I'm having trouble planning out a major aspect of my novel

[EnzoC]

I'm writing a novel about space pirates. The main character finds out that his grandfather used to be part of a legendary pirate crew that left behind a treasure that nobody ever recovered. He died and left the MC a clue that will lead him to the treasure. The problem is that I have no idea what the clue is and I don't know how to plan out a treasure hunt. I want this to be a 4 book series and I'm not sure how to come up with puzzles and clues. I need to stretch the treasure hunt out until the end of the third book. How do you come up with puzzles that are complex enough that it'll be believable that nobody was able to figure them out for decades? Since this takes place hundreds of years in the future I feel like technology should definitely play a big role in this. Does anyone have tips for me?

 

[Enlightened]

These author-created worksheets may help you in developing a solution....

Solving a Mystery: https://www.eadeverell.com/writing-worksheet-wednesday-solving-mystery/

Mini Quest: https://www.eadeverell.com/writing-worksheet-wednesday-mini-quest/

A simple example is The Goonies movie. The kids find a treasure map, an artefact shaped like a skull (that serves as a key later), and some kind of gold coin. The skull helps open a secret passage in the caves. The coin triangulates where the entrance to the tunnel is (the Fratelli hideout).

Three items were created to prove the legend of One-Eyed Willy (pirate captain), to the boys, and made the adventure a little more believable to the audience.

 

[EnzoC]

Thanks for the links. I actually started watching The Goonies the other day but I didn't finish watching it lol

 

[Brightdreamer]

A few things to consider:

- Is this a four-book concept, with four-book characters? Maybe locking in to the length before you know the story is causing too much strain on the plot's backbone.

- Does it have to be the same clue they follow for three books? Maybe they follow the clue in the first book - but the treasure has been stolen, or isn't what they thought it was. Now in book 2 they have to track down what happened to the treasure, or find out what it really is... and along the way they figure out something about the treasure's origins (or purpose, if it's a Macguffin treasure) that leads to the plot in the third book (as a quick for-instance.)

- As Enlightenment mentioned, study other treasure hunt tales and movies. It's often not just one clue, but an accumulation of items, sort of like an adventure game: you unlock one puzzle, get something that helps you with a later puzzle and opens a new path or points to new sources of information, and onward to the goal. And read about real-life treasure hunts: some of them are pretty bizarre themselves.

- When in doubt, consider your characters and your setting. What can they do to maintain interest and generate complications and enable the action?

As for the clue... you really can't answer that until you know more about your world, your setting, and what the goal ultimately is. Some standard clues are: maps (or map fragments), keys, passages in diaries, trinkets (the obligatory locket with a hidden message, an amulet or ring, etc.), a photograph that links people the MC doesn't understand how they're linked ("Is that my mother with Professor Crackpot, the famed treasure hunter - and are they in some sort of Aztec ruin? But Mom never left Iowa... or so she told me...."), a painting with symbols that point to a mystery, finding a secret room or passage...

 

[Enlightened]

Definitely watch The Goonies to completion. The ending is the best part.

Edit: Try going through the Adventure games (point-and-click adventures) and see if any of the puzzles help stimulate your own. Click on the letters, individually, to be taken to databases of walkthroughs: https://www.gameboomers.com/walkthroughs.html

No problem. As far as clues, they can be anything physical, writing in a book, an old newspaper article, whatever. Below are some ideas I took out of a list I generated for my fantasy WIP....

Artefacts, Bones, Book / Ledger / Journal / Diary, Candle, Clothes [ Belt Buckle, Cape, Cloak, Gloves, Shoes ], Coins, Crown / Tiara, Eyes / Eyeball, Feather / Quill, Finger / Toe, Flask, Horn (animal), Jewelry [Amulets and Periapts, Bracelet / Bangle. Brooch, Earrings, Hairpin, Hatpin, Locket, Medallion, Medals (war), Necklace, Pendant, Rings (Engagement, Promise, Thumb, Toe, Wedding, other) , Talisman ], Jewels, Key, Maps, Noise Makers (Bells), Orb, Pocket Watch, Statuettes / Figurines, Stones and Charmstones, Teeth, Toys (Voodoo Doll), Weapons

 

[Enlightened]

- Does it have to be the same clue they follow for three books? Maybe they follow the clue in the first book - but the treasure has been stolen, or isn't what they thought it was. Now in book 2 they have to track down what happened to the treasure, or find out what it really is... and along the way they figure out something about the treasure's origins (or purpose, if it's a Macguffin treasure) that leads to the plot in the third book (as a quick for-instance.)

