Hey guys, I'm new to this forum but I am hoping that somebody out there could give me some advice? Okay, so, without revealing too much about my story, I have been having some trouble developing the details surrounding a curse one of my characters suffers from. While he is not the centerpiece main character, the entirety of the plot depends on him and his curse, otherwise there won't be a story. I know exactly what the curse is and how it affects my character, but-- for some fucking reason-- I can't figure out how he was cursed, why and what conditions are required to break it. He is the king of an ancient civilization, if it helps. I really want this character to be born with the curse somehow because it is vital for the plot. The only ideas I've had so far is that maybe he got cursed through the actions of his father, but that still leaves a lot of questions unanswered such as "who cursed him", "what did his father do that would demand his lineage to be cursed?" ect. PLEASE, PLEASE help me figure something out. I can't continue the story without having this part settled first. The whole ordeal is driving me insane.
Don't ask others to do your story for you. Anyways you give way too little information for anyone to actually help. A huge part of making the story is figuring out stuff yourself. Your problem doesn't seem to complex, let's say it was his father that condemned the curse upon him, as you have thought about, then it wouldn't be the biggest problem in the world to figure out "who cursed him" and why. Use your imagination, if not you got no reason to write
I wasn't trying to ask for someone to write the story for me. The reason why I am having so much trouble developing the idea behind the curse is because this isn't a plot meant for a novel where I'd have ALL the time in the world to describe everything; this is a plot I am planning to use for an animation project, so any ideas I come up with really needs to be something that will have time to be introduced into the story and be shown visually to the audience. If it was just a novel, I could easily explain the curse away. You're right however, I should have put more information down. I clearly wasn't paying attention. The issue with the whole "the father cursed him" thing is that I have way too many ideas behind it and I don't know which is best. Should the father purposely try to turn his son into a killing machine through magic but fucked his son up more than he bargained for? Should someone else have cursed the family line because his father went and destroyed the temple of an opposing kingdom? Should he had been once the ally to that kingdom and then backstabbed them, hence the curse? Will I have enough time to establish all of this? Like I said, the King isn't the main protagonist, so I'd need to find some time to clarify things to an outside character (and audience) looking in. I can't decide on an idea that I won't have to worry about it being too complicated a backstory. Especially since I still need to have enough time to describe the world, the characters and the political drama aspect of it all.
Nothing right now. As stupid as it sounds, this is actually a project I want to make into a movie in the distant future should I be able to achieve my goal of getting myself an animation studio. For now, the project stands as a portfolio that I am steadily building but I have so many ideas for it that I am having issues deciding on which way is best for the medium I am working towards. This is by no means a Flash-Movie idea. But while I want this to be an actual MOVIE, I am entertaining the idea of turning it into a visual novel/regular written book and be done with it, if the only ideas I can muster that will stick is too complicated for an animated film. I really don't want to trash the idea/change the medium if there is a way around it, which is why I was desperate enough to post here looking for some kind of help or at least someone to bounce ideas off of so that I have a second opinion on whether or not my ideas have merit/can be done.
His great grandfather made a deal with a demon, or witch, or some other magical being, and since his grandfather didn't meet the terms of their agreement, your protagonist is now cursed.
The King of Kingdom Fiction was trying to write a novel, but couldn't figure out the plot line for a minor character. He asked the court jester for some ideas. Turns out the funny guy was actually a sorcerer who didn't like the idea of handing over his creative ideas without question. The court jester cursed the king and all future heirs to the throne... YOUR STORY HERE.
Quickest way to get cursed? Pick up a cursed object. Or steal one from a wizard or witch. 30 second scene would cover it.
He was born on a day of ritual. The first son born them must be sacrificed or live with the curse. Angering a dayity always works for explaination lol.
Well to be honest I'd probably have to know what effects the curse has to be able to help. But the main idea that came to me was maybe shortly after destroying a temple, village or even overtaking a kingdom (Or just something that would warrant someone wanting to hurt the king) the the boy is suddenly stricken with a poison or hit by an arrow. The court wizard says he can heal the young boy and thus the father's bloodline continues. But then the court wizard reveals that the deal is that he will restore the child to health, in exchange for the boy's soul with which he could do with as he wished. And from there you could either (depending on the effects of the curse) have the court wizard flee with the boy's soul, have the king kill the court wizard after healing the son (thus cursing the son) or whatever you wanna do with the idea. I had a lot more complicated ideas, but this is probably one of the simplest I could come up with. I shouldn't be that difficult to put into animation. You could show the reason the father has enemies (a village on fire, a temple on fire... pretty much anything on fire will do), the boy sick in bed, the court wizard's proposition and then either the slaughter of the wizard or the shady exit he makes. (Perhaps even have the wizard gone by the time the king turns to say something or draw his sword. It all depends on how you want to do it). You can use this idea in any way you want, you could just keep it simple, or you could even make it turn out that the wizard was actually an ancient evil god in disguise and could be a bit of an antagonist that has to be defeated in order to regain his soul, or he might have to repair things by helping the wizards soul transition into the afterlife. ... or if you felt really adventurous you could make him have to help the wizard transition into the afterlife but then it turns out he was actually getting you to turn him into a powerful demon antagonist he has to defeat in order to lift the curse/get his soul back? ps. I was kidding about the evil god and the last one, I just got a little bored
