MASTER LISTS FOR WRITERS: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More (5 page)

SOUNDS FOR SETTINGS

motorcycle engine revving

car motor running

scraping on windshield

seat belt buckle clinking

car door closing

car stereo bass

cars rushing by

cars honking

car crashing

construction equipment

vehicles beeping as they back up

tires or footsteps on gravel

police, fire, or ambulance siren

fire alarm

tornado siren

trains on tracks

helicopters

bicycle wheels spinning

bicycle bell

horseshoes on cobblestones

rattling carriages

factory whistle

buzz saw

chainsaw

hammering

sanding wood

carpenter drill

dentist drill

ice cream truck music

balloon popping

garage door opening

lawn mower

lawn sprinkler

shoveling dirt

weights clanking at a gym

drone of a treadmill

basketball bouncing

shoes squeaking on a basketball court

squeaky toy

cat meowing

cat purring

dog barking

dog whining

dog panting

rooster crowing

cows mooing

crickets chirping

locusts or cicadas droning

a fly buzzing

a mosquito buzzing

bees buzzing

frogs croaking

birds chirping

birds or bats flapping

owl hooting

rain on a roof

thunder

lightning strike

transformer blowing

trains on tracks

train whistle

warning bell at a train crossing

foghorn

ocean waves

seagulls

whistling wind

flag flapping

wind chimes

leaves crunching underfoot

snow crunching underfoot

raking leaves

crackling fire

fireworks

gun loading

gun cocking

gunfire

alarm clock

ticking clock

grandfather clock chiming

church bells

dinner bell

school bell

buzz of fluorescent lights

typing on keyboard

typewriter

stapler

scissors cutting paper or fabric

sewing machine

radio static

microphone feedback

marker squeaking on paper or a dry erase board

copy machine

elevator hum

elevator ding

hum of air conditioning and heating

announcements over loudspeakers

briefcase clicking shut

backpack or suitcase zipping

airplane taking off or landing

airplane bins clicking shut

airplane “unfasten seat belt” bing

footsteps in halls

phone ringing

busy signal on an old phone

dial tone

doorbell

knock on door

creaking door

slamming door

breaking glass

TV blaring

clinking of ice in a glass

clinking pocket change

jingling keys

buzz of conversation

laughter

cheering

clapping

crying baby

laughing baby

screaming children

coughing

blowing nose

sneezing

snoring

splashing in water

broom sweeping

vacuum cleaner

washer or dryer hum

squeak of cleaning a window or mirror

bath or shower running

splashing water

dripping faucet

toilet flushing

electric hand dryer

hair dryer

aerosol can spraying

chair scraping on floor

coffee brewing

tea kettle whistling

sizzling oil or bacon

popcorn popping

rustle of potato chip bag

slurping through a straw

aluminum can being crushed

garbage disposal

microwave ding

Styrofoam cooler squeaking

champagne cork popping

SCENTS FOR SETTINGS

There are thousands of food, flower, and plant smells, and I have included many that I think are particularly evocative or seem to carry a long way. Some of these are brand-name items, because their smells are that distinctive. I apologize for the disgusting smells on this list, but I’m sure your characters encounter gross things now and again.

Women in general have a significantly better sense of smell than men do, because they have so many more neurons in the olfactory bulbs in their brains. However, you could certainly write a male character with an acute sense of smell.

gasoline

pool chlorine

freshly mowed grass

wet earth

manure

ozone

salty ocean air

suntan lotion

lilacs

honeysuckle

jasmine

lavender

mint

sugar maple leaves

burning leaves

campfire

peat fire

pine trees

creosote bush

decomposing wood

skunk

mold

must

old asbestos tiles

dusty heating ducts

floor wax

new textbooks

fresh pencil shavings

crayons

markers

tempera paint

paste

Play-Doh

wet sidewalks

hot pavement

fresh tar

ripe garbage

rotting meat

car exhaust

jet fuel

diesel fumes from buses

air freshener in cabs

cigarette smoke

cigar smoke

urine

sewer gas (a rotten egg smell)

