In this thread we pitch story ideas and judge each other.
Bonus points for pitching something fresh on the spot.
Me first: so, it's set in an unknown time in the past with a vague environment. There's this girl, and every night her uncle tells her the story of how her father came into his fortune before he died. In this frame story, her father comes across various odd characters who tell their own stories, including a horrifically scarred pirate who tells seven wildly different back stories explaining how he got his wounds and became a pirate and then there's the giant who served a king, a bandit, and a prophet at different points in his life.
The frame narrative is interrupted occasionally when the uncle kisses the girl good night and the girl goes to sleep, which introduces a series of dreams in which the girl sees the eternity of the universe and discovers soul crushing truths. When morning comes the girl forgets her dream and has a minor adventure. Then in the evening, her uncle resumes the story of her father.
Multiple readings reveal that the uncle was lying to the girl; her father wasn't the kind, virtuous man he'd been describing, but rather a cruel and monstrous figure who deserved his death.
And also the girl and her uncle never existed. Maybe
>and also the girl and her uncle never existed. Maybe
Don't do that.
>unknown time in the past
That sucks.
it's about this depressed neet and nothing works out and he kills himself
I'm writing the story of a bar stool and it's toxic relationship to an alcoholic's ass. Everyday for four years the barstool waits eagerly for the drunk to visit and is overjoyed whenever he sits down. There's a few misunderstandings where the barstool gets jealous of another chair the alcoholic sits in but things smooth over after awhile when the drunkard returns and vomits on the counter.
It ends tragically when the drunken bastard breaks the barstool over the head of another man.
A normie is concerned for his friend who is becoming more disillusioned with life - the normie discovers his friend posts on an image board website, constantly displaying dastardly and sometimes concerning images of frogs, as well as using the phrase 'Kek, Top Kek, Cuck'. The normie believes his friend has been sucked into a cult that venerates the primordial essence of darkness as seen within the ancient Egyptian patheon: Kuk, Kek or Keku. He delves into the fascinating, yet sometimes delirious world of image board culture, while having to retain his sense of conforming within society has he had in the past. It's a journey of self-discovery, as well as testing the limits of tolerated perception.
Book that's basically My Twisted World plus A Tale of Two Cities if it were from Sydney Carton's perspective.
The alarm clock started loudly beeping like a truck backing up slowly. Jackson Patsy jerked awake from his nightmare like a spring and felt the sweat from last night's horror, wet under his back like he had just gotten out of some horrifying swimming pool. He slowly got up and put his head in his hands like a mother cradling a baby and let the beeping go in his ears, it may not have been a pretty sound but heh, at least it's from the real world. Not the world he just woke up from.
He gingerly tapped the off button on the alarm and slowly took a deep breath in. "I'm Jackson Patsy," thought he, "and I'm going to try to make this day count." He'd been starting every day like that since he was fourteen when his mother died when his father couldn't support her anymore and he had to live in a nursing home with dirty walls and broken windows. He still horribly shutters to think about it. Maybe there are some places in the real world worse than the dimensions you can wake up from.
(the rest of the novel will be about him stumbling into a world of crime he never knew existed right next door. think david lynch meets quentin tarantino)
It's more a short story but I have a "manuscript" written, sort of. I doubt it'll go anywhere but I wanted to write something in the horror genre. Wrote a few pages but not entirely sure where to go next and just waiting for something to spark.
>>7947790
I'd actually read that
Genre fiction.
Protagonist is a twelve year old double amputee, who is on a journey of thousands of miles, in an attempt to seek out an individual who is widely purported to be a magic healer.
He has to pass through a war zone between two nations that are both equally evil, and both committing horrible war crimes left and right. His thirteen year old sister, who has limited/untrained magical powers of her own, is his only protection, and is not very good at it.
Lots of death, lots of suffering, lots of pessimism. Protagonist remains unrealisticly optimistic about his journey's ending, even while everyone around him knows perfectly well he's going to be disappointed.
Would you read, /lit/?
>>7947733
I'd read this.
>>7947719
I'm working on a movie script I started in university.
>Sci-fi / Horror
>A secret lab on Mars has come back online after it was supposedly destroyed a year earlier
>A team is sent to investigate but are quickly attacked and trapped inside the facility
>The lead scientist who should have died inside the lab when it was destroyed as merged with the super computer to become a semi-organic computer himself and now leads a army of cyborgs made from the corpses of his science team
>It is up to the MC to kill the computer and escape alive
>Body horror, forced amputations, claustrophobia, Aliens-style atmosphere
>>7947790
I would love to write a novel that heavily involves 4chan and meme magic but then I would have to pretty much admit to spending a lot of time here and the shame is too great.
