Beta Reader Group discussion

I've been struggling to come up with new ideas for my story. I've read so many good books and am trying to make something new that hasn't been done before. Does anyone have any tips or advice?

Hii! What exactly are you trying to go for?

Go to sleep. Your best ideas will come when you relax undisturbed.

I come up with my best ideas staring at the ceiling. Sometimes I get up and write myself a note so I don't forget what I just thought of.

Just make sure you write them down before you forget. You can edit the scenes later.

Ok thank you, I just am feeling stuck when writing and anxious- I'm trying to write a Dystopian or Fantasy YA

Instead of trying to come up with something totally new that hasn't been done before, it might be easier to think of a new take on an old idea. Many successful fantasy books are based on existing mythologies or histories but the author puts a new spin on them.

For example, the Lunar Chronicles series is fairy tales set in space, the Poppy War series is a fantasy take on the 19th century Opium Wars, the Song of Ice and Fire series blends real history (War of the Roses, Hadrian's Wall, the Mongolian conquests) and mythological beings (dragons, zombies, sorcerers).

Think of a story you really like (could be a fairy tale, an old myth, a historical event), and how you could make it different.

I don't think I tried to come up with something new, it just arose from trying to analyze and connect old ideas in my own way.
What you like to read about, who in that setting does something interesting, how it connects to different things, and how one thing arises and flows from another.
You have your own mind, so it will naturally be something different from what was before, you don't need to search for something new

Hello BookLoverGirl,

I am new to writing and have only been doing it for a little more than a year, but I have learned that the best writing comes from your heart, as cliche as that sounds.
So what are you passionate about? I would figure that out and use that to motivate you to write, for example, I love Griffins and magic, so I tried writing something from that, along with putting some life experiences in there.
If Dystopian or Fantasy YA is your passion, than go for it,and do not worry if it is not the best book, the worst book is the one left unwritten.

I hope that helped.

The way that I've approached coming up with novel ideas (I've written three manuscripts at this point) is from the inside out. Come up with one aspect of the story - a character or a setting or a plot point - and build out from there. It makes the whole process less daunting, I think, if the idea doesn't have to spring from your head fully formed.

I usually start with characters. I create my protagonist and antagonist and figure out what the conflict will really be about, and then I iron out the setting and everything about the world and pick a setting that fits the characters and conflict. It seems really limiting, but the possibilities are endless with different kinds of characters and conflicts.

Hey I’m a writer myself but my way is a little unorthodox. Here’s my process and hopefully it inspires you!

1. Go to notes in your phone and create a new note.

2. Write the genre you want to write in (Ex: Fantasy). That’s broad strokes but feel free to narrow it down.

3. Put down all the elements you want in your story as in listing them. Think of it like making a cake. Your bowl is the genre and all the elements you want you put in are your ingredients. (Ex you can list romance,twist ending, sad etc..)

4. Once you got your genre and the elements give yourself enough room to write your plot. I put plot, then read over all my elements and write whatever comes to mind and make up a story on the spot. Thinking about it I’m pantsing but to come up with the story. I’ll give you two examples one of a fantasy/coming age book that’s in my planned series and the other a horror book that I wrote 3 chapters but stopped to write other stories using this method.

Yatero: Forzko (Book 4) (Fantasy)
Elemental Environment/Chess/Groovy environment/Character Breakthrough/Defeating a Giant/Character transformations/ power up/romance between 2 characters

