 4

Wow, you have lots of questions. Don't try to answer them all at once. When I was writing my novel, I could only figure out a couple of pages at a time - each day. After that I was blank until my imagination had recharged.
The premise is interesting. Here are my thoughts: no diary - unlikely in 1831 that a prostitute could read. In England, her class would lead her into prostitution. Don't worry about offending anyone. Writer's have carte blanche - but make it a priest, not a clergyman. Priests take a vow of celibacy, clergymen do not, so it would be perhaps (my apologies to all you Catholics) be more believable that a priest had a relationship with her, but don't have him try to kill her. Have someone else do it, someone who knew and was a crazed religious fanatic. Have her get a new life in which she meets her attacker and doesn't recognize her. He tries to kill her again but is caught.

Answer 5

The potential killer need not be a good man gone bad, but a bad man that has had a long association with the hooker, abusing and eventually pimping her. The inspector solves the crime by the innuendo in the diary and the woman confirms it by the fear she shows when confromted by this man.

His motive could be simple, he valued her life so little that killing her was no more than swatting a fly. By comparison, the inspector has learned to value her more each day to the point that loves her. .

If you need a Christian conflict, make the man a deacon living a doublle life which degraded over time...a jekyl and hyde

Answer 6

okay. Gonna be a jerk here, but this has all been done before. Done to death, actually.

But that doesn't mean you can't sell it. People can't seem to get enough of the Nihilist EVERYBODY is a victim love almost conquers all but still has a tragic ending crapola.

The would-be killer should be an impotent uncle of hers that molested her as a child, and couldn't get it up when he tried, years later, to actually shag her. She laughed at him and he beat her senseless for it.

Nix the diary, unless you can work in a lot of kinky, titillating stuff.

I think the absent-minded whore should have this overwhelming self disgust that she can't understand, do tricks on the sly to get the money to get a sex change operation (done by a 20th century surgeon that came through the time hose during one of her amnesiac hallucinations), then bugger the inspector (who is in fact a closet cross-dresser and a fagola in denial) with her/him's store-bought sausage, and they live happily ever after for about three weeks, then get depressed about what they are, and kill themselves by throwing themselves in front of a fishing boat or something.

Hey, it would be different, anyway.