charred pretzels

hot dog stands

fresh coffee

burned coffee

barbecue

takeout pizza

fresh-baked bread

fast food French fries

movie popcorn

ripe peaches

lemon

sautéed garlic

bacon

toast

cinnamon

curry

cookies baking

chocolate

roasting chicken or turkey

just-blown-out matches

pipe tobacco

whiskey

beer

marijuana

incense

patchouli

candles

old books

fresh twenty-dollar bills

new carpet

new paint

fresh varnish

new vinyl shower curtain liner

wet dog

litter box

diaper pail

feces

flatulence

sour milk

vomit

new clothing

fresh laundry

dirty laundry

stinky sneakers

Band-Aids

Neosporin

blood

rubbing alcohol

vinegar

Pine-Sol

Fabuloso (cleaner popular in Mexico)

furniture polish

ammonia

bleach

sawdust

fresh lumber

leather

gun oil

bouquet of roses

Chanel No. 5

perfume

cold cream

Vicks VapoRub

aftershave

Old Spice

deodorant

mouthwash

chewing gum

morning breath

sweat

body odor

soap

shampoo

hair dye

hairspray

nail polish

nail polish remover

shoe polish

wool coat

baby powder

the top of a baby’s head

puppy breath

3. PLOTTING

You’ll notice that all my plot ideas are about conflict. A story is boring without it, not to mention unrealistic. Shakespeare wrote, “The course of true love never did run smooth,” and that’s true of the course of almost everything else as well.

The right plot, of course, depends on your character. Let’s say you have a story about someone who is compelled to spend a week at a nudist resort. That may not be a very interesting story if it stars a free-spirited bohemian type, but it’s great for a conservative, modest character. You want the storyline to introduce obstacles that make people have to struggle, change, and grow.

Although I adore stories about friendship, I didn’t make a separate category for it, because there are many storylines in the other sections that can be used for friends, too.

Some of the ideas here are more specific than others. However, every single one is so skeletal that it could be handled in countless different ways. They aren’t entire plots, just thought starters, and the way you develop them is what will make them great.

50 ROMANCE PLOTS

Romance plots aren’t just for romance novels. They are often central to young adult novels, literary novels, movie scripts, and even fantasy novels. Frequently, romance provides a subplot for other genres of storytelling as well. Love is complicated, and you might use more than one of these story ideas in your next work.

As you read these, please remember that the pronouns are just placeholders, and you can cast people of any gender or no particular gender into any role.

1. She’s already ruled him out—she made up her mind a long time ago that she would only marry a doctor, or she would
   never
   date a biker again.
   
2. They are competitors for the same job or the same championship.
   
3. They are straight-up enemies. He wants to buy the land to build a resort, and she wants to see it turned into a nature sanctuary. He’s the defense attorney, and she’s the prosecutor. They’re soldiers on opposing sides of the war… the possibilities are endless here!
   
4. He already won...he inherited an estate that should have been hers, or he got the job that she was hoping to be promoted into, and she’s seething.
   
5. He broke her heart in the past. Maybe there was a good reason behind it, or maybe he was an idiot then and realizes it now. It’s possible he just
   ignored
   her.
   
6. She did our heroine wrong in the past, or maybe she wronged the heroine’s family member or friend.
   
7. He did something wrong in the past, period. Although she wasn’t the victim, it was really bad. How can she be sure he’s changed?
   

1. She has trust issues, because her last relationship ended in a terrible betrayal.
   
2. He has intimacy issues. Maybe because of a traumatic past, he feels too vulnerable if anyone knows about his real emotions or weaknesses. Maybe she’s a psychic, a behavioral expert, or just the one person who can see right through him… and it makes him uncomfortable as hell.
   
3. She doesn’t want to be in a relationship at all. She’s taken a break from dating, or she vowed to never get tied down.
   
4. She believes no one can truly love her. Perhaps she made a terrible mistake in the past, or she’s not attractive in the conventional manner, or she’s a “fallen woman” in a repressive era.
   
5. They are good friends, and they don’t want to risk ruining their friendship by taking it to the next level.
   
6. They are co-workers, and they don’t want to make things weird at the office, bar, or school where they both work.
   
7. He has a secret. He might be in a witness protection program, for instance, or he might have an undisclosed medical condition.
   
8. She’s freaked out by who he really is—a werewolf, ex-con, or a funeral director.
   
9. It was supposed to be sex only. They were going to be friends with benefits, or maybe he’s a male escort. Falling in love goes against the original arrangement.
   