>>7947719
By unknown time in the past, do you mean something like Conan, perhaps? Have you read the one thousand and one nights? "The girl and her uncle never existed" would be a terrible ending. Otherwise, it might make a good novel.
>>7947809
You should read more, instead of finding inspiration in films.
>>7947815
What is it about?
>>7948702
Not interested, sorry.
>>7948760
Could work as a low-budget thing if it doesn't take itself too seriously.
A love story about high schoolers that eventually turns into bitter, angsty woman-hating.just kidding i already wrote that after my gf broke up with me ;_;
I have an idea. A guy goes to the UK to study. He's travelling by bus from Heathrow Airport to some uni in the north. During the 8 hours travel, he observes his surroundings. Each chapter is about him noticing something ordinary which starts a chain of thoughts; from his childhood memories, through recent events and his own meditations, ending with his vision of a possible future. He would try to imagine how different World would be, if he had made a different decision at any point in his life. He starts questioning ethics and morality: maybe he should have acted otherwise? And why? Finally he would ask himself if he is even in control of his life.
After a few chapters ending with alternative visions of his future comes the finał chapter. Our hero closed his eyes when suddenly a truck hits his side of the bus. He dies almost instantly. In the end, there was no future for him.
It's about this guy living in an apartment complex. He starts digging a whole at the garage under his broken car to blow off some steam. Down there he finds really old newspapers and a couple of boxes with tattered books and old looking manuscripts inside. Those are parts of a journal of someone writing about his suspicions on his wife being a witch. The guy then decides to continue to add his own entries about the various tenants, linking them with various demons from Dictionnaire Infernal. All the while he's trying to decide what to do about a story he pitched to an editor that actually belongs to his brother who wrote it at the age of 16 before killing himself and he passing off as his own. The editor really likes it and is full of praise about it, which makes the situation more difficult.
>>7947719
What's the tone of this? I feel like it could be anything. Also, like other said, don't make your characters non-existent unless they don't exist for a very good reason and consequence.
>>7947733
Make it a novella with monologuing at minimum and I'll read it.
>>7947790
Can you write a whole book on a single pun? What are they self-discovering exactly.
>>7947809
I hope the characters are really good because the premise feels really worn-out
>>7948702
It feels stitched together. Having the character cross this territory just to find out the magic healer can't solve anything. Isn't that what happened to Dorothy?
>>7948760
If you can pitch this successfully without having a time-machine to take you back to 1981, you'll be my hero.
>>7949723
Make it the main character getting raped by his female teacher and you'll find an audience for it.
>>7949886
Don't go to places you don't understand. Having your character questioning ethics and morality with no idea he's talking about can and will go ugly very fast. Don't kill him at the end, killing is not the same as ending, you know.
>>7949889
>whole
>hole
Yeah sorry about that, I rushed through to get to the judging part.
A man sticks his penis into a bottle to take a piss, but then realizes the bottle is a woman's vagina.
>>7949948
I'm doing philosophy as my minor and I found ethics and the question of free will incredibly fascinating. I'd certainly read more before writing about it in a novel, if I were to write such.
And I understand the point about killing the main character. But what if it was subtly implied that this could be just another imagined vision of a possible future?
>>7949958
Make the penis an ostrich and the reason for sticking its head into the bottle is because it believes will look nice as a helmet, but then realizes it's actually chocking him and make it look stupid in front of the other ostriches.
Pitch it as a kid's book with environmental concerns.
>>7947719
This is my idea. An expedition of explorers go to africa to find something valuable and deliver it back to England. It's inspired by LOTR, about a company of people delivering something valuable. One is called Emmanuel and the other Albert Sterling. In the beginning Albert beats Emmanuel with a hand of diamonds, foreshadowing that he wants to rebel and take the valuable items for himself. In some extremist fundamental churches Luck is related to Lucifer. Albert Sterling means Noble Bright Little Star. Emmanuel means God is with us. Albert is Lucifer rebelling against Emmanuel. I have another idea that I posted here that is way better and funnier too.
>>7949889
>Having the character cross this territory just to find out the magic healer can't solve anything. Isn't that what happened to Dorothy?
