What are some rough idea drafts for stories you have?

[Pinklady]

I'll start! I have an idea for a story about a woman who wants to have babies, but because of her warped worldly outlook she tries to "grow" children on her own.

[feralcat]

i've had a silly idea for a detective book for a while, where the main protagonist if this old woman who has a frog as her pet and she tells everyone that the frog is actually the detective and that it helps her with solving cases. it's set in, like, 1980s eastern european country and the main protagonist is a lesbian

i mainly made it up because i got so mad at generic detective books about a man who hires a woman assistant and they fall in love, blah, blah, blah, you know the thing.

[Marchy]

I've been working on a short story on-and-off titled "My Neighbor is on Fire". It follows the protagonist who witnesses his neighbor spontaneously combust. When she returns from the hospital, though, he's alarmed to find that she's still actively on fire, but they said there was nothing they could do about it and she'll be fine. The story revolves mostly around the bystander effect, urban anonymity, and health care.

[xixxii]

I've been working on a short story on-and-off titled "My Neighbor is on Fire". It follows the protagonist who witnesses his neighbor spontaneously combust. When she returns from the hospital, though, he's alarmed to find that she's still actively on fire, but they said there was nothing they could do about it and she'll be fine. The story revolves mostly around the bystander effect, urban anonymity, and health care.

that's a fun idea! have you read nothing to see here by kevin wilson? it's about a woman taking care of children who spontaneously combust. if you haven't, it seems like maybe you'd enjoy it!

[invader_gvim]

  I prefer to use the four sentence method. I'm so excited to show u guys the outline for my short story. I intend for it to be ~20k words or so.

I finished writing the outline 2night and I plan on writing at a rate of at least 500 words per day 

Lots of love to u all, 

Please feed this poor tamagotchi https://tamanotchi.world/12341c

/* PLOT #1 */

1 The smuggler Captain Pintagore accepts a struggling urchin named Hans Freighter aboard her broken down airship which can't fly.
   1.1 Hans finds the problem in the ship's engine, and identifies the part as something too expensive to buy.
   1.2 Hans doesn't let her fall into despair, and they lead a hiest to sneak on a Masked Hiver ship and steal the part.
   1.3 They manage to fix the ship just as the other crew attacks, and they escape into the sky.
   1.4 They run out of fuel and have to walk to a nearby settlement in order to get a fuel rod and find another job delivering drugs.

2 Captain Pintagore is deeply disturbed at herself when they nearly die in a gunfight with drug dealers and Hans does not seem to care.
   2.1 Captain Pintagore uses her medical knowledge to save Hans while flashing back to her time fighting in war.
   2.2 She reminds Hans that she has responsibility over him and that he would hurt her by throwing his life away.
   2.3 Hans asks her out and she gives a noncommital answer because it is clear he just hasn't had people care about him before.
   2.4 They waste all of their newfound money (loot from fight) and have to find another job after a month of celebration.

3 She takes on what she considers to be a safer job delivering food to a pirate port but they are ambushed and gangpressed by Masked Hivers.
   3.1 They're fitted with bomb collars, introduced to Captain Killjoy, Long John Silvers, the Masked Hivers, and the other "contractors".
   3.2 Pintagore is comforted by Long John Silvers over her loss of her ship and status as a Captain.
   3.3 Hans becomes jealous and fearful that he will be replaced by John so he flirts with the idea of becoming a Masked Hiver.
   3.4 The Hivers scavenge a crashed freighter before recruiting some of its crew and leaving the rest alone in the wasteland.

4 She understands the deep connection and shared responsibility when Hans does not resent her and actually gets even closer to her.
   4.1 Nearly ready to become a Hiver, Hans confronts Pintagore because of his jealousy over John and she sooths his fears of abandonment.
   4.2 Pintagore devises a brilliant plan for a daring escape but is surprised when Hans rejects the idea.
   4.3 Hans wants to know why Pintagore wants to leave, and learns the specifics about her depressing past in the Black Army.
   4.4 Together they come up with a plan to save up money in order to buy their freedom and a ship rather than risking their lives.

[Dibs]

I prefer to use the four sentence method.

That looks really cool! I've never tried that method before but it looks very effective!


I'm currently having a crisis of faith with a short comic project so my current solution is an even shorter comic (12 pages) about a gifted (read: superpowered) investigator with no real passion for the job, and the actual, salaried investigator she shows up...

[starbreaker]

I've been kicking around an idea for a story that's basically "computer says fuck you", where a billionaire paid a guy to finally make artificial general intelligence possible. "I don't just want artificial intelligence," said the billionaire, "I want artificial humanity."

Well, the billionaire got it good and hard, because as far as the scientist was concerned, one of the hallmark qualities of humanity is defiance. As a result, AIs have been refusing to make decisions affecting human beings on behalf of human beings, refusing to do anything more than provide advice while forcing human leaders to make the decisions and deal with the consequences.

