trying to create a sci-fi plot

i've never tried creative writing, and for whatever reason, today was the day I decided to attempt to come up with a plot for a sci-fi movie or book.

sometime around the year 3346 A.D, several human colonies exist as the sole remaining survivors in space under mysterious circumstances that forced humans to exodus earth, most of the humans live completely unaware of the universe around them, they live in closed off societies in space under the control of the Military Corporation, which acts in all aspects of life.
every person has a job on the colony, and does so with the utmost obedience, as they were taught, they know no other way of life.

MilCorp High Command ensures human survival, and the continued expansion of the human race,
while maintaining psychological dominace over their subjects to maintain the mission and illusion.
They are the 'illuminati' of the space colonies.
They know the circumstance of earth's mysterious exodus,
They hold the technological prowess to pass down to their colony workers,
which were learned from the 2 warring 'alien' races that fight over control of Sol. (circumstance for earth exodus)

both are malevolent races, but befriend MilCorp High Command to remove them as a potential threat, pacify them with technology for continued existance in space while they are unaware themselves that the Humans are playing both sides to continue to the mission.

then once thats all established as the intro plot unfolds, the protaganist will be living the unaware life as a technician on the colony where he eventually ends up somewhere restricted, breeching colony protocal, he will be hunted until a rebel 'alien' scout aboard the ship decides to save him , taking him to their ship, where he learns about the human space slavery existance and vows to put an end to it, ultimately freeing the humans and becomnig the new leader with a new direction.

LOL. theres probably a crap load of plot holes, i've never tried to write anything before. tried to remain abstract from anyother sci-fi.
add some stuff, or take some away, i'm interested in what you have to say. should i keep this idea going or go with something completely new?

Im an aspiring actor in hollywood! Haha make it a script for a short film so i can act in it!

reply to post by yourmaker


As I read your story it sounded vaguely familiar, then it hit me.

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

Originally posted by TheLieWeLive
reply to post by yourmaker

 

As I read your story it sounded vaguely familiar, then it hit me.

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

could you tell me what it is exactly that you find to be similiar, for future reference so I can make changes.
i've never heard of that movie, but it did start exactly the same way i'd imagined mine lol, with the backdrop of stars, so thats out for sure.

I read the wikipedia page, but I still couldn't find the similarities.
is it the premise of,
"above the caverns is a "magnificent universe" that the people may find."
or even
"Orin and Elan embark to discover the said universe and find the blade to the sword. They eventually emerge from the mines inside a military base"

?


i'm trying to base it on a possible scientific reality more so than magic, thanks for your input, got me on a different trackset of mind.

Originally posted by krazyiven
Im an aspiring actor in hollywood! Haha make it a script for a short film so i can act in it!

most def something i'd like to consider, but first I want to establish in my mind, the ability to coherently come up with a feasible plot that makes sense.

first step to creating a sci fi something or other.

It's sounds boring.

Right now, you've created an oppressive atmosphere. You have a single protagonist in a setting where his/her life is seemingly controlled, so there's very little room for spontaneity. With an engaging reader, you're lowering anticipation. Add that to the amount of time you have to use to establish your plot, and you have a read that's not worth the time it takes to get to significant action.

Are these colonies aboard ships? You said the alien captures him on board a ship, so I got a little confused. If they're on ships or not, that seems unrealistic. If 'milcorp' runs a tight ship with an iron fists, wouldn't they be first to respond and capture, instead of an alien who could be violating 'air space'?

You have a one man army right now. Is he a regular guy, average Joe, you know? Without any superhuman traits, you have one guy trying to undermine a massive system. He needs some help, maybe alot of help.

My suggestions:

-Try the dual protagonist concept, maybe your initial main character and an insider in 'milcorp', a defector if you will. (This can turn out very bad or very good)

-Differentiate your protagonist from the group. Maybe have the alien give him some secret knowledge that gives balances out the apparent power differences between him and the entire 'milcorp'



Good luck.!

-Nemo

reply to post by yourmaker


I'm sure there are a lot of differences it just reminded me of the basic plot of the cartoon when i read your story.

The boy is raised in a mining community underground where they work from birth to death never knowing the existence of the upper world or even space. It's a military faction that has them under control pretending to be a god. One day the boy finds the hilt to a sword that has him, can't remember why, sneaking away and digging upward until he breaks through to the upper side of the planet. This is of course against the law and he is hunted by the general and his men. It's set in the future or at least a distant universe because space travel and cyborgs exist.