That's what the reader is supposed to *think* is going to happen, certainly. I didn't actually say what does happen when he meets the healer. It's actually kind of complicated. I just wanted to give a really quick summary, without spoiling anything.
Some clever worm thinks he's actually a human but what he's actually doing is eating a human from the inside while avoiding getting pooped out.
And sometimes when he's big enough the inertia of his elongated body can make the human's limbs twitch one way or the other.
An old and grizzled Solomon Kane wanders to Romania in response to a letter from a priest who claims to have witnessed a legion of undead Roman soldiers burning down and looting a local village. Things start become more complex as the Ottoman Turks start to gear up to again try and conquer Vienna from the Austrians and the local Protestants are playing both the Ottomans and the Austrians for a better deal. Solomon Kane must struggle with his approaching death and his quivering faith in mankind. Years of dealing with corrupt priest and bad kings and lords has made him less forgiving. And now as all of Christendom is at stake, the question remains does Solomon Kane care?
A convict on death row is having his last meal. Every dish he eats reminds him of something from his past and background, piece by piece revealing his tragic history.
>>7950419
yes
A historical novel about a young Swedish guy in the ninth century that travels with a merchant ship to Constantinople. Once there he gets involved in Byzantine palace politics leading up to the installation of Basil I as the Emperor. Obviously it's still a working idea but I'm fascinated by Emperor Basil I, a peasant that rose to the highest office. I'm also interested in the Scandinavian Varangians who had just started to make their presence felt at the same time.
>>7950625
This sounds really neat. I would definitely read it. Just out of curiosity, are you Swedish or are you just interested as an outsider?
>>7950635
No I'm Icelandic. Back in the 9th century Scandinavia spoke varying dialects of Old Norse which is closely related to the Icelandic language. Old Norse is an interesting language and I'm thinking of incorporating some of it in the novel by using authentic character and place names, for example Miklagard for Constantinople and Kaenugard for Kiev. The part of the novel that happens in Greece will be much more difficult and requires more research.
>>7950649
Ah, I see. I've looked a bit into learning Old Norse, but I'm too busy with uni right now to take it very seriously. I can say very basic things like "Óláfr há bat" and "Hann hata varginn" but I would like to one day read the sagas in the original.
>>7947733
I wish there was a modern book like this.
To fully encapsulate the drift less misery that is NEETdom
A Book written in classical Nahuatl (Aztec) about the the last king of the Aztecs Cuauhtemoc and his last ditch effort to resist the Spanish at the fall of Tenochtitlan.
>>7949676
It's about disease and death. Cult-like stuff told by a marine captain fresh from WW1 sent with a battalion to investigate. If it doesn't make sense why they sent so many men then you're right where my character is also querying.
What a spooky mystery oooOoOOooooOoOo.
>>7947719
I finished a short story recently. It's about that frozen with fear sleep paralysis like state that is common in nightmares.
A guy sits in a desk and tries to justify not moving at all. He is resigned to stay there until he starves to death.
It's only like 6 pages. I need to edit and decide if it's shit or not.
>>7950625
That sounds great.
Abe found himself under absurd circumstances as he attempted to navigate the bowels of The Institution. The long, narrow corridors always seemed to end where they began, or else in some deeper, more complex faction of the labyrinth. Oftentimes they'd defy logic altogether, leading him to a pointless and decisive dead end from which he'd have to retrace his steps entirely and pray he make his way back without further complicating his position.
The air was thick and oppressive, and his eyes were clouded by the sweat of his own brow. In his haste, he couldn't even find a window connecting to the outside world by which to clear his head and take a much needed breather. A permanent blanket of sound—hushed voices of indistinguishable content; the incessant metallic droning of some kind of machine hidden away beneath the floor; even what sounded to be the giggling of children leaking through an omnipresent PA system—only contributed to his disorientation.
At one point, he became absolutely convinced that a certain cockroach was stalking him wherever he went, spying on him, and relaying, through its twitching antennae, whatever information it had collected on him back to an unknown source, for whenever he'd turn to look at the creature it would scuttle away quickly through a crack in the wall, not to be seen again until Abe had completely disregarded its presence. This made him question everything he thought he'd understood about the behaviour of this particular variety of roach while studying Entomology as a pastime in his university days, and really put him at odds with himself.
>>7947733So IJ?:^)
>>7949889
Op here
The different layers of the story have different tones. The story of the father has the epic feel of Homer while the dreams have a loose Dada quality to them.
