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Choices, Choices...


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#1 iamSAMiam

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Posted 13 October 2008 - 05:00 PM

Alrighty. So I'm entering a Novel Writing Contest called the National Novel Writing Month. Some of you may know about it, some of you may not. This is my first year entering, and I want my first story to be a good one.

BUT I have two problems:

1. I need to figure out what storyline I'm going to work with.
2. I need to find some character names that the audience will like.

So it's up to you guys to vote on which storyline I should go with and which names sound best... Here are your choices:

FIRST STORY:
The setting is modern day, give or take a few years. The story involves eight surviving illegal government experiments on the run from their creators in order to keep their lives. It's a science fiction, and the main theme of the story is that life is fragile. The character's names are:

NARRATOR: Todd Bonteceau (age 22)
Amelia Judd (age 17)
Levi Marshall (age 17)
Milo Dominick (age 26)
Ingrid Dominick (age 20)
Vimal Maqbool (He's from India) (age 13)
Diego Claude (age 8)
Charles Jersey (age 36)
Pascal Leone (age 20)
Nolan Driskoll (Villain)
Aidan O'Malley (Villain)

SECOND STORY:
The setting is once again a modern day setting. The main character is a soldier who lives in Virginia, and he's a pretty average guy despite the fact that he's 2036 years old. He is sort of frozen at the age of about 28. He has lived through all the major wars and seeing all his fellow soldiers die before him is a pretty depressing way to live. His doctor is the only person who knows his secret. He meets a seemingly nosy and annoying kid in Arlington and through meeting her, his life is changed and he begins to see the good in life. The theme of this story is finding the purpose in existence.

Main Character: Justus Titus
Kid: Maricarmen Ligia (nn Carmen)
Doctor: I had a name for her that I really liked, but I can't remember it right now. She's a female doctor, though.
Other Character: Reeve Adrion (friend of Maricarmen)

THIRD STORY:
Another modern day setting. This story switches points of view quite frequently. It's all about the lives of several children living on a military base and the book talks about what happens to each of them in turn. The theme of this story is that life doesn't slow down.

Narrator 1: Rochelle Dupont (I'm contemplating using the last name Down instead of Dupont) (age 14)
Narrator 2: Boris Paulik (age 15)
Narrator 3: Bridgette O'Callaghan (age 13)
Narrator 4: Serenity Naidan (she is Asian) (age 14)
Possible Narrator 5: Tad Conway (age 15)
Other Characters:
Ethan Dupont/Down (age 18)
Marlo Dupont/Down (age 10)
Sienna Lawson (age 17)
Moria Conway (age 12)
Terrence O'Callaghan (age 22)
Russell O'Callaghan (age 19)
Dante O'Callaghan (age 17)
Maxwell O'Callaghan (age 12)
Luca Paulik (age 4)
Corinna Whittier (age 17)
Haskele Whittier (age 11)

Thanks for the help! Just tell me what you think of the stories and what you think of the names!

#2 Katie-Nana

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Posted 14 October 2008 - 08:45 AM

THIRD STORY:

Narrator 1: Rochelle Dupont (I'm contemplating using the last name Down instead of Dupont)
Narrator 2: Boris Paulik
Narrator 3: Bridgette O'Callaghan
Narrator 4: Serenity Naidan (she is Asian)
Possible Narrator 5: Tad Conway
Other Characters:
Ethan Dupont/Down
Marlo Dupont/Down
Sienna Lawson
Moria Conway
Terrence O'Callaghan
Russell O'Callaghan
Dante O'Callaghan
Maxwell O'Callaghan
Luca Paulik
Corinna Whittier
Haskele Whittier

Thanks for the help! Just tell me what you think of the stories and what you think of the names!


I'd def. go with the third story. The first one kinda confused me, it reminded me of Dark Angel but then I think that you ment them to be people who had been experimented on and not the 'experiments' where they are genetically engineered. Right? Anyway, I wasnt' all together sure about it. But I really think the third story is a good idea. Do you have any experience growing up in the military or living on base? Or do you know someone who has? Both my parents were Military Brats growing up so I've heard a lot of stories about what it was like to live on a base and move around a lot in the sixties and early seventies.

