In need of outside opinions

[RainingSky]

Hello :)



I was planning on writing an Adventure Story (maybe with a bit of romance) and I have a plot too, halfway but find myself in a bit of trouble with the world I am letting it play in.

Nothing is fixed yet so any suggestions there are welcome too. A bit of what is happening up until now.

A woman (in her twenties) ended up unconscious, bloody holding on to a piece of wood on the beach wearing combat clothing and clutching a weapon she doesn't let go despite her bad state. She is found and taken in by an old woman who teaches in the nearby fishing village to support herself after her husband died.
MC has no memories of the past and can't speak the language, she is tall, has a lot of scars and due to her red hair is given a name associated with fire (again I can only name her after I know what world this is playing in).

She is skilled at fighting, dirty and with little mercy for her opponents, rather blunt woth the words she knows, not very polite, has normal intelligence and has a serious dislike for people who talk around an Issue with a Talk-no-Jutsu preferring to punch them on a certain point. (Not meaning she does it, she has the sense of not punching a noble or so, plainly ignores those.)

Yeah, my rough idea up until now and how I want to portrait my MC, and now I am stuck because I need a concrete world to build around that. So I had a few Ideas and a few suggestions but am unsure since I don't really have much experience with writing.


1. Ancient Chinese: a bit cliché and maybe the fault of an overconsumption of several overly dramatic Chinese light novels my younger self found herself fascinated with, but I found the principle of a battle worn woman, no nonsense woman in a patriarchal world who has absolutely no interest in adapting any more than necessary in this Chinese family society setting rather interesting.
Unlike the damsel in distress, or I trample over you like I am a former assassin and totally amazing... I believe you know what I mean.

2. Industrial revolution England like, from the poor countryside to a modern London, including culture shock in the making.

3. A Sci-Fi world, from a poor Planet setting to her maneuvering through the world having, with aliens and all, trouble with technology, believes in principles of a world more modern.

4. Feudal Japan, probably also the fault of an overconsumption of certain things, with a few problems like the Fact that Gaijin, and she is one, are not allowed to be there and yeah...



I have a few points that speak for each thing but still I cannot decide, so I need honest opinions.

 

[Deleted member 58005]

Three!

 

[Anon_Y_Mousse]

Two honestly, I'd like to see more stories with a setting similar to the industrial revolution.

 

[NotaNuffian]

At least you know that 1 and 4 are the most suckish route. 2 is also bad because in the past even in the west, conservative thinkings are POS.

Fyi, with your female protag being an ass aka fight dirty and have no remorse, being in 1 or 4 is quite tough as she must be willing to become the rebel like Jeanne and probably end up burned as a witch.

For 2 however, there are some leeways and maybe the cultural shift can make her into an icon of change.

 

[Viator]

Scifi probably leaves the most open to the imagination. The rest are constricted with individual historical prejudice. You'll find more creative freedom with sci-fi. But if you absolutely need the constraints of certain aspects of history. Industrial England is probably the freshest of options.

 

[BearlyAlive]

Industrial revolution all the way. There can never be enough sophisticated thuggery and from the looks of your protagonist either gangs or cloak & dagger is the most logical story line.

"Sir, this is a robbery. We would welcome it if you were to leave all your belongings with us, otherwise we would be forced to get a bit more personal than proper."

 

[ConcubusBunny]

Scifi, most free of the list and has lots of room for a compelling and interesting world building.
The others not so much, not to mention if you want to do historical accuracy and not just some tech and agriculture is in the style of these places and not stuck in time, it's not exactly a time that anyone will willingly want to go back to.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I love science fiction, but really, it's your story. Write the one you want to read, and someone else will also love it.
Here's another setting to consider:

 

[Deleted member 70223]

I love science fiction, but really, it's your story. Write the one you want to read, and someone else will also love it.
Here's another setting to consider:

Your fantasy is quite clear, and your novel is pretty good.

Have you been working on making your fantasy a reality?

 

[KyoruS]

Honestly, I would say go for ancient china or the chinese cultivation tropes. I feel your premise will work wonders in that setting and can be a breath of fresh air on the chinese cultivation take. Sprinkle in FMC face slapping young masters trying to court her and cheat cultivating to overthrow the emperor and becoming empress herself and it would be quite the good story to read. As long as you don't overdone the typical cliches in the chinese cultivation tropes, have a bit originality and creativity in how you setup the events/stages and it shoud be a great story.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Your fantasy is quite clear, and your novel is pretty good.

Have you been working on making your fantasy a reality?

Yes, but that's on hold due to the pandemic. I'm still in contact with my boyfriends, but my husband and I have decided not to do any in-person social activities until our baby gets fully vaccinated. Since his age group is not yet eligible for the vaccine, it will be a while.

 

[Zirrboy]

Yes, but that's on hold due to the pandemic. I'm still in contact with my boyfriends, but my husband and I have decided not to do any in-person social activities until our baby gets fully vaccinated. Since his age group is not yet eligible for the vaccine, it will be a while.

Seeing as I'd assume poly marriage to be impossible legally in most places, are you going for a community approved arrangement?

 

[Nyaa]

Fuck Ancient China
Fuck Feudal Japan
They're tooting their own horns enough as is. We already have a surplus of translated nationalist elitist garbage from their own authors. If you're going to write a new story in Original English, don't go kissing the ass of other cultures. Let them jerk themselves off. They're good at it. They don't need your help.

