Your thoughts on my storylines

[dorne]

As I'm reading through the writing novels for dummies, one of the top-level approaches to writing starts with writing a storyline. I've been brainstorming a storyline, though I'd like opinions as to any you consider to be any good, or if none at all.

A. A high school girl returns to a futuristic city and finds herself entangled in a dangerous game.

B. A high school girl plays in a high stakes game where everyone in the city is at risk.

C. A high school girl finds herself playing a dangerous game against to save her way of life.

D. A high school girl plays a dangerous game that shows the secrets of her city to the world.

E. A mysterious hacker attempts to destroy a city to save the world.

F. A high school girl attempts to prevent a hacker from destroying her city, but may just destroy the world in the process.

G. A high school girl has to decide between causing suffering now or later.

H. A high school girl struggles in a high stakes augmented game where bodily senses are controlled by the government.

[SundownKid]

Any storyline can be "good" as long as it has good writing. But a lot of those are very similar and could potentially be the same story. If you're going to brainstorm, try switching it up a little and not sticking to a single idea. For example, what if it was a 19th century city instead of a futuristic one? What if she created the 'game' instead of being caught up in one? Just more different and varying ideas. You can easily become attached to one idea even if some other idea might be better or more original.

[gekiganwing]

Many of your story starters include both a protagonist and an antagonist. Think about whether they know each other before the story, meet early on, or some other option. One potentially useful way to feature both characters and one more is The Hollywood Formula. (I don't usually link to TVTropes articles these days, but this one is full of ideas that are not often clearly expressed elsewhere.)

Getting started is step one, and it's not easy. Then there's the challenge of continuing to write and code... When you have time, I recommend listening to some Writing Excuses episodes. For instance, they have a discussion about Knowing When To Begin.

[dorne]

Any storyline can be "good" as long as it has good writing. But a lot of those are very similar and could potentially be the same story. If you're going to brainstorm, try switching it up a little and not sticking to a single idea. For example, what if it was a 19th century city instead of a futuristic one? What if she created the 'game' instead of being caught up in one? Just more different and varying ideas. You can easily become attached to one idea even if some other idea might be better or more original.

You're right I was too short sighted as to what kind of story I should write! I was already making characters and the setting in my mind so I was fitting the storyline to what I was thinking would fit at the time. That second example sounds really intriguing thanks

Many of your story starters include both a protagonist and an antagonist. Think about whether they know each other before the story, meet early on, or some other option. One potentially useful way to feature both characters and one more is The Hollywood Formula. (I don't usually link to TVTropes articles these days, but this one is full of ideas that are not often clearly expressed elsewhere.)

Getting started is step one, and it's not easy. Then there's the challenge of continuing to write and code... When you have time, I recommend listening to some Writing Excuses episodes. For instance, they have a discussion about Knowing When To Begin.

Neat, a writing podcast, had that episode downloaded and listened to on the way to work. Thanks for the recommendation!