Thread: Need Help Developing a Plot

I have this plot developing in my head, lo siento mucho. But I've kind of hit a stumbling block, and I was wondering if I could get some clearer ideas about how to develop it.

The main character is an american citizen, born in south Texas, but far enough north that he doesn't speak spanish. He's actually of german descent, and tall of stature, thin build and pale of pallor. With blue eyes and blond hair, there is little trouble he'd be mistaken for an immigrant.

The story essentially starts the protagonist, whom we shall call Durk, walks off his job as a construction worker one day, collects his check, get's in his Chevy pick up truck, and drives off. Something has been eating at his mind. In particular, some one.

Heartbroken, he just drives. His girlfriend broke up with him, to make matters worse, she broke up with him to get married to an older, rich military man, who divorced his wife to marry her. Her drives, and drives, in utter silence, not willing to cry, not willing to give in. And then, the car slowly grinds to a halt.

Dazed, and not even aware of where he is, he realizes that not only is he out of gas, but the patch on his engine block from two months ago has cracked. The engine is no more. To make matters worse, he's out of town, near the border, with no one to help him. Not even a cell phone or wallet.

So he hitches a ride with a group of immigrants(later), who he soon realizes are crossing into the country illegally. In the back of the large truck, he meets someone, however. A girl with a child. Instant chemistry. She's lovely, with dark black hair, and brown eyes. And seems to just burst with life and innocence. Everything that Jarrah(the ex) lacked. Even her daughter takes a liking to him as he entertains her with silly faces.

Sure enough, the border patrol catches up with the immigrants, and the dreams of wedding bells and mother mettings meet cold hard reality. Not to be deterred, Durk suddenly experiences a swift upsurge of confidence, even as he runs after the federales bigger, badder trucks leaving him behind.

This is where I experience problems. At this point I'm kind of stuck. I know that at some point, Durk is to be confronted with the decision of making Laura(for that is her name) his wife in order to keep her in the country so that he can get to know her better. This is to have a long lasting impact on him, for sure, as the two can not communicate, and It is surely to be a life changing decision. He should be shaken by the crisis.

The problem is, at this point, with the border patrol speeding of to detention centers, I need a realistic way of getting from point a to point be without making it seem like I am rushing things, and also while taking my time to build the character development of both Durk and Laura. Problem is, being taken to the nearest town by the border patrol would further separate them, and the border patrol doesn't give out information on what they do with detainees.

Soo... I need your help.

In addition, I'm not sure where to take the story once they do get married. Hmm...

So wait, why wasn't Durk handcuffed and put in the back of a patrol car? After all, he is sneaking over the border illegally. He might not look like a Mexican but he could be a terrorist. Even if he has a drivers license the border patrol will want to check him out; besides, they won't leave a man to die in the Mexican desert.

That aside, why does he have to marry Laura? The story (could) be about him trying to marry her and failing, either because of the feds, or chickening out, or whatever device you want to lose. Of course there is nothing wrong with him marrying her to keep her and the child from being deported; that's a great conclusion to a short story but, like you, I don't see where you can go from that point.

Why can't she be deported? It is only a land border and there is nothing to stop him going looking for her. If , like Cambyses says, they take him in as well that gives them time to exchange a few words so they can find each other. Not speaking each other's language would add complications, which gives you time for your development.

A couple of things I'm confused about. Which side of the border is he on? He could not have day-dreamed his way across the border from Texas in a vehicle.

If he is on the U.S. side of the border and is caught in a truck with illegals, he will definitely be detained with them. If he has no identification he will be assumed to be an illegal. His appearance won't matter - there are plenty of blond-haired, light-skinned Mexicans and Guatemalans, and his lack of Spanish could be put down as an act. Even if he is not thought to be illegal, the fact that he is in a vehicle with illegals makes him subject to being detained pending investigation.

As a reader, I want to see him decide to dump his previous life altogether and go with his new-found love through whatever trials and tribulations that may bring. Let him keep his mouth shut, allow himself to be taken for an illegal, and sent across the border with the woman and her child.

They are chased out of her native village by her father and by the father of her child. They meet drug gangs and police extortionists as they try to make there way to some place of safety. All sorts of interesting plot developments there until they finally reach Chetumal in the Mexican State of Quintana Roo. They pay a local fisherman a hundred pesos to take them across the bay where they land near Consejo Village in Belize.

There they are given shelter by a retired journalist who knows the right people and helps them get regularised so they eventually gain permanent resident status and live happily ever after as Belizeans.

You missed out the bit about the drug lord wanting her as his mistress and the poice chief being gay and mad about blue eyed blonde men, and the bit about how they had to rescue the child when she was kidnapped by the ... Who was it kidnapped her again? Never mind it will come to Red when the time comes. Who would have thought you could make a living like that from Belize though? I suppose where there is a server there is a way.

It would never occur to me to ask others to sort out my story at this level. Have some pride in what you're doing. Take ownership. Do some research. It's your story -- push yourself and make it work. If you can't -- toss it and write something else. Otherwise, ask for feedback once you've written something -- or at the very least, when you've sorted things out to some satisfaction.

I think he should somehow aquire an item, a picture, something that would enable him to return to mexico and track her. Maybe he follows some kind of trail, picking up bits of knowledge about her at differant stops. Something makes her differant than just another beautiful women.

They had that story in the news today about the woman that was kidnapped found her parents over 20 years later! He learns stuff and runs into coincedence after coincedence and discovers they knew each other in the past.

It's no worse than some of the dirk pitt novels I have read.

I think you've got the groundwork for, as flea said, a lot of different stories. I don't have any new advice to chime in with, since there's already loads of great suggestions anyway. Making the marriage central could be pretty interesting. As has been shown, this could lead you to adventure, emotional barriers, politics, gangsters (hell, if you make her a musician she could get shot in Mexico for singing the wrong thing or not singing long enough).