Day 234: The Book of Choices

There's this competition I mentioned in one of my posts a month or two ago called the book of choices. I'm going to get started working on it today. I figured I would make a post where I went through the process. This idea is one that formed pretty much whole in my mind, but I'll go through the ideation process anyway to show off the whole shebang. Tomorrow I will plot out the story, scene by scene.

First off, what is this book of choices thing anyway? Here's the prompt from the competition website:

Create a story centered on a mysterious and sinister book that, upon contact with blood, reveals choices to the reader. Each choice is unpleasant and laden with consequences.  

What comes to mind when I think about hard choices are a bunch of miscellaneous questions bordering on comedy. Would you rather be a beaver with a snaggletooth or a shark with no teeth at all? Would you rather be stuck in an elevator with your ex or your mother in law? That sort of thing. Too silly for my tastes. I'm happy to ask these questions for a gag, but the thought of writing thousands of words about it makes me cringe.

So something more serious then. What kind of question would you least want to see in this book after opening it? You probably thought of something along the lines of, 'give up X loved one or Y loved one, choose now!' This has been done a million times in a million different scenarios and honestly it just sounds boring to write. That being said, the stakes are looking a little better. It's a very emotional choice, one that can't really be made on the basis of logic unless you're one cold-hearted SOB. The choice is impossible, even in the hypothetical. In fact, most of these ultra high stakes choices end up being something of a trolley problem. You know, the trolley is headed for five people tied to a track, but you can pull a lever and send it toward just one? Those are interesting philosophically, but awful to write a story about. The whole point is that there is no good choice, and without a good choice for my main character to find, there can't be a very satisfying ending. I'd be ok writing a story about how some choices can't be made, but in this case, I want to win the competition. A good story needs a good ending, therefore I'm going to avoid a true trolley problem at all costs. I need a happy medium. For the story to be interesting, the choice must seem impossible, but have a good answer that the reader might pick up on at any point in the story. All along, the answer must be right there.

Not much of a result there though. I'm not much closer to finding a question to ask with this story. Let's widen the scope of the problem and instead ask 'what are some interesting choices one might face?' There are billions of answers, but I think the one that most stories face is probably the best one to pursue here. Most stories force a character to face this choice. Indiana Jones could choose not to go after the Arc of the Covenant, likely keeping him out of danger, but if the Nazis get the Arc, then he'd be choosing to let many others die by doing nothing. He chooses potential death for himself to save others' lives. Luke Skywalker is forced to choose between saving his friends or completing his training. Life for himself, or death for his friends. Pretty much everything boils down to this question. So why not take this opportunity to ask it directly?

Personally, I'd like to think as broadly as possible here. Life or death, for everything. You might think the choice is obvious, but remember, the book must have consequences for both choices. I think everyone and everything living forever would become a disaster really fast. People with mortal wounds can't die, and instead suffer forever. Animal populations rapidly become impossible to manage. Plants that would have limited growth instead start to take over buildings, maybe entire cities. Choosing death is just as bad. The landscape is barren, nothing moves, everything is as it will be forever.

Well, ok, that's a cool idea in my opinion, and I for one am happy to write about it, but how can a plot possibly be created from that? Doesn't it also suffer from the trolley problem? And how is there an obvious answer to this question lying in wait the whole time?!? Looks like I haven't made much progress after all, but I think when I delve into the plot tomorrow I'll be able to resolve these questions. The topic is incredibly broad, giving me lots of room to work with. I'm sure I can come up with something ... (Ok you caught me, I already did, but you'll just have to wait for tomorrow's post cause I'm not making a post this massive, ok?)

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley