I've come across a huge problem: I can't come up with an idea for my first case. In fact: I've only been able to come up with three good case ideas in all, two of which I don't know if they'll work. Any advice?
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I had an idea for inspiration: There is a movie I saw a time back called 'Dude, where's my Car?' where the two main characters had an amazingly wild night of partying, wake up and can't remember a thing and their car is gone. They retrace their steps to find their car and the story just gets wilder and funnier. It's not quite the same, but it might be good for inspiration. All the best and God Bless You.
It's going to be a graphic novel with several "chapters" making up a single case, possibly with two cases per volume (sorry if I'm being hard to get along with).
Brien Sparling said:
Hey KG, (5/7/16)
Here's some thoughts on your most developed idea: #1.
1) Most commercial comics range from 12-18 pages, two sides to each. On-line comics have no such limits, but it’s a kind of nice goal to work a single case story. Because your main character (Let’s call her MC) is going to be with you through many cases, there’s a lot of her back story you’re not going to reveal during this case. Likewise your albino (for the moment she’s Abbie) will have no more of her back story told than what it takes to move the plot forward and keep her interesting. Having Abbie possessing similar abilities to MC is an added ‘problem’ that needs to be ‘solved’ by your story: Abbie has not come to terms with her gifts the way that MC has, and this will need a resolution of sorts by the end of the story.
2) If MC and Abbie are going to have special powers, those powers need to be part of the problem or resolution of the problem…or both. So what are those powers and what do you want to do with them?
3) If this is going to be a comic or chapter in a graphic novel, it’s good to nave visual high points to the story: fight-scenes, verbal confrontation or visual cliff-hanger that you can vividly see in your imagination; you will steer your plot toward those points on the way to your conclusion.
4) Having the guard end up being the killer is a nice twist; but if the guard’s intent is to save Abbie, then why does she keep silent and allow Abbie to be falsely accused?
5) I assume that MC is part of the police force; otherwise you’ll need to come up with a reason to put her at the scene after the murder.
Good luck!
Brien
Need ideas for my first case
I've come across a huge problem: I can't come up with an idea for my first case. In fact: I've only been able to come up with three good case ideas i…
Here's some thoughts on your most developed idea: #1.
1) Most commercial comics range from 12-18 pages, two sides to each. On-line comics have no such limits, but it’s a kind of nice goal to work a single case story. Because your main character (Let’s call her MC) is going to be with you through many cases, there’s a lot of her back story you’re not going to reveal during this case. Likewise your albino (for the moment she’s Abbie) will have no more of her back story told than what it takes to move the plot forward and keep her interesting. Having Abbie possessing similar abilities to MC is an added ‘problem’ that needs to be ‘solved’ by your story: Abbie has not come to terms with her gifts the way that MC has, and this will need a resolution of sorts by the end of the story.
2) If MC and Abbie are going to have special powers, those powers need to be part of the problem or resolution of the problem…or both. So what are those powers and what do you want to do with them?
3) If this is going to be a comic or chapter in a graphic novel, it’s good to nave visual high points to the story: fight-scenes, verbal confrontation or visual cliff-hanger that you can vividly see in your imagination; you will steer your plot toward those points on the way to your conclusion.
4) Having the guard end up being the killer is a nice twist; but if the guard’s intent is to save Abbie, then why does she keep silent and allow Abbie to be falsely accused?
5) I assume that MC is part of the police force; otherwise you’ll need to come up with a reason to put her at the scene after the murder.
Idea 1: An albino girl is found passed out in an elevator next to a dead body. She is accused of murder. Meanwhile, the security guard who saw the crime is refusing to give any information. As the main characters investigate, they discover the victim had been performing brutal experiments on her and had given her a powerful dose of TMS, causing her to be mute and have amnesia. This convinces the prosecutor that the girl did it. Brianna finds out the girl had similar abilities to her, but the TMS "cured" her (and her powers most likely kept her from being killed by the shock). In the end, it turns out the security guard did it, but it was an accidental death when she tried to keep the victim from attacking the girl. The case would get readers thinking about scientific advancements at the cost of others.
Idea 2: A girl is killed at a secondary school. Another student who was found unconscious is accused because her sneakers match bloody footprints found at a crime scene. It turns out the real killer replaced her sneakers and hid the real ones in the dumpster. I'm not sure what the case would get readers thinking about, but one Idea I thought of was the consequences of censorship.
