Gothic Short Story

[bookmadgirlie]

I am writing a Gothic short story at the moment, and I would like some help developing a plot. Can anyone help?

[Jasper]

When I write based on a theme I ask myself a lot of questions, but first: Think about some things that go with the word Gothic. What do you think of when you read it? Darkness, despair, depression, and I've seen a lot of Gothic dressed people get bullied for being themselves. Coming of age stories are always done, but always have their own twists.

Now: What genre do you want it to be in? What is the target age?

Next: What type of world do you want? How should it look? Is is normal, unique, or on another planet? Who lives there? What does it have to do with the protagonist and antagonist?

Next: Who's the main character? Male or female? Hero, villain, or anti-hero? Misfit out to prove themselves or cool and trying to keep their good name? Powers or no? What's the main character's task? Who're they out to defeat? Why are they out to defeat this antagonist? Will they do it with powers? Is there a prophecy with them in it? Is there a certain way to kill the antagonist? Who do they want to save? What are they fighting for? Are they fighting at all?

Next: Who are their friends and family? Why are they friends? What reasons do they have against the antagonist for joining forces with your protagonists? Are they out to save the world or a city? A village or a town? A person or people?

Lastly: Who are their enemies, and why are they their enemies? What do they want? What does the main character want from them? What happens if the main character fails? What do they lose? What do they gain?

I don't know it this will help, but yeah. If you want to do subplots I guess you could try to see if any of that helps. Or you could flip through some poetry or paintings. The images and certain lines might give you some help developing one, or some inspiration.

[Adonis Maratos]

When I write based on a theme I ask myself a lot of questions, but first: Think about some things that go with the word Gothic. What do you think of when you read it? Darkness, despair, depression, and I've seen a lot of Gothic dressed people get bullied for being themselves. Coming of age stories are always done, but always have their own twists.

Now: What genre do you want it to be in? What is the target age?

Next: What type of world do you want? How should it look? Is is normal, unique, or on another planet? Who lives there? What does it have to do with the protagonist and antagonist?

Next: Who's the main character? Male or female? Hero, villain, or anti-hero? Misfit out to prove themselves or cool and trying to keep their good name? Powers or no? What's the main character's task? Who're they out to defeat? Why are they out to defeat this antagonist? Will they do it with powers? Is there a prophecy with them in it? Is there a certain way to kill the antagonist? Who do they want to save? What are they fighting for? Are they fighting at all?

Next: Who are their friends and family? Why are they friends? What reasons do they have against the antagonist for joining forces with your protagonists? Are they out to save the world or a city? A village or a town? A person or people?

Lastly: Who are their enemies, and why are they their enemies? What do they want? What does the main character want from them? What happens if the main character fails? What do they lose? What do they gain?

I don't know it this will help, but yeah. If you want to do subplots I guess you could try to see if any of that helps. Or you could flip through some poetry or paintings. The images and certain lines might give you some help developing one, or some inspiration.

This way of making an outline definitely helps, I always try and make a separate piece of paper with what I want to put in the story before writing because if I let myself loose i will just keep adding stuff that comes in my mind and it just become too much and the plot isn't clear.... My advice is keep clear that you need a proper beginning, a development, a great climax and then resolution of the conflict. You could let it off on a mysterious note without resolving what actually happened but don't just reach the climax and end the story :p Hope this less organized tip helps too