Hey y'all! So we're doing screenplays in creative writing, and I have an idea for mine, but I want to know what y'all think since I have nothing else to blog about this week. Basically, there's an all female group of pirates that make their living by transporting cargo across the ocean and giving people passage. They also occasionally murder men who are tyrants or abusive toward women, because the leader of the crew comes from a country in which women were prohibited from having jobs, knowing any form of combat, etc., and they were basically just around to be confined to the house and pop out babies. So, she's naturally very distrusting of men. She stowed away on a pirate ship, where they taught her how to sword fight. She finds a bunch of misfit women and form a crew of pirates that are mostly honest, but will steal or kill if needed. There's also a group of cowboys, and while the pirates are in a small town dropping out cargo, the cowboys ask for quick passage away from the town because they have bad blood with the sheriff and need to leave. The pirates aren't happy about it because there's four men and one woman in the group of cowboys, but they need money badly, so they let them on for a really high price. They eventually end up working together and the cowboys spend more time on the ship, while the pirates consider settling down somewhere and not being at sea 90% of the time.
This was originally going to be a short story or novel idea, but if I've ever talked to you about one of my story ideas, you know that I have a billion ideas and then never follow through with any of them. So, I really liked this idea, but I just don't have the time or motivation to write a novel for fun right now, so I'm doing what I did last year and turning a story idea I know I won't use into my screenplay project. So, because there's a page limit, I won't get to fit all of my original plans for this story in, but I'm thinking that I'll make the main scene in the screenplay their meeting, and the cowboys asking for passage. It'll cut between the present and flashbacks from the main pirates past, such as her dad being killed for teaching her how to fight and encouraging rebellion, her stowing away and living with the pirates, and her meeting the other pirates now in her crew.
I want honest opinions please. I think it's a good idea in theory, but I don't know if that's a good scene to use for my project. I also have a character list I created when I thought I might turn this into a full story, if anyone is interested in seeing that.
4 comments:
Hi Laura,
I love your idea! It's super creative, and I would love to see a character list. I know you have a soft spot for pirates since you mentioned that Benny was your favorite character from the Queen's Gambit haha. I can't wait to see what you've come up with!
Love from
Clara
Hey Laura! A band of misfit pirates? Sign me up! I really love the idea and would love to read it when you're done. There's two books that it made me think of. 1) Six of Crows. It's about the teenage group of thieves who are attempting to pull off a major international heist. The leader, Kaz, has just about no morals and is called "Dirty Hands" because he doesn't care who he kills to get the job done. So maybe you could make most of the pirates morally corrupt in all aspects but one. Like they really value loyalty, but only when it's against men (or something like that, just thought it might be cool to write morally gray characters). Or maybe the female pirates want to get something out of the cowboys other than money. So there's an ulterior motive, too, that only the leader knows about. 2) The Dragon Republic (book two of the Poppy War series). There's a group of female pirates who are opium smugglers. The head female pirate employs these other female pirates who are seductive assassins. I hope you like some of these ideas! Even if you don't, I'm sure it'll turn out great. I really like the premise and can't wait to hear more about it! Good luck!
I am a huge pirate movie/book person! I love The Pirates of Penzance, especially the song "Modern Major General", and I really want to see it in person somewhere eventually. As for the women being super distrustful of the men, I like the tension that that would cause.
I think that the flashbacks would work really well. Is this going to be serious or comedic? The topics are pretty serious, but the situation is pretty funny- I mean Cowboys on an all female ship? Could be comedy gold.
I think that you should totally write it as a book though. I like the screen-play, but I am always partial to books.
Finally, the big question: romance. Will there be any romance??
I would definitely read your book!
Renee, I wouldn't call it romance, necessarily, but I thought it would be funny if one of the pirates goes bar hopping and sleeps with someone every single time the ship stops, and then there's a cowboy that's kind of a man whore as well. So when they're on the ship, everybody else is just like "seriously? They're at it again? Ew." My main pirate has sworn off men, because they've done nothing but cause her pain and while she doesn't automatically hate every man, she can't find it in herself to trust one enough to actually start something serious. I've noticed that in some modern media, there's sometimes a "cool girl" who thinks she doesn't need a man, she's just "one of the boys", whatever. But then she ends up getting with some guy that's not even remotely worth her time, and I think it sends the wrong message that women are flighty with their opinions. So, my main pirate has sworn off men, but she actually means it. There will be no romance for main character, because she doesn't need a man's validation😌
Izzy, they're definitely morally grey. Like they try to make the majority of their money from honest means, like transporting cargo, but sometimes you just gotta kill a rich jerk. I don't know what else they would want from the cowboys, but I might think about adding an element like that.
Thanks for the comments guys <3
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