Greetings and good day to all you creative folks out there. I am an as of yet 'undiscovered' screenwriter who enjoys the art of storytelling above all else.
With that in mind I feel that some storytellers exceed exceptionally in certain genres/areas but not as much in others and that some storytellers can work across the entire spectrum at a consistent competency. I fancy myself the latter, more a 'Jack-of-all-genres' as opposed to a master of one; for better or worse. I'm also am much more of a concept guy then a finisher. To put it another way I am good at birthing the idea baby, not as good at raising it to a productive fully functional member of society.
That all being said, at greater length than necessary I am sure, what I would like to do as a test to the above claims, as a fun mind exercise, and as a way to connect with other creative people is start a discussion thread here.
What I am looking for is just the most bare bones of setup ideas to which I will come up with a story outline set within said broad parameters. What I mean is just give me a couple few things as a starting point and I will come up story based on those. For example you could say something like "Technology vs. Nature, in the horror genre" "Or small town life but with lots of action"
Add as much details or specifics as you like or leave it as broad as you want. Some things you could start with would be a type of location, a genre, a theme, a time period, a type or types of characters, a preferred arc character or story arc, or anything else that interests you or randomly pops into your mind.
Keep in mind this is totally just for fun and to act as a "mind exercise," and I guarantee no quality the story concepts I will be able to come up with but I'll sure try my damnedest and who knows, maybe I'll bounce something your way that will inspire your creativity and to taking the concept further.
So......who wants to play.....there is no wrong answers, nothing to lose....
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Try this: A dark tunnel, a policeman 2 years from retirement, beaten and barely alive, a 13 year old girl with a unique silver ingot. Horror and romance.
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Wonderful starting points, let me get the brain fired up and I'll will be back with something in the next 24 hours or so.
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Shadow Dragu-Mihai,
Thank you again for the suggestion, I thoroughly appreciate you taking the time to respond. This is what I came up with from what you suggested:
Title pending:
A young girl goes missing….a detective, close to retirement, even closer to the end of his rope, is assigned the case. The last thing he wants to do is actually care, about anything, much less about a young girl he is almost certain died a horrific death. But the more he learns about the girl the more she seems like the walking embodiment of an angel and he can’t help but put his heart into the case….then the nightmares of the missing girl lost in a frightening dark mystical realm start….but they lead him to a cave/tunnel in the forest near the girls home where he discovers evidence of the girl having been there as well as a mysterious silver amulet/ingot. Something inside our hero tells him not to book the amulet into evidence and he instead keeps it on his person. Another nightmare/vision leads him understand that the girl, because of her very special soul and destiny, has been taken to a dark realm but through the amulet he can guide her and possibly help return her to the world of the living. The demons/dark forces she has to face mirror horrors the detective has seen through his years and the story culminates with the detective having to face his own dark past in the real world to save the girl.
Some details I’m seeing off the top of my head:
Opening with the girl, in a sleep walking like state being tempted/lured out of her house to the dark cave.
I would like avoid the clichéd the hero gives his life to save the girl at the end of story….possibly the dark twist of failure to save the girl that re-motivates the hero to be the better cop he was always capable of but to burnt out to be….the girls ‘special destiny’ all along.
For style and feel I’m thinking ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ or ‘Stranger Things’ meets the ‘Bone Collector’
This takes the story much more in the realm of Horror/Fantasy as opposed to Horror/Romance but if we were dead locked into the romance aspect I would throw in the fantastical notion that the girl’s soul is actually the reincarnated spirit of the detectives dead wife, that could add even more to the idea that her ‘destiny’ wasn’t so much her own but to ‘bump’ the main character towards his righteous path.
Something else I think this outline lacks that would be crucial during the fleshing out process would to be to make sure the girls journey through the dark 'other world' should be as big a part of the story as what happens to the detective character. I want to emphasize that because I feel like this outline doesn't do it's importance to the story justice.
So, that is the very rough first "draft." I would love to hear what your thoughts on the idea so far are. What you like, what you hate, and where you'd go with the idea.
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Horror sells. Always. Period. Now, wanna break in, try focusing on specific sub-genre, let's say haunted places, serial killers, boogeyman's ...but the thing is this: gotta know your subject. No one will believe your stories if ure not enhanced enough. Read stories, legends, articles, study that don't waste time on how's slugline written perfectly...
Here's example; this guy started cheesy sub-genre horror, now writes major league.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1872664/?ref_=tt_ov_wr
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Thrillers tend to sell more than horror, but tend to be harder to write for some.
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You mention that he knows she died a horrific death, how would he know unless he saw evidence first.
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The story elements remind me of Fallen a little.
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Tom Sanford That's great, and it has suggested some more details to me. No decision on romance versus fantasy yet. I attach a picture of the silver ingot (of five actually, just custom made in a sand-casting) It's actually a solid silver pendant about 2-1/2 inches in diameter, with the Egyptian winged scarab on it - the symbol of Khepera, the Creator. I like everything in your quick outline, but I would drop the reincarnation line as being an overused trope, especially relating to a former love; Perhaps the girl reminds him of his own daughter (whom he has some deep seated guilt over?). So perhaps romance should be related to his lost or estranged wife, kind of a backstory giving current motivation, or reinforcing his need to deal with this. The Egyptian mythos is especially rich way beyond mummies... and mostly it deals with enlightenment and cleansing of one's self of those elements which bring chaos and evil into one's life.
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Tom Sanford (here's the image)
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Shadow Dragu-Mihai
Wow, those are beautiful and impressive. Fine work. And thank you I am glad that your found my idea interesting got even a small amount of inspiration or ideas from it. Take anything you like, tweak what you think needs fixing, and throw out anything that doesn't work with the direction you want to take.Kiril Maksimoski,
Good advice and thank you for adding to the conversation.
Daisy White,
Thank you, it's nice to hear people are taking interest. Would you like to throw a couple random parameters my way and see what I can come up with?
Tristan Hutchinson,
Thanks for joining the conversation as well. To answer your question, I meant this grizzled veteran cop who had seen so many 'missing young girl cases' end with a body, which had been put through unspeakable horrors, being found in a ditch or old warehouse somewhere that our hero would assume that this latest case had no other possible outcome.
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That makes more sense, showing a flashback of his last cases will help the audience understand that better.
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adding the detective was in the special victims unit may help with the story.
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jack of all genres like that quote great keep the mind and fun active great
Thank you Kinney Scott.
Anybody else want to throw out some random ideas to start another round?
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You could go down the path like Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and rewrite history in a better light. Music stars that died of bad habits or accidents (Buddy Holly) are good targets for reinventing history.
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fabulous i hope to get project off the ground soon