me and my curse another problem

[asher marquering]

once again i have a problem

i seem to have a basic plot for a new story namely:

A group of explorers want to find the famed monkey king so that they may learn his secrets

now the problem i have is that i cant seem to figure out the plot twists, plot devices, etc.

[dustinzgirl]

Did you just watch the Monkey King? I love that movie!

Anyways, you have an idea, now start skimming out your characters and world.

Who wants to find the monkey king? (characters)
Why do they want to find him? (fame, money, bounty, truth, answers to life)
Where are they now? (Earth, the moon, the ninth level of hell)
Where are they going (antoher realm, dimension, ect)
What will they do when they get there? (kill the monkey king--he smells bad andyways. Capture and enslave his powers? Release him from a prison?)

But more than the setting, a story need characters. If you are looking for the traditional, which is my favorite, look for fleshy characters with inner turmoil and pasts that may still come back to haunt them (think Dragonlance) If you are heading for a neo-traditional, think commerce, power, education, unfailing resolve to complete the mission (think Forgotten Realms, Elminster, Cyric, ect)

What I do is I first draw a map. A very simple and 3rd grad rendition. Then I draw people. I sketch out their physical characteristics, history, and desiress---both external and internal. This requires a lot of self-analysis too, I like to make characters that are like me, and ones that are the opposie of me.

[j. d. worthington]

Very good points, Dustie. Motivation is the key; find your characters, understand their motivations (be able to put yourself in their place, understand their decisions from the inside, as it were) and your plot twists and such will tend to evolve naturally. You may have to revise them some, you may have to tweak as you go along now and again, but the actual plotting of it will come much more naturally once you know your characters inside and out. Remember: when creating characters, we draw on both our observation of those in the world around us (the closer to us, the better, as we understand such a person more fully -- generally speaking) or different aspects of ourselves. The more you understand the different facets of your own personality, the more you can flesh out the characters and give them a life of their own.