ForumsArt, Music, and WritingA start to a random story. (u can use it)

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kevin8ye
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kevin8ye
572 posts
Nomad

Random start:
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Tension filled the air as Jacob loaded several unusual things into his breifcase. The first thing was a deadly weapon; a alien-tech laser producing gun that can shoot through walls and control gravity. He also had a watch, but not anywatch. It was a watch that could control time and would be used to covor any mistakes, if he was still alive. And he had the final thing that was most important at all; a gem, it was the gem that started everything, it was the gem that killed his family, it was the gem that started World War X, where the countries were united, against the deadly aliens. It was time.
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So yeah, i came up with that on the spot and leave any comments, good or bad

  • 6 Replies
jkl3848
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jkl3848
242 posts
Peasant

It's pretty good. Random. Can we add to it? Like continue off what you wrote. I have a thread like that called Story Section. You should check it out.

acmed
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acmed
3,517 posts
Nomad

Could've maybe led us up a little more?

Okay, I guess. Not sure if this will have a real plot. Usually, "random" stories have no plot.

jkl3848
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jkl3848
242 posts
Peasant

It's more like part of the random prologue at the begging of a story. If you are going to write more, you should give more detail. How his family died. Why he is starting the war. Where is he getting these things.

Cenere
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Cenere
13,657 posts
Jester

It's more like part of the random prologue at the begging of a story. If you are going to write more, you should give more detail.

It probably wouldn't be good to write those examples into a prologue.
It would come later on in the first or second chapter, or even later, depending on the format of the story.
What he has up there would work well for an intro, then, if I was the author, I would probably jump back in time to before everything happened, and then start telling the story from there. Showing the character develop and progress until the point in time of the intro.
It would work well as a Chekhov's gun of sorts.

Anyway, if you were going to write the story, you might want to dwell slightly on the consequences of time travel, especially making the character wonder if he would be able to rewind back to the very beginning, so he wouldn't have to deal with any of this.
Opposite that, the alien technology should be considered just that: Alien. Don't try to explain it, don't let the character (and thereby the readers) understand what is going on and how it does such things. Sure, you can have scientists trying to figure out how it was engineered, but trying to explain stuff rationally and scientifically tends to backfire for any author. If it isn't from Earth, don't try to explain how it does what it does. Simple and easy.

As for the snippet up there, I would probably have written something else for the "where the countries were united, against the deadly aliens." part, as it seems somewhat clumpsy and heavy in a sentence like that. It might not be something the readers even need to know at that point in the story, and if it is, there ought to be other ways to communicate this information. Personally, I would opt for the former. If it is a story about one guy with a team, the fact that the world united to fight the aliens might not actually be that great a part of the story anyway, and could easily be explained properly later in the story, without breaking up the story telling too badly, while being kept out of the intro where it doesn't belong.

So, that's my thoughts, at least.
jkl3848
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jkl3848
242 posts
Peasant

I know that. I meant it's like a prologue, but if it's the first chapter, he should answer that. Sorry for the confusion.

Cenere
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Cenere
13,657 posts
Jester

Not necessarily. But it does sound more like either an intro or a prologue anyway. It would most likely b too much of a job to make a proper first chapter out of the above, considering the wording and the content. Then he might as well take it and run with it entirely.
Even a story beginning in medias res does not go to the big things first. The in medias res will be used as an intro in itself, and should never introduce such important aspects of the story, unless you already have knowledge about the items and the story from a previous story.
Not to mention it isn't actually in medias res anyway, it is quite an abrupt start instead.
But eh.
Jacob seems to be a popular name for protagonists here on AG.

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