Plot of book 4: After the defeat of their last enemy Yatero, Lily, Inugami and Reager are lead to a portal to a spiritual planet called Forzko. Similar to Kolmeron it house’s life but something is different about this planet. There are no fully human beings and even the animals themselves look bizarre. When in Forzko they’re welcomed by a different type of species that can talk like humans but overall they’re very weak physically. The kids learn that the once great planet Forzko was ravaged by ravenous beings who are colossal in stature. They are told they live in the sky masqueraded as stars and keep their population under control by whisking them away doing with them as they please by means of killing, slaves, starvation and even using the parts of their body to help them live longer. Terrified all of the kids except Yatero want to leave. The beings say if they save them from these beings they will aid them in whatever way possible. Forzko is also an element planet which each of the seasons emulating one of the 4 elements. Water, Earth, Fire and Air. During these seasons the beings make special preparations to live. The children stay with a couple who take them in. Although not all is lost they can have plenty of fun in Forzko. The children tell the beings they want more power so they create technology for them that helps them in battle. Yatero tells the beings he needs to master the Elemental prowess to become king of Kolmeron to defeat Iniquity. The beings of Forzko provide information about him and his bloodline. The beings say they know of one being, an elder aged 2500 years old that has mastery of the elemental prowess but he is very volatile in behavior and is inconsiderate of ignorant beings. Especially humans. Yatero goes to meet him and he has to pass a few tests and answer some questions before he is taught how to master the elemental prowess. The colossal beings one night come down to control the population in the water season and see the children. The kids fight them and they ward them off barley. They retreat and tell their mother who comes down to control the population herself. Using the newfound mastery of the elemental prowess and the weapons and powers the kids were given they defeat her. The beings rejoice and the kids are seen as larger than life with them even carving out images in their honor. The beings multiply and they make a way for them to get back to Kolmeron. They also forge a crown for Yatero and give the kids each something to take with them. The beings are able to multiply without fear and gain their strength back physically and mentally as a people. The kids learn the valuable lesson of friendship as a romance buds between two of the kids.

Dr. Biotech (Drama)

Drama/sad/trial and tribulation


𝒟𝓇. 𝐵𝒾𝑜𝒯𝑒𝒸𝒽
In the rural town of cater in a city with 100,000 people lays dormant a monster who has been sleep for 3 years. It is Dennis Ellison a former mad scientist has just been resurrected by a mysterious plant growing beside him called Jinodie. It’s properties include resurrection and healing to whoever eats it or is buried by it when water is applied. Dennis Ellison files under a new identity and tries to get a new home but he has little funds. He stays in a homeless shelter and gets a job as a biotechnologist. He saves up for a couple of months and gets his own apartment. Luckily he can because of his PhD. From then on he goes back to his roots and starts to experiment with DNA again. Splitting it and testing the results on himself giving himself exceptional memory, cognitive hearing and super sight. He also takes the plant he made (Jinodie) and creates more plants to have other supernatural effects. One of his test subjects who he gave one of his plants to who was bedridden for 6 months because of it learns of him being alive after seeing Dennis Ellison on TV for his miraculous contributions to society with his plants. Jimmy Rose tells everyone that this was the man who almost killer him and that he died and he should’ve be put in prison. Due to his immediate family being deceased he cannot prove these claims. Jimmy Rose puts out ads for others affected by his practices and 2 women come to his aid. They take Dennis Ellison to trial but due to that being a different name of his they cannot prove it was him. Dennis Ellison uses on of his plants and mixes it into a juice and starts to serve it to people hoping to right his wrongs. A few people die and he is put on trial to be sentenced to life in prison and death for deliberately killing people. He pleads no contest and proves his ingredients were benign but he is ruled guilty. More of Dennis Ellison’s background come to fruition when his fingerprints are matched to a infamous serial killer named Dr. Turgo Ellerby. A killer that was known to infect and poison people with his natural “methods” that were seen as healing. He also made the plants in a way to alter their DNA and with any children they had they were only going to live until 19 years old, just one year after adulthood. Dr. Turgo Ellerby makes a appeal that he has done nothing but good and he can cure them of their sickness and bring back anyone that died because of him. He is sometimes beat up in prison because some of the inmates were related to the ones he killed. He is eventually housed by himself after begging repeatedly. He is given a chance and eventually finds the cures. Luckily for him it happened on his death row date via lethal injection and he makes the promise that if applied right they will be healed and brought back to life. He is proven right and set free. However not too soon later at the age of 61 from one of his plants he succumbs to it’s side effects. He put too much of a ingredient into it and passes away. In his dying breaths he confesses his past sins, then smiles. He withers away and his eyes grow tree roots out of them. His body turns green and he dies outside beside the tree.

The last story is not horror I changed the story at the last minute but forgot to edit the post lol

It's often not about the idea itself, but the execution of the idea.

You could give the same idea to three authors, and they'd come up with wildly different books.

What do you like about fantasy and/or dystopia? What aspects do you want to explore?

personally i take a few things i like and character ideas i like and make it into a story then I do the same thing and kind of try to combine the two so its more layered. I liked the idea of a dystopian book with a monster world and had a world with large mecha robots so I merged the two