Idea 3: A woman is accused of murdering her husband after a botched abortion he coerced her into left her in a coma for 8 months. The case would have a message about how we have devalued human life, both of women and the unborn.
Brien Sparling said:
How about quickly describing your favorite idea of the three possibilities, and we'll do a discussion of it.
Need ideas for my first case
I've come across a huge problem: I can't come up with an idea for my first case. In fact: I've only been able to come up with three good case ideas i…
That's a good idea. Personally I would love to hear what you have in mind. In addition, maybe you should look at the cases of Sherlock Holmes or Ellery Queen. Both are excellent mystery writers ansd their cases should be fairly adaptable. In the meantime, God Bless You.
think about your character and their weakness and develop a story where the case causes the character to grow in a positive way or forces the character to confront something about themselves. Say they are afraid of fire because of a childhood trauma and they have to track down an arsonist. Maybe not that simple, but hopefully you get the idea.
Replies
I had an idea for inspiration: There is a movie I saw a time back called 'Dude, where's my Car?' where the two main characters had an amazingly wild night of partying, wake up and can't remember a thing and their car is gone. They retrace their steps to find their car and the story just gets wilder and funnier. It's not quite the same, but it might be good for inspiration. All the best and God Bless You.
It's going to be a graphic novel with several "chapters" making up a single case, possibly with two cases per volume (sorry if I'm being hard to get along with).
Brien Sparling said:
Hey KG, (5/7/16)
Here's some thoughts on your most developed idea: #1.
1) Most commercial comics range from 12-18 pages, two sides to each. On-line comics have no such limits, but it’s a kind of nice goal to work a single case story. Because your main character (Let’s call her MC) is going to be with you through many cases, there’s a lot of her back story you’re not going to reveal during this case. Likewise your albino (for the moment she’s Abbie) will have no more of her back story told than what it takes to move the plot forward and keep her interesting. Having Abbie possessing similar abilities to MC is an added ‘problem’ that needs to be ‘solved’ by your story: Abbie has not come to terms with her gifts the way that MC has, and this will need a resolution of sorts by the end of the story.
2) If MC and Abbie are going to have special powers, those powers need to be part of the problem or resolution of the problem…or both. So what are those powers and what do you want to do with them?
3) If this is going to be a comic or chapter in a graphic novel, it’s good to nave visual high points to the story: fight-scenes, verbal confrontation or visual cliff-hanger that you can vividly see in your imagination; you will steer your plot toward those points on the way to your conclusion.
4) Having the guard end up being the killer is a nice twist; but if the guard’s intent is to save Abbie, then why does she keep silent and allow Abbie to be falsely accused?
5) I assume that MC is part of the police force; otherwise you’ll need to come up with a reason to put her at the scene after the murder.
Good luck!
Brien
Idea 1: An albino girl is found passed out in an elevator next to a dead body. She is accused of murder. Meanwhile, the security guard who saw the crime is refusing to give any information. As the main characters investigate, they discover the victim had been performing brutal experiments on her and had given her a powerful dose of TMS, causing her to be mute and have amnesia. This convinces the prosecutor that the girl did it. Brianna finds out the girl had similar abilities to her, but the TMS "cured" her (and her powers most likely kept her from being killed by the shock). In the end, it turns out the security guard did it, but it was an accidental death when she tried to keep the victim from attacking the girl. The case would get readers thinking about scientific advancements at the cost of others.
Idea 2: A girl is killed at a secondary school. Another student who was found unconscious is accused because her sneakers match bloody footprints found at a crime scene. It turns out the real killer replaced her sneakers and hid the real ones in the dumpster. I'm not sure what the case would get readers thinking about, but one Idea I thought of was the consequences of censorship.
Idea 3: A woman is accused of murdering her husband after a botched abortion he coerced her into left her in a coma for 8 months. The case would have a message about how we have devalued human life, both of women and the unborn.
Brien Sparling said:
That's a good idea. Personally I would love to hear what you have in mind. In addition, maybe you should look at the cases of Sherlock Holmes or Ellery Queen. Both are excellent mystery writers ansd their cases should be fairly adaptable. In the meantime, God Bless You.
How about quickly describing your favorite idea of the three possibilities, and we'll do a discussion of it.
think about your character and their weakness and develop a story where the case causes the character to grow in a positive way or forces the character to confront something about themselves. Say they are afraid of fire because of a childhood trauma and they have to track down an arsonist. Maybe not that simple, but hopefully you get the idea.