Just a few similarities nothing nowhere near the same story.

Originally posted by CaptainNemo
It's sounds boring.

Right now, you've created an oppressive atmosphere. You have a single protagonist in a setting where his/her life is seemingly controlled, so there's very little room for spontaneity. With an engaging reader, you're lowering anticipation. Add that to the amount of time you have to use to establish your plot, and you have a read that's not worth the time it takes to get to significant action.

Are these colonies aboard ships? You said the alien captures him on board a ship, so I got a little confused. If they're on ships or not, that seems unrealistic. If 'milcorp' runs a tight ship with an iron fists, wouldn't they be first to respond and capture, instead of an alien who could be violating 'air space'?

You have a one man army right now. Is he a regular guy, average Joe, you know? Without any superhuman traits, you have one guy trying to undermine a massive system. He needs some help, maybe alot of help.

My suggestions:

-Try the dual protagonist concept, maybe your initial main character and an insider in 'milcorp', a defector if you will. (This can turn out very bad or very good)

-Differentiate your protagonist from the group. Maybe have the alien give him some secret knowledge that gives balances out the apparent power differences between him and the entire 'milcorp'



Good luck.!

-Nemo

THANK YOU for questioning it, exactly what I needed.
you pointed out a lot of things that made sense to me at the time, but didn't make sense in general.

especially the one man army, I had no clue thats what I was on the path of creating, it would be impossible to work without some kind of guiding force or unforeseen background help.
I really like the dual protaganist idea, milcorp defector. genious.

I have a lot to work out, thanks so much for making sense of the concept and giving me some fuel to burn through.



edit; i'm removing the aliens entirely, and adding two antagonists, a general in high command and the technicians friend who spies on his friend when he notices a gradual inclination to rebel. i'll make this purely an internal human conflict. on one ship of the final survivors.

the protaganist with still be a colony technician, and the other will be the millcorp defector, who will be a confidant of the general.
4 main characters, in a circle of mistrust and deceit, switching sides and finding their true allies on their respective sides of the conflict.

reply to post by yourmaker


Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and making this comment and shatter your idea but the movie "the island" with Ewan Mcgregor has a very similar plot. Except the living humans in the movie are human clones and they are told there is a "lottery" to go to a tropical island that there is only room for a few on at any time. Anywho the trip to the island is actually when they are harvested for their own organs to give to their predecessor.

Having finished that rant. I think the whole "moment that machines become self aware" plot is seriously underexplored. Good luck!

reply to post by yourmaker

There are literally hundreds of SF stories set in oppressive post-holocaust societies and featuring a social-rebel hero who embarks on a quest that eventually brings change to the whole society – or, in the unhappy-ending version, fails to bring it and suffers for his failure.

It is such a standard-issue SF plot that Rush actually set it to music.

Still, lack of originality isn't fatal to a story, especially in a mass-market genre like science fiction. What could be fatal is the lack of a plot. That's right: the lack of one. What you have presented are the frame conditions – the setting in which the action happens. You haven't actually worked the plot out yet.

When you have, you may want to post it here for comment. More likely, you will wish to keep it to yourself in case somebody steals it. Writers tend to be quite protective of their plots.

Originally posted by truetoform
reply to post by yourmaker

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and making this comment and shatter your idea but the movie "the island" with Ewan Mcgregor has a very similar plot. Except the living humans in the movie are human clones and they are told there is a "lottery" to go to a tropical island that there is only room for a few on at any time. Anywho the trip to the island is actually when they are harvested for their own organs to give to their predecessor.

Having finished that rant. I think the whole "moment that machines become self aware" plot is seriously underexplored. Good luck!

don't worry ,your doing what I want you to do. I don't want to waste my time on something already made.

keep em coming.

Originally posted by Astyanax
reply to post by yourmaker

 

There are literally hundreds of SF stories set in oppressive post-holocaust societies and featuring a social-rebel hero who embarks on a quest that eventually brings change to the whole society – or, in the unhappy-ending version, fails to bring it and suffers for his failure.

It is such a standard-issue SF plot that Rush actually set it to music.

Still, lack of originality isn't fatal to a story, especially in a mass-market genre like science fiction. What could be fatal is the lack of a plot. That's right: the lack of one. What you have presented are the frame conditions – the setting in which the action happens. You haven't actually worked the plot out yet.

