I think you haven’t any problem with this. But I. I told you my web series idea. You know. That superhero idea. And before you start nagging. I brainstormed a lot. I thought about what if superheroes were real. I thought about what society they would have, if do they control themselves, and so on. Although I know more now, I haven’t idea for the first episode. So, do you have any tips? How do you start?
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Brainstormed a lot. But no idea for an episode. Help me!
- Thread starter Future_Screen
- Start date
Well...you present the arena, present the characters and you present the tone for the series. Also...what makes the main protagonist stand out in this world? In a world of superheroes Monkey D. Luffy stands out by its true grit, stupidity and impulsiveness. The only way he can achieve its goal (become the pirate king) is to collect a crew of individuals that have abilities and characteristics that he lacks.
@Feutus Lapdance I think, I will make 2 boys and 2 girls as the main protagonists. But I suck at creating realistic characters; not least because I got the Asperger’s syndrome.
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Did you read all the replies with character ideas in your own previous topic?
What do you do when you brainstorm? How does your proces work?
Do you really brainstorm freely? Or do you judge and tinker about every idea straight away?
Maybe you need to relax a bit: go walk outside, live life, get inspiration by not sitting behind a desk.
What do you do when you brainstorm? How does your proces work?
Do you really brainstorm freely? Or do you judge and tinker about every idea straight away?
Maybe you need to relax a bit: go walk outside, live life, get inspiration by not sitting behind a desk.
@WalterB I make the classic way by brainstorming; you know circle connects to circle. But I listen music there, too. I do a lot of research. And of course, which clichés exists in this genre, and try to avoid it.
You describe several things here.
Research = incubation, not brainstorming, even when it might spark a brainstorm.
The circles: that is the physical method you use.
And it is a good one.
The question is: are you really freeling brainstorming, or are you judging yourself at the same time? (Like trying to avoid cliches.)
Brainstorm fearlessly, write the biggest nonsense without hesitation. And later you can judge what can be used and what not.
Research = incubation, not brainstorming, even when it might spark a brainstorm.
The circles: that is the physical method you use.
And it is a good one.
The question is: are you really freeling brainstorming, or are you judging yourself at the same time? (Like trying to avoid cliches.)
Brainstorm fearlessly, write the biggest nonsense without hesitation. And later you can judge what can be used and what not.
@WalterB Nonsense. Do you mean I should write every idea, which hits my brain? I did it. But I got the feeling that’s not good. So, if I use that method how can I get this anxiety of fail-feeling away?
And besides that: what do you do with a piece of paper with circles and words?
You still need to disstill from there.
BTW, you seem to avoid 1 question:
did you ever see the ideas in your own thread:
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=64804 ?
You still need to disstill from there.
BTW, you seem to avoid 1 question:
did you ever see the ideas in your own thread:
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=64804 ?
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@WalterB Yep. I saw it. But I don’t find it good enough. Don't get me wrong! They are unique. But that’s it. They are too unique. They mustn’t be cheesy, but the character must be familiar, and the viewer must like him/her.
@WalterB I put it into a folder where I’ll collect my ideas for this series.
Just f'ing write it! Stop brainstorming, stop looking for the perfect idea/set-up and write a damn episode. It will suck, so you'll write it again and again and again. But at least you'll be doing something. You are currently just procrastinating.
@WalterB What comes next? I wrote a full page with brainstormed ideas.
Ha! The problem here is you give yourself so many restrictions, you can't write.
You are trying to write the final draft first, that's not how it works. Forget about cliches and all of your other "don'ts" and just write.
How can you remove the bad parts when you have nothing? Every first draft is awful. That's your starting point. Write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. That's how it is done.
So when you say we are nagging you here, well, we aren't. But what do want us to say besides write? That's the part you don't get. You keep stalling and asking questions about HOW to start.
Just START!
"What comes next?"
WRITE!!!!!!! You are asking the same thing over and over.
You are trying to write the final draft first, that's not how it works. Forget about cliches and all of your other "don'ts" and just write.
How can you remove the bad parts when you have nothing? Every first draft is awful. That's your starting point. Write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. That's how it is done.