About the names....I def. think you should go with Down rather than Dupont. I think it has a better vibe with it. The Boris Paulik kid...unless he has some Russian/German heritage I wouldn't use this name. I wasn't sure if that is what you wanted to be implying. I also think that you should be careful about using names for the adults in the story that would have been common in the decade of their birth (and country of birth). I'm not sure from your list of names who is supposed to be an adult or not but I just wanted to mention that. Names can imply a lot about a person's age, which we discussed in my Writing Workshop last night. Without knowing who the character's are ment to be I cant really say anything about their names. Except...I am assuming that the other O'Callaghan's are Bridgette's brothers. If so, I think that all the names go together except for Dante, unless you want him to stand out from his brothers, I'd change the name to Darrell or maybe Lawrence.

Hope this helps.

#3 iamSAMiam

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Posted 14 October 2008 - 09:59 AM

Whoops, I forgot to put their ages. I'll edit that in :)

Also, I've got a bit of knowledge about military bases. My dad was in the Navy and my boyfriend is in training for the Marines.

#4 Smile

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Posted 14 October 2008 - 04:14 PM

My favorite is the first storyline. It sounds interesting and like it isn't a storyline touched upon too often. The third one is my second favorite and the second one is my least favorite. However, I really like all the storylines. I personally found the first the most intriguing and the most original sounding. I think it has potential to be a really great story. you can't go wrong, but the first is my pick :)

I love all of your character names as well!

#5 Alexis!

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Posted 14 October 2008 - 07:24 PM

Go with the third one! It looks sooo cool!!

Also, where are you entering the conest? Sorry, I'm just...it sounds REALLY cool!

#6 iamSAMiam

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Posted 15 October 2008 - 03:52 AM

Contest starts Nov. 1st. You can still register if you want to enter. Google NaNoWriMo and it'll bring you to the website.

#7 Alexis!

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Posted 15 October 2008 - 08:31 PM

Thanks! I may just do that!

#8 iamSAMiam

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Posted 21 October 2008 - 07:26 PM

*bumps*

I still need some advice, guys! I haven't decided yet.

#9 Alexis!

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Posted 22 October 2008 - 10:07 AM

I still say go with the third one! It's the only one that really caught my attention and the names are amazingg.

#10 Katie-Nana

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Posted 22 October 2008 - 03:20 PM

I still say go with the third one! It's the only one that really caught my attention and the names are amazingg.



Ditto. Third.

#11 alyssa897

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Posted 26 October 2008 - 05:15 PM

I actually like the first and second one. The third doesn't appeal to me at all. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

#12 iamSAMiam

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Posted 05 November 2008 - 07:51 PM

Okay... I know this sounds AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL.

BUT... I chose none of the above.

*gasp*

Yes, I know, I feel really bad about asking for your opinions and then not using any of them. BUT, two days before the competition, when I thought I was going to use the one about the kids on the military base, I was struck with some major muse to write another totally different story, a Science Fiction that takes place in future Ireland. Here are the first two paragraphs:

The overcast skies hovering above Capel Street had opened up to commence in a torrential deluge. Rain drummed on tin roofs. The fronts of archaic houses and abandoned studios appeared as blank faces, their grimy windows like huge, empty eye sockets, their antediluvian doors like gaping mouths. Wind pummeled the surface world as the few who could still be caught lurking in the shadows of shrouded streets made a desperate lunge for cover. To hope that I could be one of those fortunate few was a wish wasted.

The nightlife that had once swarmed here decades ago could no longer be evident. The cobbled roads were jilted, abandoned except for the sporadic appearance of an indigo-clad officer patrolling the streets with an air of such purpose and constancy that they could have easily been mistaken for monumental statues in the morose evening, a mistake that would have proved fatal at such an hour. If we were to be discovered on the back alleys of Dublin after the curfew, there would be saturnine repercussions for these actions of ours. Crawling through the Irish underground, after all, could never be regarded as an innocuous activity, especially not during the present conflicts. I, myself, never would have even attempted this ludicrous mission had it not been for the persuasive magnetism of one Stefan Rook, who was synchronously my consort, rival, and kin. It was his malfeasance that forced us out onto the lethal promenade.


I'm really really sorry that I didn't use this poll at all >.<

*leaves cookies and hopes for forgiveness*

Sam




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