Pen & Ink

As a writer, I always have a ton of story ideas floating around in my head. Story ideas for plot twists, characters, scenes, lines… all sorts of stuff. But unfortunately, I am only one person. One person with only twenty-four hours in a day to work on stories. And probably even less than that if you consider school, sleep, chores, and other things.

So now, dear reader, I have come to bestow these ideas on you. Since I don’t have the time to implement all these different story elements, I want those of you who do have the time to use them.

And guess what: that’s not it. I won’t be the only one giving you these ideas and writing this post. Nope. My wonderful friend, Luella Treto, will be contributing to the list of prompts and ideas in this article! 

My friend Luella is such an awesome person, and I want you all to get to know her a little better. Here’s an introduction that she wrote herself:

About Luella Treto

Hello, readers! 

I am thirteen years old and live in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I have three siblings; Thayen, who is fifteen and extremely awesome, Evalette, ten years old and the sweetest person in the world, and Tiernan, a seven-year-old brother with an imagination possibly bigger than any other small child I have met. My siblings are probably the reason why I love fantasy. I don’t think my books would be great if it weren’t for their help, ideas, and criticism (yes, because criticism has helped many authors in their life).

When I first started writing stories when I was eight years old. The first ever “chapter book” I finished was about cats. Walking and talking cats that wore clothing, and their species had wars with each other. I dunno where I got this idea, but I vaguely remember writing something about flying butter in it. I will never do something like flying butter again. Unless I have to. I was quite humorous when I was young (I still am, but not as berzerk).

When I was seven, I made comic books about this superhero called Purple Ninja. Now, where did that come from? No idea. None. Where… how… why? When I look back at that, I still get confused.   

Upon this, basically my whole life I was something like a writer. I never ceased to wonder why I was more creative than all my other friends. Then the answer hit me like two years ago.

Imagination. 

If you are wondering how big of an imagination I have, then I am happy to respond to that. Put it this way and picture this:

You are in a spaceship, far, far away from the Milky Way. You suddenly spot this massive planet; it is at least as big as the sun. That was only the beginning. Past this planet, you notice at least six more planets the same size, with several moons orbiting them. Now, all seven planets are over-inhabited with characters.

In smaller description: I have an overpopulated solar system in my head. 

Can that keep someone under control? Uh… no. It takes a while to handle it. You can’t get to sleep. Ideas are just popping in your head every two seconds, you just gotta jot them down on paper for later, set them aside, THEN go to sleep. If you don’t, your heart is pounding with excitement over nothing. That’s just me. I dunno about you, but I get that all the time. It doesn’t bother me anymore.

Lastly, how did I meet Annabelle?

Let me procrastinate on that….

Trying to remember….

Ahh… yes… I remember clearly, now….

A few years ago, my mother met Mrs. Batie in a mom homeschooling group thing. She–my mother–decided to invite the Baties and a couple of other families over for the Fourth of July.

When they arrived and stepped out of their vehicle, I spotted a girl around my age holding a vase of flowers in her hands. At first, I was a little shy to come up and say “Yolo, I’m Luella! What’s your name?” But before I could do anything, the girl disappeared, and I figured she already made a friend. 

A few hours later, my mother told me to greet this girl. As usual, I was in a good mood, and I said, “Hi.” 

My mind was screaming at me. “Hi”?! Luella, stop being so strange. 

And I responded to my mind. I can’t, I dunno what else to say!

Well, ask how she is or what her name is.

Give me a moment. I am completely blank right now.

Jeez, way to go, Luella. You gotta–

“Hi.” 

I jumped at this ever so slightly so no one could see it. This… this person… she just said it back. Just like that. Just how I did it.

“Uh.”

Just say it.

“I’m Luella.” I held out my hand. The girl simply shook it.

“My name’s Annabelle.” 

Mind blown.

And I knew that very day that we were going to have a LOT in common.

When I heard that Annabelle moved away, I knew I was going to miss her, but things still turned out to be amazing. It is so fun keeping in touch with friends and writing books together.

God has so many good blessings, doesn’t He?!

Yes, He does! It’s awesome that we’re still friends even though we live a long distance apart!

Just so all you readers know, Luella and I have been co-authoring a novel together for the past several months called Between Universes (the title isn’t final), and she’s an amazing fantasy writer! Since she and I are both crazy writers who always have crazy ideas floating around in our heads… (as you read earlier), we thought it would be a cool idea to write a post together, sharing both of our knowledgement! 

We’ve compiled a list of different types of story elements: plot twists, characters, lines, and fantasy creatures. You can use any, all, or none of these prompts; whatever you’d like. 

So without further ado… putting all rambling aside… we present to you… ideas!

