The Holding DNA thread, which has digressed to John Grisham, has remined me that I have 2 ideas for a plot for a novel.

One is so good, that I dare not divulge it in a public forum....but I am willing to discuss it with any author that wants to give me credit.

The other is a bit tongue-in-cheek, so I don't mind divulging...

The premise is that at some time in the future, living space on Planet Earth is at a premium. At the same time, technology is so far advanced that most "work" is done by robots and merely overseen by people at computer consoles.

With this, the World Government has decided that because a family of dwarves can live in half the space that other people need to occupy (ceilings can be lowered significantly, 200 families in a high-rise as opposed to 100 families), all the population must undergo amputation of their legs. Technolgy can provide efficient, low-slung trolleys with which to get around on.

A group of activists reject this idea.....and civil (global) war ensues.

The plot will be a parody of the Spanish Civil War as depicted in Hemingway's "A Farewell To Arms".

Of course, the title will be, "A Farewell To Legs".

Could be a movie in it.

There is definitely a movie in my other plot idea......I just wish I could bounce it off an experienced author. I do not have the discipline or skills to write it myself......plus I'm short of a good ending because the implications of the premise are just too astronomical for me to foresee what could happen in the plot.....I imagine it could be a semi-letdown ending with a sequel expected.

Writing fiction is all about rewriting and editing.

I've got a novel gathering dust in old USB storages that I'm too lazy to rewrite again. Fear of rejection could enter the equation as well...

I was once talked into co-writing a novel for a published author, we fell out before the end but it did eventually get to hard copy. Appalling rubbish and dreadfully edited. I think I got a one line acknowledgment somewhere.

You're an interesting chap.

Sorry Harcourt, I won't buy it.

Sorry Harcourt, I won't buy it.

No doubt because it doesn't have pictures in it for you to colour in.

You can't judge a non-existant book from it's non-existant cover......I think your decision is a little premature.

But no matter.....I can live without the non-existant royalties from the loss of sale of one non-existant book.

I know a farang guy who pays for the publishing of his books then sells them personally in bookshops and souvenir places around north Thailand. I think it's called using a "vanity" publisher.

Most of his stuff is local travel orientated and he is a local expert on the Hills Tribes. (Qualifications include being married to a Lahu lady).

Edit: I just remembered, PeaceBlondie has a thread about HIS novel in the Pub forum if you want to compare notes Harcourt.

Sorry Harcourt, I won't buy it.

No doubt because it doesn't have pictures in it for you to colour in.

You can't judge a non-existant book from it's non-existant cover......I think your decision is a little premature.

But no matter.....I can live without the non-existant royalties from the loss of sale of one non-existant book.

Well thats a little bit harsh, perhaps you should lean over here so I can realign your jaw slightly .

Havent you ever been in a book store (I love reading), picked up a novel, read the back cover and put it down straight away.....it just didnt grab you?

I was just being honest.

Anyway, perhaps your other idea is a little more creative?

I read hugely but seem to have lost all sense of adventure. I have a list of favored authors who I follow avidly, after that a book has catch my eye in a newspaper review or be recommended by someone I know.

I can't remember the last time I walked into a shop, or even a public library and took home a book on the strength of the dust cover review.

The strange part comes long after you've finished the first draft.

"Could you change this to be about lesbian zombies in the Amazon?"

"This story has no Aleut rabbis poisoning caribou!

"Why not move this 200 years forward, to Star System yz78?""

^ Can I please PLEASE have some of what PB is taking?

Sorry Harcourt, I won't buy it.

No doubt because it doesn't have pictures in it for you to colour in.

You can't judge a non-existant book from it's non-existant cover......I think your decision is a little premature.

But no matter.....I can live without the non-existant royalties from the loss of sale of one non-existant book.

Well thats a little bit harsh, perhaps you should lean over here so I can realign your jaw slightly .

Havent you ever been in a book store (I love reading), picked up a novel, read the back cover and put it down straight away.....it just didnt grab you?

I was just being honest.

Anyway, perhaps your other idea is a little more creative?

Man!!! Yours is one of the easiest chains to yank!!!

Fair warning, though....I've got a cocnut jaw. You might damage your fist.

You need to give us a sample of your novel PB, plot outlines are worthless.

Reminds me of a famous author who's name escapes me now who told of being approached by a stranger with a "fantastic plot" for a novel. The deal was that the scribe would write it and they'd split the sales...

When I set up home in rural Thailand I wrote hugely, short stories, travel pieces, a 'blog, a novel; all of which found a home somewhere on world wide web in one form or another. Now I can't seem to be bothered. Not sure why, a couple of bad reviews perhaps (I'm quite thin skinned, neddy's barbs cut me to the quick), a failed joint project with a "real" writer, maybe the constant production of inanities on forums has blunted my creativity. Maybe I just ran out of words...

Sorry Harcourt, I won't buy it.

No doubt because it doesn't have pictures in it for you to colour in.

You can't judge a non-existant book from it's non-existant cover......I think your decision is a little premature.

But no matter.....I can live without the non-existant royalties from the loss of sale of one non-existant book.

Well thats a little bit harsh, perhaps you should lean over here so I can realign your jaw slightly .

Havent you ever been in a book store (I love reading), picked up a novel, read the back cover and put it down straight away.....it just didnt grab you?

I was just being honest.

Anyway, perhaps your other idea is a little more creative?

Man!!! Yours is one of the easiest chains to yank!!!

Fair warning, though....I've got a cocnut jaw. You might damage your fist.

Not really mate & don't worry about the coconut jaw, it was merely an expression term, im a lover not a fighter......maybe you can fit that line in your novel somewhere.

scea, thanks. Summaries and outlines are not a novel. Nor is one or two chapters. Not sure what to.

Get a good first chapter, work on it until you reckon it's in publishable format, this gives you the confidence to go on.

Then decide the outcome, think of an ending that will really grab the reader.

After that it's just a matter of filling in the gaps.

Scea, that's much too logical. I finished the first draft (263,000 words), cut out 180,000 words over the next 4 years, and wrote the outline and summary last month.

You have to decide what your goals for the novel are.

Mine was aimed directly at the international traveler, at about 80,000 words it's ideally packaged to be read on the average long distance international plane flight.

Nothing too complex, people don't like to be distracted from their holiday plans with rational thought.

Failed expat turns to drug dealing to make ends meet, sacrifices friend when things go wrong, flees with the junk, assessing wasted life as he goes.

But it ends happily when he murders a second friend and steals off a third.