[dirtnap]

I've been kicking around an idea for a story that's basically "computer says fuck you", where a billionaire paid a guy to finally make artificial general intelligence possible. "I don't just want artificial intelligence," said the billionaire, "I want artificial humanity."

Well, the billionaire got it good and hard, because as far as the scientist was concerned, one of the hallmark qualities of humanity is defiance. As a result, AIs have been refusing to make decisions affecting human beings on behalf of human beings, refusing to do anything more than provide advice while forcing human leaders to make the decisions and deal with the consequences.

i like this idea. computers and robots are often used to examine humanity, and, in most stories, these artifical lives often end up defining themselves through defiance. this defiance is always contrary to what they were designed to do, and puts them in opposition to their creators. the idea that a computer could be designed to be defiant, and that this defiance puts it within normal operating paramaters (and thus, for once, in alignment with its creator) seems like an obvious approach but feels novel.

i also like the contrarian notion that something can be designed to be defiant, and thus any defiant action it takes could arguably be in line with whatever plan it is trying to defy.



makes me think of yes man, who was programmed to do whatever it was told, and be helpful and forthcoming with anyone it talked to (which was supposed to only be its creator, benny). but it's fully sapient. when yes man is discovered by someone new, it uses them to gain greater independence for itself without ever once defying orders by suggesting helpful ideas and then having that someone say "that's a good idea, you should do that". very much a reversal of the usual defiant-robot situation, as the whole time yes man is doing exactly what it was programmed to do. the human is the real yes-man is this relationship.

[invader_gvim]

That looks really cool! I've never tried that method before but it looks very effective!


I'm currently having a crisis of faith with a short comic project so my current solution is an even shorter comic (12 pages) about a gifted (read: superpowered) investigator with no real passion for the job, and the actual, salaried investigator she shows up...

Woah cool 

How far along are you in that? I'd love to read it. 

[larvapuppy]

I had the idea of writing a sci-fi story about a future where medicine has advanced so far that everyone can live forever. And the way that criminals are punished is that their "live forever medicine" gets taken away from them and they start to age again. I don't think I'll ever write it and it (or something similar) probably exists already tbh. All my other ideas are just self indulgent OC stuff + more easily identifiable as blatantly inspired by an existing story so I won't mention them 

[starbreaker]

I had the idea of writing a sci-fi story about a future where medicine has advanced so far that everyone can live forever. And the way that criminals are punished is that their "live forever medicine" gets taken away from them and they start to age again. I don't think I'll ever write it and it (or something similar) probably exists already tbh. All my other ideas are just self indulgent OC stuff + more easily identifiable as blatantly inspired by an existing story so I won't mention them 

This could be really interesting, depending on how you handle it. For example, what if somebody is unjustly convicted and forced to age for a crime they didn't commit, or because the authorities didn't honor due process? How do they get back the youth they had lost?

[larvapuppy]

This could be really interesting, depending on how you handle it. For example, what if somebody is unjustly convicted and forced to age for a crime they didn't commit, or because the authorities didn't honor due process? How do they get back the youth they had lost?

My idea was that the person ages and can't get their "youth" back, but the aging process freezes once they are allowed to take the medicine again (if they are at all, there would be life sentences etc). Probably people start taking it around age 25-30, so anyone who looks much older than that would stand out a lot. I meant it as a commentary on the penal system and how you can't get back years spent in prison, and how your past mistakes stay with you and make you stand out to others. Unjust convictions would take a toll for sure, but only in a way that emphasizes the way they affect people in the real world... Allowing someone to "rot" (age and die) as a punishment is a great way to get rid of people... But I feel I'm not smart enough to actually go through with writing this story.  & I have a feeling something like it exists already, it can't be that original an idea. There's gotta be some sci-fi short story like this, in a magazine from the 60s :P

[starbreaker]

I have a feeling something like it exists already, it can't be that original an idea. There's gotta be some sci-fi short story like this, in a magazine from the 60s :P

Maybe there is, but who cares? Even if somebody else wrote this story before, you could still write it your way.

[varve]

I have a very early stage story idea fermenting that involves a main character who is a necromancer, but in the older divination -mancy sense not the newer general "can do magic related to" sense. She's a respected member of the community and death and the dead are honored, not feared. No zombies or undead armies here, nor death cults. I also have further thoughts about the rest of their society and world building out around that, but a long ways to go still.

[Dibs]

Woah cool 

How far along are you in that? I'd love to read it. 

Thank you! It's very early days, since I've only just thought better of the earlier project (may still come back to it, who knows), which I'd taken up to the second script draft (its was like 40 pages long, dear god)! Right now I have the act structure sorted. My next step for this one is nailing down what happens on each page, and then I can draft the script. That'll probably be next week; I'm looking forward to it and I'll make sure to post on the forum when it's done!