The Next Great Novel?

[rainbase]

Here's an idea I'd like to float before this group. What's a good idea for a WW1 flying novel?

I'm seriously interested in trying my hand, but don't have a story. It seems to me that so many plot ideas have been tried. When I sit and kick around ideas they always hit me as cliche.

So I pose the question: what's a good idea for a story? Which nation's air force, squadron type, aircraft , time line... all that stuff? I'm keen to start hammering out an outline, but can't decide where to start. I know why I love the novels that are my favorites but really don't want copy those. I need a fresh perspective.

So then, I ask for help. Any ideas will be welcome. What would you hope to find a Great War flying novel about?

Oh yeah, one more thing: if I can get this project started I plan to write it here at the forum. I won't find better critics anywhere and will hopefully be able to avoid making factual errors.

[Roadhog]

Dear Jan, I have about five chapters on a WWI novel that is part love story, part war novel. I can tell you what works and doesn't work for me. VR, Roadhog

[buzz1941]

Start with characters and theme. Story will follow.

[Barrett]

Buzz offers good advice, especially in a market as limited as GW fiction.
If you really-really want to break ground, forget the western front and look for another angle: Balkans, Middle East, even Africa.

Duel Over Douai (occasionally referenced here) remains a WIP but this past year has made more progress than in the previous several. (I lost track but think we're into Year 11 or so.) We three amigos have acknowledged that we may have to self publish.

[rainbase]

Originally Posted by buzz1941

Start with characters and theme. Story will follow.

Hey Buzz,
I don't think this approach will work for me. I tried attempts like that when I was younger but they always seem to get just so far and then fizzle out. Like all my project that came to fruition, I really need to start this with a full story imagined in outline form. I want to know where it's starting and where it ends.
I'm thinking that I might just possibly MAYBE pull if off if I use a methodical approach and take my time with it.
Alas, what I don't have yet, though, is a working story.

Hey Barrett, I'm interested in "Duel Over Douai". Great title, for sure! Is this a German story?

[Barrett]

DOD is a working title, especially since none of the plot occurs near Douai! (Other possible titles include Chattering Spandaus or: Tomorrow's Dead.)

It's a multi-national story that began as an email exchange among the three of us and sort of grew from there. What distinguishes DOD from every other GW novel--and nearly every other type beside--is that the authors have injected themselves into the plot.

[Hans Jaeger]

Suggest you click on Aerodrome's books link and its fiction section. There you'll find that "The Ace," the new novel by by Jack D. Hunter, author of "The Blue Max," is already being offered pre-publication by Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

[Stachel]

Thanks for the tip on The Ace, Stachel

[buzz1941]

My first novel I plotted heavily, with an outline for each chapter. Then, while writing, the characters took over and dictated the path!

[Roadhog]

Dear Buzz, The exact same thing happened in my Civil War novel. Scott