I have decided yet if my part as the author writing the story should be considered a layer to the whole and if it would pay off to add a whole metafiction component.
>>7951033
I would prefer not to read that.
Harry Potter in an alternative universe where he declines Hogwart's invitation and becomes a professional snake whisperer, develops a fetish for snakes and dies of snake flu.
>>7947751
Is this an actual short story? Sounds great
a 20 year old qt breaks up with her bf of 4 years and tries to rediscover herself. she begins a casual relationship with a neckbeard that's actually been stalking her for 6 months. it'll have a happy end though. its aimed at the John Green crowd with none of the unrealistic John Green fantasy relationship garbage. lots of wandering around the city in the winter. deals with the difficulty of being honest to oneself
now if only I could get the discipline to fucking write instead of being a living failure
>>7952964
I want to write a novel about a guy with memory problems who starts visiting the library in order to prove to his sister that he still can take care of himself. He develops a crush on the older female librarian, but is embarrassed by the fact that he only borrows children's movies. By the end of the book, he joins the librarian's church, quits smoking, and accomplishes a few other minor feats that prove to himself that he can still live normally.
This would be coupled with stories about his past as an alcoholic who abused the few girlfriends that he had and spent time in and out of jail until he had a stroke develops a new perspective on life.
>>7953818
Ignore the link to the other thread, posting from mobile
>>7953818
You'd have to really nail the guy's character to make it interesting. I think there's potential there, though, especially if you really focus on the extreme contrast between the guy's pathetic, sympathetic present and his asshole past.
>>7952477
Do it, anon. The world may or may not need your novel but you need to find out for yourself! Also neat idea provided you can pull it off in the tone you're talking about - you could really get a lot of mileage out of such an unconventional pairing.
>>7951347
Sounds like Kafka. The problem is it doesn't sound like much else. What's the hook, anon?
>>7950013
I love how gross this sounds. Reminds me of Filth.
My novel is a love story set in a collapsing near-future England nearly overtaken by bandits and mutants and communist rebels. Two members of the brutal military police begin a strange physical relationship; a thirteen year old girl and former red child soldier, and an adult highway patrolman and serious adrenaline junkie. They team up and kill communists, children foraging for food, and bikers - and eventually come out of the overthrow of the remnant of British democracy having almost found something of worth in one another.
>>7952417
I posted that last night for a laugh but it's actually kinda grown me since then. I might actually put it to paper now.
It's about a typical reddit white knight virgin, who slowly becomes a mysogynistic (as in actually mysogynistic, not tumblr "u said something bad about women" shit) the red pill faggot. He then spends a bit bragging about his fake sexual conquests, before realizing what a fag he's become, and that he's ultimately obsessing over meaningless things.
obviously there's more to it than that, but I'm still working out the plot, main character, etc.
>>7949889
>comment on all of those that came before me
>no one drops me a single line
Have a heart /lit/.
I've been working on a fantasy setting for a couple years whenever I've got free time, but because I've got all sorts of problems mentally, I get fucked up and anxious about even starting it.
Would /lit/ be a good place to shill short stories, or is there somewhere better? I completely forgot this board existed until about twenty minutes ago. Short stories are pretty much all I can make myself write at the moment.
It's going alright. I'm 1,400 away from having a 50k third draft.
I'd like to end this first part of my novel with my protagonists traversing to Arizona from South america.
>>7954032
It's neat working on fantasy settings, but in all honesty, unless your setting is pretty distinct and interesting enough to base writing around them, you're going to have to come up actual stories worth writing about.
>>7954032
I've seen the critique threads share their story in a pastebin or an external website. You could link a short story there and see what you get for feedback.
A reformed criminal in the the Southern US is one of the few survivours of a cataclysmic event that wipes out most of the earth's population.
Being now, a man of God, he sees his release from prison and the timely arrival of the cataclysm as a sign from God that the end is indeed nigh and takes it upon himself to travel the South killing all he comes across as a means of delivering them to final judgement.
It'll be a short story more than likely.
>>7954050
I'll have to give that a try, if I can work myself up to it. Linked a really short one I did a few days ago on another board and people seemed to like it.
>>7954045
I'd like to think it's distinct enough, but I don't know. I just always feel really dirty trying to write about real world places because I've never been to anywhere very interesting and wouldn't want it to seem disingenuous.