So when you say we are nagging you here, well, we aren't. But what do want us to say besides write? That's the part you don't get. You keep stalling and asking questions about HOW to start.
Just START!
"What comes next?"
WRITE!!!!!!! You are asking the same thing over and over.
@indietalk write, write, WRITE! I know, I know, I KNOW! I do it. Or try it. But this project will be a series. So, it has to be planned. You must have a general concept, you have to have characters who are loved by the viewer, you must have a structure of the season, blah, blah, blah. And I have to plan it step by step. There is also another problem: In this concept, each episode is connected to the last one. So, asking for the next step shouldn’t be the big end boss.
Connect the dots and make it work storywise.
You can't and avoid clichés and stay away from too unique ideas.
As for cheesy: bitten by a radioactive spider is also quite chesy if you think about it for a moment.
As for characters to be familiar: again you want to stay away from clichés (which are familiar) and have superpowers. The trick is not that characters are familiar from the first second: you have to let the viewers get to know them and make them (dis)like the characters through actions that the viewers can relate to.
I think there can be great drama in cheesyness if you can look beyond that as long as there are imperfections.
Ever watched Zebraman?
The whole starting idea for the movie is rediculous. The main character is a bit pathetic at first and still you start to care for him.
Your idea is a high school.
On a high school students 'struggle' with identity, insecurity, sex: they are shaping who they will become.
Some are misfits on purpose, some just happen to be, others are incrowd.
On top of that they need to learn to control superpowers they never asked for.
So yeah, I tossed in a few ideas coming from 'seeminglessly useless superpowers'. It has drama potential, because they need to learn to control it and at the same time they might be misfits, because there seems to be no use for their powers. They really need to find their place in life.
Imagine the girl who makes it rain rose petals discovers she is suddenly attracted to a girl. 'Poof!' Maybe she really struggles with it, making it extra awkward because of her gift.
You can't and avoid clichés and stay away from too unique ideas.
As for cheesy: bitten by a radioactive spider is also quite chesy if you think about it for a moment.
As for characters to be familiar: again you want to stay away from clichés (which are familiar) and have superpowers. The trick is not that characters are familiar from the first second: you have to let the viewers get to know them and make them (dis)like the characters through actions that the viewers can relate to.
I think there can be great drama in cheesyness if you can look beyond that as long as there are imperfections.
Ever watched Zebraman?
The whole starting idea for the movie is rediculous. The main character is a bit pathetic at first and still you start to care for him.
Your idea is a high school.
On a high school students 'struggle' with identity, insecurity, sex: they are shaping who they will become.
Some are misfits on purpose, some just happen to be, others are incrowd.
On top of that they need to learn to control superpowers they never asked for.
So yeah, I tossed in a few ideas coming from 'seeminglessly useless superpowers'. It has drama potential, because they need to learn to control it and at the same time they might be misfits, because there seems to be no use for their powers. They really need to find their place in life.
Imagine the girl who makes it rain rose petals discovers she is suddenly attracted to a girl. 'Poof!' Maybe she really struggles with it, making it extra awkward because of her gift.
@WalterB So, a balance between cheesy and unique? Ok. And what is the next step in planning after brainstorming?
Let me reverse it:
you want 'no clichés' yet 'familiar'.
That is the perfect way to end up with some middle of the road stuff. Which can be boring.
Does it have to balance between cheesy and unique? I don't think so. It is just one way to get away from clichés.
There is no rule for it. (H44 flashback )
After brainstorming you should be able to get some workable ideas out of it and try to see what drama/humor/whatever is possible with those ideas.
In other words: start writing. Or at least start plotting.
you want 'no clichés' yet 'familiar'.
That is the perfect way to end up with some middle of the road stuff. Which can be boring.
Does it have to balance between cheesy and unique? I don't think so. It is just one way to get away from clichés.
There is no rule for it. (H44 flashback
)After brainstorming you should be able to get some workable ideas out of it and try to see what drama/humor/whatever is possible with those ideas.
In other words: start writing. Or at least start plotting.
Bollocks! You are homeless and you keep planning the decoration of your house...