So yes, I wouldn't mind either Industrial Revolution England or Sci-Fi. We already get too much of the other 2 over at NovelUpdates.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Seeing as I'd assume poly marriage to be impossible legally in most places, are you going for a community approved arrangement?

Yep! I'm too happy where I am to move somewhere else. We can just throw a party and exchange vows and stuff. No need to fuss with paperwork.

 

[Ai-chan]

Hello :)



I was planning on writing an Adventure Story (maybe with a bit of romance) and I have a plot too, halfway but find myself in a bit of trouble with the world I am letting it play in.

Nothing is fixed yet so any suggestions there are welcome too. A bit of what is happening up until now.

A woman (in her twenties) ended up unconscious, bloody holding on to a piece of wood on the beach wearing combat clothing and clutching a weapon she doesn't let go despite her bad state. She is found and taken in by an old woman who teaches in the nearby fishing village to support herself after her husband died.
MC has no memories of the past and can't speak the language, she is tall, has a lot of scars and due to her red hair is given a name associated with fire (again I can only name her after I know what world this is playing in).

She is skilled at fighting, dirty and with little mercy for her opponents, rather blunt woth the words she knows, not very polite, has normal intelligence and has a serious dislike for people who talk around an Issue with a Talk-no-Jutsu preferring to punch them on a certain point. (Not meaning she does it, she has the sense of not punching a noble or so, plainly ignores those.)

Yeah, my rough idea up until now and how I want to portrait my MC, and now I am stuck because I need a concrete world to build around that. So I had a few Ideas and a few suggestions but am unsure since I don't really have much experience with writing.


1. Ancient Chinese: a bit cliché and maybe the fault of an overconsumption of several overly dramatic Chinese light novels my younger self found herself fascinated with, but I found the principle of a battle worn woman, no nonsense woman in a patriarchal world who has absolutely no interest in adapting any more than necessary in this Chinese family society setting rather interesting.
Unlike the damsel in distress, or I trample over you like I am a former assassin and totally amazing... I believe you know what I mean.

2. Industrial revolution England like, from the poor countryside to a modern London, including culture shock in the making.

3. A Sci-Fi world, from a poor Planet setting to her maneuvering through the world having, with aliens and all, trouble with technology, believes in principles of a world more modern.

4. Feudal Japan, probably also the fault of an overconsumption of certain things, with a few problems like the Fact that Gaijin, and she is one, are not allowed to be there and yeah...



I have a few points that speak for each thing but still I cannot decide, so I need honest opinions.

For ancient chinese, you need to understand the setting. Most wuxia stories are based off the height of Chinese literature, the Tang Dynasty. You need to know which dynasty you want to follow as each dynasty are different in atmosphere, politics, economy and culture. Of course, you can mix and match as it is your world after all, but it must make sense. Even primetime wuxia serials on TV these days make mix-match settings that don't make sense. Such as settings where every sect leader and their senior followers have the power to mow down a mountain willy-nilly, yet, the sifu decides to hold out between mountains for some strange reason.

Ai-chan thinks industrial revolution setting is quite good. A lot of great stories were set in the industrial revolution, where the very air is poisonous, the furniture is poisonous, the food is poisonous and just walking outside in the city opens you to being mugged, raped or killed. That is a great setting.

Sci-fi world is fine, but most people find this to be very challenging and so not many people consider taking such settings. Because you see, you must at least know some science when you write science fiction. If you throw a ball of gold into a gas giant, you must have an idea of what is going to happen to it. If you fail to escape velocity, you must know what will happen. If you mix alkaline metals with water, you must know the equation. Sure you can ignore all the science stuff and focus on romance, but that's not very sci-fi, is it? Merely romance in space.

About Feudal Japan, you need to know which time period you want to set it on. Prior to the sengoku era, foreigners were feared as oni and the only foreign merchants, the Portuguese, were a given a very small island and only allowed to trade there, unable to cross the bridge. During the sengoku era, foreigners were still barred but due to Nobunaga's policies were given a chance to roam the land. Yasuke, Nobunaga's loyal retainer, was actually a black man. After Nobunaga's death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi took over and while foreigners were allowed to roam free for awhile, he eventually put very strict movement control orders on everyone, especially foreign-looking people. However, due to his anti-slavery laws, all slaves foreign and local that were owned by the Portuguese were set free and became free people. And then Tokugawa Ieyasu took over and the persecution on foreigners and Christianity started due to the Jesuit's aggressive conversion campaigns in Japan.

So tldr, none of these are easy. You need to do your research and depending on your interests, some research may be easier than others. For Ai-chan researching Chinese and Japanese is very easy because Ai-chan is Japanese. A British person may find industrial revolution setting research easier as it's closer to their heart.

Basically, Ai-chan's suggestion is do what is easy for you. After all, this is your first work, right? Don't be overambitious.

 

[Habtamu]

ancient china stomps the fodders, especially after reading way of the devil(even if i didn't finish it).

 

[RainingSky]

So I am closing this now, once I figure out how, and want to thank everyone for their opinions.
It was good to have quite a number of outside views of things.

There were actually 28 Voters ? I was shocked so many people were even interested.

The multiple Husbands premise was also refreshing. (Pal I tell you I had Ideas with it that are adult only content and may even give in to temptation of writing a story along the lines, once I have more than the smut I was almost startled myself.)


So, all of you have my utmost gratitude . Really thanks. I will be starting to write and hopefully soon I will have a complete plot.