Time to 'fess up...

[shimotsuki]

Okay, I'm sort of blocked on my next fic for the current Jumble at metamorfic_moon.

I suspected I would have a harder time with this one, since I usually write character studies (or one- or two-chapter fics where whatever plot I manage to write is really just an excuse for some poor hapless characters to undergo an experience of my choosing so I can watch them deal with it). For this Jumble, I swore up and down that if I got action/adventure for my genre prompt, I would go for it, because I want to learn to handle more genres.

Well, I did get a/a. Trouble is, days have gone by and I'm still at the point of choreographing various scenarios in my head, waiting for that feeling of "aha, there's the plotbunny I'm going to follow." Nothing I've thought of so far feels like it's something that wants me to write it.

I've already had a look at the a/a writing discussion at metamorfic_moon. That was extremely helpful, especially the suggestions by jesspallas, whose a/a fics Oblivious and Imperius are some of my favorite long fics ever. So I've got some technical ideas I'm dying to try, but NO PLOT.

Here are some ideas I've been pushing around. Any opinions? Does anything stand out as something you think you'd like to read?

a/a plot sampler

• It's OotP year. Fred & George have just quit school. They show up at 12GP and worm their way into the Order. Remus and Tonks take them out on what is supposed to be a basic training mission, but complications arise and a/a ensues.
  
  Possible sources of said complications:
  • Tonks and Remus get separated from the twins, and then some Death Eaters, um, do something, which F&G have to handle on their own until the group all find each other again. (Too boring? Too much Fred & George?)
    
  • The mission is to find something (document?) in some large and fortified building (St. Mungo's? the Ministry? Gringotts?) while sneaking around and avoiding both bureaucrats/goblins as well as the Death Eaters who are also loose in the building. (Too much like the Feral Institute scenes in Imperius?)
    
  • Each of the four ends up tailing some different Death Eater or suspicious character around Diagon and Knockturn Alleys, with various and sundry near misses and narrow escapes. (Might be too many details to keep track of for my first a/a?)
  
  
• It's HBP year. Remus needs emergency help related to his mission with Greyback's pack. Tonks is with the twins at the time and enlists their help. Everyone runs around avoiding, and possibly also fighting with, (untransformed) werewolves. Things are not good between Remus and Tonks; possible comic relief if the twins don't realize what's wrong with them. (Too clichéd?)
  
  
• It's Sept 1 of DH year. Remus is visiting Fred and George at WWW's new Hogsmeade branch when a werewolf who knows Remus from his HBP-year mission spots him and runs up to warn him that Greyback is planning to meet the Hogwarts Express. Tonks is on duty in Hogsmeade and gets involved. (Problem here is it's guaranteed to be made non-canon when DH comes out, but maybe I shouldn't let that worry me. Also, it feels clichéd again. But honestly, all of these ideas do, which is one reason I'm feeling stuck.)

Anything sound appealing? Any other ideas? I'll keep thinking; maybe inspiration will strike after all.

Comments

[godricgal.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind me popping over here, mrstater mentioned that you'd posted about a fic dilemma, so I thought I'd pop on over.

I haven't much to offer on the individual scenarios, because they all sound like they have great potential. What I have to suggest is that you look at each of your options and see how you can tie them in with canon; even the tiniest throw away line can sometimes give the inspiration for a full length fic, and will give you something to harness your story to.

I had no idea what to do with my prompts until last night when I started to think how they could tie into canon events, and now I have a plot.

Hope this helps, even if it wasn't what you were asking for.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind me popping over here -- I'm delighted! Thanks so much for coming by to help me out.

Your suggestion is an excellent one. I really should have thought of that before, especially since I've used that trick in the past for non-a/a fics. I will think through various loose threads in canon tonight and see if anything catches my eye. (Now, how was that for some clunky mixing of metaphors?)