1. Their love was supposed to be fake. They were pretending to be in love or married, or they entered a marriage of convenience. It can’t be real, can it? On a related note…
   
2. He was faking it at first. Maybe he made a bet that he could bed her, or he pretended to like her so he could learn her secrets and be the journalist who broke the story.
   
3. She was stuck with him. He’s a partner on a job she wanted to do by herself, or he rescued her when she was actually pretty happy where she was. She doesn’t want to admit she’s actually falling for him.
   
4. He has moral qualms about getting into a relationship. He might be her teacher, her captor, or her employer. Alternatively, maybe she’s his best friend’s ex, and that gives him pause.
   
5. She’s a mess. She’s grieving the death of her husband, partner, or child, or she has PTSD from battle or being kidnapped.
   
6. He has a mental illness or addiction that causes problems in the relationship.
   
7. Their love is forbidden by others. It’s against the rules, spoken or unspoken, of their family, organization, community, nation, or religion.
   
8. Our hero isn’t sure if he wants to risk making a move, because the guy he likes might not be gay.
   
9. Our heroine is confused, because she thought she liked guys, but now she’s crushing on a girl.
   

1. Their cultures clash. It could be that he’s a modern man and she’s from ancient Greece, or she’s a big-city girl and he’s a small-town boy. This may overlap with the next one.
   
2. They are from different social classes.
   
3. One of them is promised to someone else. The wedding might already be planned. She might have reasons for going through with a loveless or lackluster marriage.
   
4. One of them is actually married to someone else. It might be legitimate. On the other hand, maybe it is some weird legal, not-consummated arrangement, or maybe her husband is an abusive monster.
   
5. She is infatuated with someone else instead of our hero. It may be that she doesn’t realize yet that this other person is awful.
   
6. She is interested in someone else in addition to our hero, and she’s having trouble making a decision. Maybe she refuses to choose.
   
7. Their time together is limited. Possibly she’s going abroad to study in the fall, his work visa is almost up, or she’s about to go on a space mission to another planet, never to return. What’s the point of getting serious?
   
8. Being together would require a big sacrifice. She would have to say no to her dream job, or he would have to live in New York City when his cowboy heart loves the Montana skies.
   
9. He’s a danger to her safety. Maybe he’s a vampire, or maybe he has enemies in the mafia.
   

1. She thinks she’ll only make him unhappy, because she’s dying of a disease, suffering under a curse, or can’t have children. (Note that in many cases, this conflict may be exaggerated in the character’s mind.)
   
2. He’s ugly, freaky, or scary-looking.
   
3. She’s disguised as someone he would never fall for… a man when he’s only into women, or a conservative when he’s a die-hard liberal.
   
4. She may or may not be real at all. Maybe he is being catfished, or maybe he is meeting a fairy or alien in his dreams.
   
5. They can’t get together in real life. There may be an ocean or a few centuries between them.
   
6. He is a suspect in a criminal investigation.
   
7. They have terrible first impressions of one another, and it’s hard to admit they were wrong. They might have gotten off to an awful start by arguing about something.
   
8. Her family is the problem. Maybe they are obnoxious or immoral, and he doesn’t want to get involved with that. Alternately, maybe she has a couple of kids, and while they are cute, this is not what he imagined for himself.
   
9. He has a reputation... as a heartless womanizer, a stone cold killer, or a greedy corporate lawyer.
   
10. She doesn’t want distractions. She has one very important job to do, and she can’t afford to get sidetracked.
    
11. He loves her, but she doesn’t know him. Maybe he knows her from an alternate universe, or maybe she has amnesia.
    

1. He is too controlling, because he’s trying to protect her. Maybe he doesn’t want her to be ostracized by Victorian society or to be in danger by becoming a firefighter.
   
2. He doesn’t see her in a romantic way. For instance, she might be the younger sister of his best friend, and he still thinks of her as a kid.
   
3. They were lovers before, and it ended. Would it be crazy to try again? Would he take her back?
   
4. The job is getting in the way. It’s hard to be romantic when you’re working day and night on a political campaign or helping fellow victims of the airplane crash survive in the mountains.
   
5. Their personalities clash. Maybe he’s driven, while she’s very laid-back. Maybe he’s an eternal optimist and she’s a pessimist, so they get on each other’s nerves. They will have to meet in the middle, or at least accept one another, in order to make it work.