To piggyback, JK Rowling used something called symmetry (of events in series). The infographic in the link below may not help you develop your own clues, in series, but you can see how things are mirrored between books of the Harry Potter series (that can be used for clues, or whatever elements you want to show as significant for someone to solve in your series)....

http://imgur.com/r/harrypotter/Zt7Mz

 

[EnzoC]

A few things to consider:

- Is this a four-book concept, with four-book characters? Maybe locking in to the length before you know the story is causing too much strain on the plot's backbone.

- Does it have to be the same clue they follow for three books? Maybe they follow the clue in the first book - but the treasure has been stolen, or isn't what they thought it was. Now in book 2 they have to track down what happened to the treasure, or find out what it really is... and along the way they figure out something about the treasure's origins (or purpose, if it's a Macguffin treasure) that leads to the plot in the third book (as a quick for-instance.)

- As Enlightenment mentioned, study other treasure hunt tales and movies. It's often not just one clue, but an accumulation of items, sort of like an adventure game: you unlock one puzzle, get something that helps you with a later puzzle and opens a new path or points to new sources of information, and onward to the goal. And read about real-life treasure hunts: some of them are pretty bizarre themselves.

- When in doubt, consider your characters and your setting. What can they do to maintain interest and generate complications and enable the action?

As for the clue... you really can't answer that until you know more about your world, your setting, and what the goal ultimately is. Some standard clues are: maps (or map fragments), keys, passages in diaries, trinkets (the obligatory locket with a hidden message, an amulet or ring, etc.), a photograph that links people the MC doesn't understand how they're linked ("Is that my mother with Professor Crackpot, the famed treasure hunter - and are they in some sort of Aztec ruin? But Mom never left Iowa... or so she told me...."), a painting with symbols that point to a mystery, finding a secret room or passage...

Even though I don't know all of the clues that the characters will follow to find the treasure, I do have ideas for some of the plot twists along the way. Technically, they find the treasure in the third book, but some stuff happens and it ends on a huge cliffhanger. The fourth book wraps everything up. I didn't mean to imply that they were just following one clue throughout all of the books. The MC's grandfather leaves something behind for him after he dies and that's what kicks off his journey. I dust don't know how to plan out any of the clues that inevitably lead them to the treasure. I guess I should think some more about what happened to the pirate crew that left behind the treasure and why they ended up disappearing. Pirates all over have been searching for the treasure because it was left behind by the most infamous outlaw in the galaxy. So other pirates and the intergalactic government are also looking to recover it.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Again, study real-life treasure hunts, and watch/read treasure hunt stories to get a sense of how they put things together.

Seems to me like you have ideas, but not yet a storyline... and, again, it's kind of early to call the length until you get a stronger sense of what you're working with, IMHO. Write down what you do have on notecards, lay them out, and see if you can figure out how to most interestingly string them together - or where there are gaps and leaps that need another notecard to bridge.

If you want specific plot help, you might head to the AW Sandbox; it's password-protected (the password's in the subforum description), and you can go into more details.

 

[EnzoC]

Thank you

 

[benbenberi]

As the author, you get to start at the end and work backwards. What's the story you want your treasure hunt to support? What kinds of events, activities and scenarios do you want your characters to go through to make the story happen? Knowing that, you can engineer the clues, puzzles, & linkages that will generate the kinds of situations you want. Remember: it only looks mysterious to the reader because they don't see all the machinery you're operating behind the scenes.

 

[Gillhoughly]

What you need to do is read more books, especially series books by writers who know how to do this kind of writing.

Analyse each book, break down the scenes and what happens in each that leads to the next plot point. I am guessing the target audience for this is mid-grade kids, and that's the part of the library you hang out in.

Watching a movie might help a little, but you are working on a book, not a film. Two different critters.

You do not need to get complicated about no one understanding the clues for years on end. Have the protag discover a long hidden clue in the first place. Turn it into a race from plot point to plot point, not a puzzle-solving campaign. In Treasure Island, more than one set of characters were chasing after the MacGuffin.

Base the story on characters, not the plot. People fall in love with characters, not a plot.

Read at least 100 books for each one you plan to write. If you go, "Hot puppies, read only 100 books? I can do that easy-peasy!" then you have the fire in the belly to do this. If it sounds like a horrible chore, then take up paint by numbers or quilting instead. All great writers are insatiable readers. The library needs to be your new second home.