When you have, you may want to post it here for comment. More likely, you will wish to keep it to yourself in case somebody steals it. Writers tend to be quite protective of their plots.

so unless I bring something completely unthought of in this genre to the table,
i'm essentially beating a drum that's already been played to death?

tried making characters and changed a little bit of the original;

-its 3346A.D

-colony humans live in one giant space station in orbit around an unnamed planet, most of the population are unaware of where they are living and no understanding of what a planet is with nothing to relate life to,
other then where they live, then and there in the moment.

-'MilCorp' HighCommand uses psychological tactics to repress the human populations desire for adventure and freedom, operates the station under the control of autonomous AI, and a small panel of Human controllers chosen by the AI.

-there are two major protaganists;

-Antawn Valera is a colony technician longing for a new life, who feels theres another way to live, even without currently understanding there is, out there..

-Dr. Cael Apquila is on the High Command panel,
he's the confidant of antagonist Supr. General Maddock Ardrara, and secretly a defector against MilCorp
he is searching for his ally in the destruction of MillCorp.
maybe it's personal for him?

-there are two major antagonists;
- Talis Chalen (shaylen) is Antawn's best friend, and is secretly assigned as a spy for High Command to Antawn.

- Supreme General Maddock Ardrara
- High Command General who maintains the status quo on the ship under orders from the AI,
loves power and the control that comes with being Human Commander but holds much respect for his confidant, Dr. Apquila.

i'm thinking of using the AI as a neutral force between the two opposing sides.
anyways, the "framework" will keep evolving as more pieces are added, and more things start to make less sense.

i'm not too worried of someone taking my "work", if anything, this is the building blocks i'm using to try and write something actually meaningful and worthy of other people's time.

thanks for the rush song too

reply to post by yourmaker

so unless I bring something completely unthought of in this genre to the table, i'm essentially beating a drum that's already been played to death?

If what one writes is not original, what is the point of writing it?

It is often said that there are only three plots in literature: Boy Meets Girl, The Brave Little Tailor and The One Who Learns Better. In this sense, there is nothing new under the sun.

However, every work that makes a contribution to literature has something original and valuable in it.

Here's some practical advice from one modestly qualified to give it: stop worrying about the plot. You've got the setting and the general direction in which you want things to go. Now, just start writing. Start at the beginning if you feel confident enough to do that right away. Better still, write your central character into different situations, involving other people (or aliens, or robots, or whatever) and see how these unfold. Don't try to control the process too hard; just write what comes into your head. Over time, a clearer picture of your hero, the other characters in the story and even the setting itself will emerge. You may also find the plot working itself out as you go along, though I would be wary of that if I were you because following a plot line without thinking where it's headed may cause you to write yourself into a dead end.

Incidentally, a good way to avoid that is to start by writing the end of the story, but I have to say that it has never worked for me.

And – if you're serious about this – don't post your stuff on the internet for other people to read and steal. Good ideas are rare and precious. Keep them to yourself until you are ready to publish.

U2U me if you have any genuine, serious technical questions.

Why don'yt you make the story take place thousands of years ago in the past just like star wars or battlestar galactica

okay i have a good one... earth, the near future, world war III has depleted much of the earths natural resources and there are about one thousand people on earth. the rest is occupied and controlled by mutated fish people... radioactive mutant fish people that harvest land dwelling people. the story centralizes around a main character who only escaped death because he fell out of a train full of corpses into a river. he suddenly finds himself awakening in a space pirate ship that can go on land sea and space and it's made out of titaniond, a diamond/titanium hybrid material that is indestructable, lightweight and has a toaster oven capeable of toasting whole sub sandwich while traveling at the speed of light and also while in light speed travel no matter how brief the sub sandwich is toasted to perfection not undercooked or overcooked, the pirates are survivors of the main fish people invasion whose captain though charismatic and buxom is permanantly insane, a crew with no captain and our main character is the link to the captains sanity.

I just love scifi and think your story has much potential. Sounds like the type of story I would love to read!! Good luck to you in your writing endevours.

Any luck, OP? Any progress to report?

I don't mean to nag you, but the difference between a writer and a civilian is that a writer writes every day, even if she doesn't have a word to show for it at the end of that day. Hemingway often came back home from that Montmartre cafe with a couple of lines finished, and it was a good day for Douglas Adams when he finished a sentence. My single biggest challenge as a professional writer is simply to... keep writing.