Plot Twist Ideas

1. An important character dies.
2. The main character loses their memory.
3. Your romance story turns suddenly into a fantasy.
4. The story suddenly switches viewpoints.
5. The villain and the hero switch roles. (e.i. the villain becomes the hero, and the hero becomes the villain)
6. A close friend of the main character suddenly leaves.
7. A character is thought to be dead, but then comes back to life unexpectedly. (Yes, I know this is cliche. But I still love using it. XD)
8. Add a love square. (Not a love triangle. A love square.)
9. Two characters who hate each other have to work together.
10. A child grows up overnight.
11. An imposter comes in the villain’s place.
12. The sword in the stone reappears.
13. Another man claims to be the prince.
14. The war that was obviously going to be won is lost.
15. The main character dies, and a new character becomes the main character suddenly.
16. The whole story was just a dream.
17. The main character betrays everyone.
18. The person we thought was the villain really was never the villain at all.
19. A character from another world suddenly appears.
20. A natural disaster happens.
21. The mystery is solved, but it destroys the main character.
22. Someone (not the villain) kidnaps the main character.
23. The hero decides to make one poor decision, and that decision suddenly turns all his friends against him.
24. The time in your story rewinds ten years.
25. The person who no one thought was trustworthy was actually right all along.
26. Random people from your story start vanishing without a trace.
27. A powerful hero who died years ago rises once more.
28. The best friend betrays the hero.
29. The prophecy was fake the whole time.
30. The Chosen One is the evil one.
31. The character’s greatest fear that they thought they had gotten rid of comes back to them.
32. The protagonist quits their mission.
33. Two characters switch places.
34. The antagonist wins. (Please only do this one temporarily, though!)
35. The main character is an imposter.

Character Ideas

36. A delusional, elderly man.
37. A quirky young lady who loves cleaning carpets.
38. A journalist who can never keep a job.
39. An undercover spy, pretending to be an orphan.
40. A person who is multiple people at once.
41. A shapeshifter.
42. Twins that can read each other’s minds.
43. A librarian who is secretly working for the villain.
44. The love interest’s overprotective older brother.
45. A slave with high aspirations.
46. A relative who is secretly an angel.
47. An elderly woman with twenty magical animals.
48. A little boy who is in danger because he is the main part of a prophecy.
49. A villain who doesn’t want to be a villain anymore.
50. A diver who hates water.
51. A pirate with good morals.
52. A talkative person who is mute.
53. An extremely nerdy person who likes fantasy animals.
54. A mentor who is younger than his mentee.
55. A country person who is forced to move to the city. (or vice versa)
56. A giant who is very nice but no one believes him.
57. A retired soldier who just lost his home.
58. A girl who is searching for the child she just gave up.
59. A very famous person who doesn’t want to be famous anymore.
60. A young child with big thoughts. 
61. An orphan with many mischievous desires.
62. An animal (or person) with telepathic powers.
63. A prince who is reckless and irresponsible.
64. An old lady that has lived for over a hundred years and still goes on walks every day.
65. A trusted advisor who has a traitorous heart.
66. A younger brother who wants to be the oldest.

Line Ideas

67. Her heart raced as the shadow grew.
68. I collapsed to the ground, everything turning to utter darkness.
69. “I always loved you,” the stranger said.
70. I never knew what happened next.
71. “Help!” I heard a cry from beside me. There was no one there.
72. Somehow, he recognized the figure’s face, as if it was a long-lost friend.
73. The woman opened the door and looked around. No one. She looked down. There was an infant, in a basket, sitting on her doorstep.
74. “You will never escape me. I have no power,” the villain said.
75. Birds flew across the sky like a thousand little dots, populating the entire universe.
76. My brother had transformed. Into a monster.
77. I thought it was all over until I noticed it was only licking my leg.
78. Whatever these creatures were, I no longer thought Mr. Robinson was a lunatic. He was something else….
79. “How is he?” the man said. “Umm… he’s been dead for thirty years,” I replied.
80. I backed away frantically from the stranger after he pulled down his hood. It was my father.
81. The dragon jolted to a stop as smoke billowed from its nostrils, then hurled a great fireball at the intruder. 
82. And then the answer struck me. My parents were agents of a secret society.
83. I loved him, but not this much.
84. Something had gone wrong. I didn’t know what it was, but it was something.
85. A young child ran up to me and said, “he’s coming for you!” and ran away.
86. The lady stepped onto the threshold. Everything was quiet. Too quiet.
87. Nothing would be the same here. That’s why I didn’t want to go.
88. Laughter is the best kind of medicine. But I don’t want it.
89. The thing leaped out at me from the corner. I screamed when I realized it was my dog.
90. “I love you,” he said. I couldn’t say “I love you” back.

Fantasy Creature Ideas

91. Mix any two animals together. (e.i. A cheetah mixed with a dog makes a cheedog).
92. A pegasus that has hair made of light.
93. A creature that totally looks like it came from a different planet.
94. Enlarge creatures that are small (such as lizards, bugs, songbirds, etc.) and shrink big animals (elephants, giraffes, etc.)
95. Turn something alive and moving that naturally isn’t. (such as plants, house furniture, etc.)
96. Mix a human with an animal. 
97. Make up your own species of dragons, griffins, unicorns, elves, etc.
98. Make a species of animals that walk, talk, and are natives (I think wolves would be one of the best options. They are kinda native-ish already). 
99. Think of some kind of weird word and then think of a being to match that. There’s your creature.
100. Copy a classically used fantasy creature (unicorns, dragons, etc.), except make something about it different than usual.

Wrap-Up

Well, what did you think of this post? I know for me, it was super fun coming up with all these ideas and sharing them with you! And collaborating with Luella was even more awesome! Thanks so much, Luella!

How about you? Which of these ideas is your favorite? Do you ever have crazy ideas like this? What are some of your story ideas?