I have the ending for a story, but no clue how to get to it in an interesting way - anyone got general tips?

I'd rather not publically spoiler the idea, all i'll say is it blends computer science with mythical prophecies.

I am learning some things about psychology and myths, and how there are certain ARCHETYPES which reoccur in stories, video games, movies, etc, which is why they are thrillers. I would examine some of these archetypes (talked about by Jung, and also Joseph Campbell), and then mold a story to fit.

That's good for character design, not so good for events.

this looks like an interesting resource...

Also, some of the character ideas imply certain events; such as the Threshold Guardian, implies a threshold, and a boon...and a hero...

Let's forget the spoilers, here's the ending:

The characters (who I haven't yet invented fully) discover that there was a prophecy detailing what would happen and how the day would be saved, but it was wrong - it was wrong because the data was corrupted.

It turns out that all along, prophecies are just programs running in the simulator in which the entire universe runs, and this particular prophecy was stored on a dodgy harddrive.

My idea is that the sci-fi elements only come in at the very end.

some sort of interaction with an astronaut physicist, and village folks. (village because at that point in history on the most rural locations are best for stargazing), and are also the only places inhabited by people who still believ in prophecies.

This post was last modified: 07-30-2012 04:51 AM by sg1008.

An astronaut physicist? Like an astronaut who studies physics?

precisely. like a niel degrasse tyson who also flies up into space every once in awhile...increase his chnaces of stumbling upon something in space, or an alien, or a fragment of something...

This post was last modified: 07-30-2012 04:56 AM by sg1008.

Feel like writing it with me?

I'll start with the opening:

The elder wandered out of his house and looked towards the sky, the odd flashes puzzled him and he could not understand why the clouds were looking so odd. It reminded him of the strange device the visitors had brought, what they called "a laptop". When the visitors had shown a "video" on this device, it looked so similar.

Perhaps you could somehow weave the occurence of a solar flare as observed by the elder, with the same flare as experienced by astronauts in space (which would cause major problems, such as a power outage on one of the space stations, which would blow up in the sky creating what looks like to the elder as the appearence of a star/spirit).

This post was last modified: 07-30-2012 05:43 AM by sg1008.

Most astronauts now-a-days are physicists already. Great story theme Gareth, I watched something called Outlander that is similar to sg1008 suggestions, and the reverse of your opening - only at the end is technology recognized. Excited to see where this leads you.

I myself am going on a theory that not only is the software needing to be updated (a better "hero's journey/indiana jones adventure)- which I and mine refer to as the hypocephalus, but the actual hardware running the software is outdated (rebuilding the cpu innards and outwards)- which we refer to as the singularity. Not trying to high-jack your thread, just your story has the elements of something that I believe is true in physics using the strand theory (quadratic harmony)- the content/story, combined with the two theories relativity (theatrical mathematics)- the processor/hardrive/memory. What you say is closer to what is real, including an alchemical artificial intelligence that is part of the mix. Blah blah blah- sorry G, just excited for you and want to see how you develop the story. Hope you share more with us.

Im really bad at adding onto stories by the way...I tend to write with a lot of detail and easily get carried away and forget about the plot, unless I outline it beforehand lol....

That's a good thing for some genres, hard sci-fi being one such genre

ah, well, then I can keep adding to the outline (including ghost plots), and later dish out some details, or actually...I tend to go back and forth between detail oriented and plot oriented....I can be a random contributor lol

This post was last modified: 07-30-2012 05:53 AM by sg1008.

note: the village has to be in a harsh environment, somewhere no body wants to live or start a business, hence it is still rural, fairly traditional, and lacking contact with anyone in the rest of world except scientists....perhaps a desert or an arctic tundra...or somewhere creviced between mountains--impossible to get to and thus isolated.

This post was last modified: 07-30-2012 05:56 AM by sg1008.