DISCUSSION: Simple plot ideas

[Greninjaman]

I am creating this thread because I feel that it's necessary. After all, it can be hard for a beginner to come up with something, depending on the person. As I have said in the "General Chat thread", being ambitious is not a bad thing at all. Having massive ambitions for the story can be a problem and very overwhelming for beginners. That is where this thread comes in. What are simple plot ideas that can be used?

Do note, that this is not meant to be just for beginners. I want this to be something any writer can use, no matter the skill level. After all, an expert writer might want to write a simple story after writing a big, ambitious story.

One idea I have is the old "Rescue the Princess" Story plot. Yeah, it's cliché, but it's simple and easy to work with. Of course, it can overlap with the save the world plot, which can be VERY tricky to write. Saving the Princess is one thing; Saving the entire world is its own beast entirely. Of course, it does not HAVE to be a princess. It can be a loved one, wife/girlfriend. It can be anyone. Can be the family pet cat.

 

[OrionTheAbsol]

My story is quite ambitious with its scope, characters and plot. It uses an original setting; while it's not strictly based on any particular Pokémon property, it comes closest to being like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon on a surface level. Also got a few influences like Shin Megami Tensei, Fire Emblem and Assassin's Creed.

Admittedly, this story's been on the back burner for over 10 years, as the ambitions eclipse the actual quality of the story itself—plus I've been too busy with school and a job to actually spend time writing it. But with some time free up and access to better tools, I'm finally able to put my story into motion the way I wanted it to.

With that said, my first story arc is simply an escort mission. But all sorts of problems arise during this mission, some of which are pretty damn messed up.

 

[Greninjaman]

Yeah. Like I said, having big ambitions like that can be a bad thing. If a writer can't handle doing a big ambitious story like that or have just got done doing one, it makes sense if they want to do a smaller bite-sized story next.

 

[Nicolas721]

For Pokemon I'd highly recommend badge quests and game plot adaptations. They may be long but they'll help you discover what you like about them and what things or character arcs you could make more unique in future stories.

In general, short tales will do. Just think of a mundane situation and give it a small twist that makes it worth reading. It generally depends on what genres you like, but usually things like travelling to a new place, encountering an abandoned house, etc. help the reader feel easily immersive and can be used to pretty much anything.

 

[Greninjaman]

Short stories are a good way to wind down after a massive project. I think we can all agree on that.
What other simple plot ideas are there that we can come up with?

 

[LightningTopaz]

Folk tales and fairy tales are a gold mine for plot ideas to build a quest story. In fact, if you look here, it will generate a random motif for you from actual myth and folklore. String a few of these together and you have a simple story.

 

[Greninjaman]

Folk tales and fairy tales are a gold mine for plot ideas to build a quest story. In fact, if you look here, it will generate a random motif for you from actual myth and folklore. String a few of these together and you have a simple story.

Yeah. A lot of them tend to be short and simple. For example, Snow White and the seven Dwarves. That's a simple story to follow:
-Snow White runs away from the evil queen and meets the seven dwarves
-Queen disguises her self and tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple
-Snow White falls into a cursed/enchanted sleep
-The dwarves go to fight the queen and defeat her
-prince comes along and through the power of love, awakens her
-prince takes Snow White to his kingdom, and they get married

And there we go! Those are the major events that take place within the story.

 

[Welkamo]

In general, short tales will do. Just think of a mundane situation and give it a small twist that makes it worth reading. It generally depends on what genres you like, but usually things like travelling to a new place, encountering an abandoned house, etc. help the reader feel easily immersive and can be used to pretty much anything.

I love writing oneshots about characters just fooling around or doing mundane things like going on a date.