Start with these:

Terry Pratchett's kid's books: https://geekdad.com/2015/03/cool-books-terry-pratchett/

Johnny and the Bomb is especially good as modern kids figure out how to save one's grandfather while he's a child as they time travel back to WW2. All that and he got the physics right! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADQDFLW/?tag=absowrit-20


Steven K. Smith's mysteries:

And anything Nancy Drew. Don't turn off on these. I am reading them 50 years later and they hold up.

Sherlock Holmes. Yes, look at those classics. Learn from a good mentor.

The Genius Files by Dan Gutman -- five books, all entertaining

[URL]https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061827665/?tag=absowrit-20

[/URL]

 

[EnzoC]

What you need to do is read more books, especially series books by writers who know how to do this kind of writing.

Analyse each book, break down the scenes and what happens in each that leads to the next plot point. I am guessing the target audience for this is mid-grade kids, and that's the part of the library you hang out in.

Watching a movie might help a little, but you are working on a book, not a film. Two different critters.

You do not need to get complicated about no one understanding the clues for years on end. Have the protag discover a long hidden clue in the first place. Turn it into a race from plot point to plot point, not a puzzle-solving campaign. In Treasure Island, more than one set of characters were chasing after the MacGuffin.

Base the story on characters, not the plot. People fall in love with characters, not a plot.

Read at least 100 books for each one you plan to write. If you go, "Hot puppies, read only 100 books? I can do that easy-peasy!" then you have the fire in the belly to do this. If it sounds like a horrible chore, then take up paint by numbers or quilting instead. All great writers are insatiable readers. The library needs to be your new second home.

Start with these:

Terry Pratchett's kid's books: https://geekdad.com/2015/03/cool-books-terry-pratchett/

Johnny and the Bomb is especially good as modern kids figure out how to save one's grandfather while he's a child as they time travel back to WW2. All that and he got the physics right! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADQDFLW/?tag=absowrit-20


Steven K. Smith's mysteries:

And anything Nancy Drew. Don't turn off on these. I am reading them 50 years later and they hold up.

Sherlock Holmes. Yes, look at those classics. Learn from a good mentor.

The Genius Files by Dan Gutman -- five books, all entertaining

[URL]https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061827665/?tag=absowrit-20

[/URL]

I liked reading things like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys & The Boxcar Children when I was a kid. And in middle school I used to finish reading a new book every other day. But I'll take your advice and try to read even more novels so that I can have a better understanding of how to craft a story like this.

 

[Gillhoughly]

I'll take your advice and try to read even more novels so that I can have a better understanding of how to craft a story like this.

That's fantastic! These days you'll be reading/re-reading them from the point of view of a writer. Study the structure and length. Mid-grade novels are 40-70K words, so there's not much room for too many complicated clue twists, plus world building for space opera.

I'll add in what used to be called a "coming of age" story, now they're all young adult. This one IS full of twists, but it's by a multi-Hugo winner and she's been my mentor since the 90s. Even in books I've read many times, I always learn something new.

The Warrior's Apprentice, by Lois McMaster Bujold

Young Miles fails his physical exam for getting into the Imperial Service. He's 4 foot 9 on a planet of military mad six-footers and learns to compensate, usually by being the smartest person in the room, or making people think he IS the smartest person in the room. He's the poster child for "fake it till you make it." This time he fakes his way across several wormhole jumps posing as "Admiral Naismith," and winds up in charge of a mercenary fleet. Tiny problem: if he survives the war, he still has to face his parents when he gets home.

It's way deeper than that, but start reading.

 

[Azdaphel]

I have read many adventure stories like those of Jules Verne when I was young. Even if not all were about a treasure search, they were all about searching for something. I don't remember reading a story longer than one book (perhaps two) so four seems a bit too much. If you have never read a book of Jules Verne (Shame on you!... just joking), I recommend it.

Also, I to want to thank all of you for posting advice. I'm beginning to and may need those.

 

[EnzoC]

I have read many adventure stories like those of Jules Verne when I was young. Even if not all were about a treasure search, they were all about searching for something. I don't remember reading a story longer than one book (perhaps two) so four seems a bit too much. If you have never read a book of Jules Verne (Shame on you!... just joking), I recommend it.

Also, I to want to thank all of you for posting advice. I'm beginning to and may need those.

It was originally going to be 5 books but I was worried that it was too much which is why I cut it down to 4 and ended the actual treasure hunt in the third book