Thread: Research help for my story idea at hand plz

My story idea is this: the main character (a female) was having a chat with someone on the Internet and eventually she befriended him. Soon in the story, that particular guy become obsessed with her until to the point of stalking her online and IRL. Later she moved onto a secluded country home, feeling that she would be safe from his stalking habits -- and to her horror he tracked her down and threatens to rape her. She has only herself (her home was kilometers away from civilization) and her wits to survive this ordeal.

It sounds like a suspense story, but sadly, I'm suffering a writer's block thereby I can't push through with the story idea at hand. What kind of research should I do? Can you refer me what books -- fiction and non-fiction -- should I read for my idea to pan out? Thanks a lot!!

The last time that happened to me I tricked the guy into following me out to an abandoned ranch and shot him. I don't think I killed him but there was a lot of blood. He stopped bothering me after that.

I hope this is helpful.

That's not a bad idea. You are already in a rural setting. Find a way to lure him away from the house. The woman has been tramping these woods now for weeks and knows every deer trail and thicket. She can get him lost, ambush him, bury the body, plant roses over him, drive his vehicle a hundred miles away, park it by a bar on a busy Saturday night, ride the bus home, and write a murder mystery about the death of a stalker.

^^^ Hee hee! Good one.

[edit] Actually that makes a pretty excellent point. The only way you have a real story based on the above premise is if the woman runs away instead of fighting back. Her fear and desire to escape the stalker have to be driving the narrative, or no story. I mean, there WOULD be a story, but it would be over pretty quick--not really what you're looking for. [/edit]

As for the first part, read up on what happened to an internet icon known as Cracky-chan from the 4chan message boards. She got an entire group of hackers stalking her, digging up pretty much all her personal info and finally even stalking her in person. Finally she disappeared off the internet.

She should ask him for money to help pay off her medical bills to cover her sex change operation she had a few years earlier, and for all the nasty STD meds. If he's still interested, then just shoot him.

patrick, were you able to resolve your writer's block? If not then here is a suggestion, walk away from the story, then look at it again. there she is at the country home, now give her some resources, like a family member, lover, or someone on her side that finds out where she is and from there they plot to get rid of this guy....

Perhaps you can imagine that you are a different person who reads your story for the very first time. What would you like to know more about? Motivation for stalking, the stalker/woman's background, personalities of the characters etc.

Well, a good bit of research for you would probably be to research locations (look at google maps to find the towns you want, or make up a town if you want, but you still want to be able to describe the place as best as you can.)

As for books to read.. sorry, i'm not really the normal/suspense reading kind of guy, i usually read fantasy/adventure fantasy/thrillers or fantasy/suspense (seriously, the best suspense in my opinion is one with crazed vampire or other creatures killing off a town, but that doesn't seem like what your going for, so... yeah, never mind), However, i will say that what usually helps me get over writers block is to just grab every movie that is like the same genre as i plan to write a book in and just spend the weekend doing a movie fest with my laptop in front of me in case i get some inspiration. So, with that idea in mind, the movies that i would suggest to you are the 'Scream' series, the 'i know what you did last summer' series, and the 'Halloween' series (though not the new ones, and not the one with the crazy masks).

Have you considered the possibility of the stalker succeeding in raping his victim and leaving her for dead ? She could then fabricate her own death and take on a new identity ! The woman is set to take her revenge. She then enrols in a computer class and soon becomes an expert hacker. She would then start by shutting down the villains bank account and using his credit card details to land him in huge debt. If your villain works for a company, she could have him framed for stealing company funds. The possibilities are endless.
Imagine how you could kill someone using a computer. Many modern motor vehicles have on-board computers that are able to send two way information via mobile technology. She could disable the car via signal, imagine the car remotely stopped on a railway crossing and then she sends a command to the crossing gates to shut. Again endless possibilities.

Originally Posted by Patrick Lee

My story idea is this: the main character (a female) was having a chat with someone on the Internet and eventually she befriended him. Soon in the story, that particular guy become obsessed with her until to the point of stalking her online and IRL. Later she moved onto a secluded country home, feeling that she would be safe from his stalking habits -- and to her horror he tracked her down and threatens to rape her. She has only herself (her home was kilometers away from civilization) and her wits to survive this ordeal.

It sounds like a suspense story, but sadly, I'm suffering a writer's block thereby I can't push through with the story idea at hand. What kind of research should I do? Can you refer me what books -- fiction and non-fiction -- should I read for my idea to pan out? Thanks a lot!!

Patrick, try making an outline or plan for your story. Do you want the bulk of the story about her at the country home trying to escape this guy? Or, would it be her meeting him on the internet, his obsession & subsequent stalking of her, with the ordeal at the country home being the last third or quarter of the story?

Another good idea would be to go straight to the nearest big bookstore & find different books specifically tailored for writing fiction. I've bought a couple on non-fiction & have found them to be very helpful.