What would be some good plot ideas for my story?

Question

I'm trying to write a rural/country story, but am having a hard time coming up with a good/basic plot. I find myself writing good scenes, but there really isn't a plot; it's more like someone recollecting their boyhood experiences. I would like my story to incorporate elements from a variety of sources, but not steal their plot ideas. Some of the specific sources that are inspiring my story are: Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn, Little house on the Prarie, Christy, recollections from people on their childhood experiences, etc.

If you could point me to a web site that could help me with my "plot problem" and/or come up with some interesting plot ideas yourself, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

P.S. If you have any suggestions on how to deal with this problem of "plot finding" for stories of different genres as well, that would be welcomed too.

Answer 1

It is possible that what you are writing is more of an episodic memoir type piece than an actual story. Maybe it is a series of smaller plots. There have been a number of books like that. To an extent Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn as well as the Little House books have some of that element in them. In a situation where you are writing about simple country life, maybe that is the direction you want to go in. More of a collection of short pieces tied together by characters. That could work. Like Rural Recollections. Nothing wrong with that type of writing.

If you want a singular plot, what you have to do is start with yoiur characters in a base situation - what I call "Ground Zero" and then add some kind of conflict. The bank is foreclosing on the farm, a terrible disease is killing the cows, whatever. Then set out to resolve it so your characters return to the base situation with some changes in their lives. I call it "Ground Zero Plus". Pax - C

Answer 2

Wow! I've never heard of someone ACTUALLY wanting to write about rural/country life! I live on a farm and have since I was 5 and I think that's great! (I live in a 100 year old farmhouse in my dad's old room!)
Although I probably can't really give you any pointers on a plot line, I'd be happy if you'd email me! Just go to my profile and send me a message...
Well...I guess I lied about not being able to help you with a plot line...oops! lol!.....The first thing I do when I start writing is I list all of my characters and begin building each character so they seem like a real, plausible character that you could meet in real life....Usually I start with the character that I think would be the main character and build from there....
Then I take my characters and consider how they interact with each other...Who's the impact character? Who's the antagonist?....stuff like that...;D (yeah...this probably is all stuff you've already done or something huh?)
And then after that, I look at the protagonist and ask myself "What do I want this character to do in my story? How do I want to follow this character? Is there anything huge going on in this character's life? If so, how can I base my story around that?"......just basic stuff like that...
I guess I'm an odd writer in that I write my story as I go...of course I make a really very basic plot line in my head, but I don't constrict myself when I'm writing to just one idea or just one plot line....
I hope this helped...not sure that it did, but I gave it a shot! And good luck with the story! I'm betting if you get published I'll probably be one of the first to buy a copy!
-drakebell_obsessr

Answer 3

There must be an
INTERDUCTION
A short story about you and wife

THe story begins with a birth?

And Ends with some one falling asleep ...