I'm stuck! What should I do next in my book?

Question

ok, one of the main characters has a daughter, but the daughter was kidnapped by the natives on the island. Theo, the MAIN character, is planning to follow the guards back to the city after their meeting, but the king said that he would kill them if they went back to the city, but I can't let too many good things happen in a row until the end, because then its not so exciting. What should I do?

Answer 1

Scetch details of your main characters - looks, mannerisms, background, etc. Write the details down - or even draw them if you are a visual person.

Then take your main character or characters and imagine them in some odd/out of the ordinary (out of your current work's context) places or scenarios – anything goes! Write down ideas on what would have to happen to your type of character or how they would react to the scenario you placed them in.

This may seem futile, but it will help you flesh out your characters further and give you insight into what you may want to happen to this type of character in a potential story. You may even come up with multiple story lines and can see if one of them just seems to be the best or easiest to continue

Strong well-crafted main characters can inspire readers to love your story as well as drive you to write a great story for these imagined beings to be in! :-)

This should get you going. Then you may want to write an outline of you story (a kind of synopsis), including the ending. I have heard that John Irving writes his endings first, down to the last line, and works backwards. The idea of the outline is to give you goals as you proceed. Writing the ending first may give you the "spark" you seek - and also give you something to strive for.

Answer 2

I would have him attacked by an animal (tiger or black panther or something) on his way to the city, the guards hear the struggel go back save him from the animal only to capture him an take him to the king to be sentenced to death once he is healed . Then show the daughter in her struggle for survival and all the bad things that are happening to her how the guards and king abuse her and treat her.Flash back to Theo trying to escape but doesn't have the strength and his attempts keep failing then back to the daughter who eventually escapes only to find out her dad has been captured and she has to go back to try to save him.........

just an idea I'm sure you can go from there

Answer 3

Theo is obviously distraught. He disregards the king's warnings, because he MUST save his daughter. He carefully trails the guards, but along the way he gets confused about which way to go. He follows what seems to be the right path, and suddenly stumbles into a trap. A net swoops him up into the trees, where he is unable to escape. A group of natives surrounds him, cuts him down and takes him to their village, which is different from where the king lives. They are angry and threatening, but he distracts them by showing them some of the common things in his pockets which are utterly new to them, such as a comb and a rubber band. They gradually calm down and he comes to understand that this is a rival group to the one that kidnapped his daughter. He persuades them to help him free her and they set out for the King's village.

Answer 4

Oh man, been there so many times, so frustrating when you get stuck like that.

You could do a number of things, spend a chapter focusing on how the daughter is trying to survive, maybe focus on the king grumbling about his servant wanting to return to the city, sounds like you have a number of characters to work with, not every page has to to focus on the main character only

I'm thinking the daughter fighting for survival would provide the most excitement, also give the reader some hope

Answer 5

Why does your plot outline sound like a horrible version of Lost? And cities? Meetings? Uhh, seems a little confusing considering they're on an island.

Go back to the drawing board and take a breather. Go for a walk, get some coffee (if you drink it that is), watch some T.V., do whatever you can to get your mind off the novel for awhile.

And above all else, silence your inner editor. That can be the kiss of death for a writer if you don't know how to turn it off. I get paid to write so silencing my inner editor is mandatory during the day.

Answer 6

Let one of the side characters tragicly die. this will make the story not so happy and peppy all the time. After the father retrives the dughter make them get lost on the way home or trapped by a forest creature or some thing.

Answer 7

Let the guards capture him, too, for saying that, and then he'll have to escape from a small cell, and make his way around the dungeon to find his daughter without being noticed. He could overhear a mysterious conversation while hiding, or something else that would further expand the storyline.

Answer 8

Wow! That sounds like a great book. Really get to know your characters, as though they were real. Feel them, be their friends. When you know your character inside out you will be able to feel and know what your character would do. Remember it is not what you would do! It is what Theo would do.

Answer 9

You need more obsticles between your character and the end zone. Throw a few things in there, maybe a broken car or something, natives that are canibals, or something interesting like a man eating croc.

Answer 10

You can try the bait and switch tactic. Let the reader (and the character) THINK things are going his way, but let a bad guy pop up somewhere and stop him. It makes the plot more intricate and exciting when a character is suddenly caught doing something.

Good luck!