How to go about sequel's premise?

Mothbite

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Hello, there's a story I co-wrote/edited/produced that I was hoping to get a sequel done for. I'm brainstorming ideas on it, but the chief one has been how to kick the plot into place.

Here's the cliffnote:

Tess Trueheart Tracy, wife of star detective Dick Tracy, comes home from grocery shopping. We get exposition about her husband's heroics kind of leaving their together short....which means she's very emotionally and sexually neglected. Focus is put on the fact that (just like the comic strip), she's aged very well for someone her age, and rues how her husband doesn't seem to show appreciation for it.

In her house, she's confronted by the Son of the Brow, whose girlfriend Angeltop, was killed in an encounter with Dick Tracy. He's all set on taking her hostage and killing Dick when he comes back home. He is surprised by her strength in the situation, as well as the way she appeals for him to an alternative. Tess happens to be wearing clothing that day that shows off her figure, so that distracts him as well. His thoughts muddle up about his plans for revenge, his memories of Angeltop, comparing her to Tess (vengeful, fake blonde wig, ugly in appearance vs pure of heart, beautiful inside and out), his arousal, her appeas for another non-violent approach). He presents her with an alternative: Dick Tracy took his girl. He takes Tess, they're even. Otherwise he proceeds. Tess thinks it through desperately, and even tries to reason him out of it, but he's set: even she refuses, he tries to kill Tracy, and fails, he knows where they live, and swears to sell the info to others the minute he gets a chance. Faced with this, Tess gives in.

He takes her in the bedroom. Despite herself, Tess gets something out of the experience. The Son pleasures her without even trying to do so...what he does to her surpasses what her stagnant sex life with Dick has been. More importantly, he goes as far to compliment her on her looks, her body, beauty...and something inside Tess is appealed to.

In the end, after they are done, the Son of the Brow leaves her a card with his number of where he is staying. He gives her the choice to call the cops to take him in...or meet up so he can maybe "make up for treating her so rough." In the story, there are hints that something about Tess appeals to him...how her purity and love for her husband are something his that never showed in his own true love, Angeltop. In having Tess, it's almost as if he's trying to experience it through intimacy....somehow.

The story ends with her on an ambivalent note:

"Tess sat at the table, looking at the clock. Another late night, the hours draining away. Dick had come home to a cleaned house, new sheets, and a wife trying not to tremble. He'd assumed she was afraid for him because of his latest case, and she hadn't contradicted him. And so it had been another short evening, another day alone. Time moved on.

She hadn't told Dick any of it, hadn't wanted to, but there was a small part of her furious that he hadn't figured it out on his own. The world's greatest police officer, and he hadn't noticed a crime that had taken place in his house, practically under his nose. A few days later, he'd mentioned absently that he'd heard the Brow's Son was in town, and that he'd have to keep an eye on him in case he caused trouble. Tess had bitten back a harsh laugh, wondering why the Son was sticking around. He couldn't be waiting for her call. He couldn't imagine that she'd done anything but thrown his card away, put him out of her life, forgotten the night he had destroyed her, forced her to feel pleasure at his degradations.

She wondered if he regretted what he'd done, or if he'd already started gloating to his friends. But no – if Brow had told anyone, word would have spread. It was too good a story to pass up, and it would ruin her life in a heartbeat if it spread. Every crook in the city would love to hear how Dick Tracy had been cuckolded, how he'd been beaten. But the Son hadn't told anyone. He'd stayed true to his word, protected her from the disgrace he'd brought to her, and Dick was none the wiser.

Tonight, dinner was cooling on the stove. He was late, out saving the world. Her husband, the man who could stop any crime, save anyone. The man who was there for everyone, all the time.

She reached into the drawer where she kept her cookbooks, took one of them, and slid the business card that the Brow's Son had given her out of the book's jacket. Time was slowly running out. For several seconds, she just looked at it. She imagined him, still in his rented hotel, alone. Waiting, and wondering. Maybe, tonight, he would leave. Maybe he already had.

But maybe he was still waiting. The one person in the city who knew what she was feeling right now. She imagined him running his hands over her body again, telling her how beautiful she was. She remembered the sensation as he'd fucked her, in tune with her needs and giving her what she hadn't even realized she'd wanted until she'd gotten it. She had always believed that her physical needs were secondary, but now that the floodgates were opened, she couldn't help but compare what the Brow had done to what she'd had with her husband for years, and Dick came up short. She saw the years stretching ahead of her, and wondered if it would be so wrong to spend a few nights with a man who would appreciate her, even if only for her body.

She tucked the card back into the jacket, returned it to its shelf, and went upstairs to bed."



The easiest way to start the sequel would be to have her simply call him up....but that would be too easy/boring. I'm trying to think: what could I include as exposition that would lead to her deciding to call him? Or should there be no call at all---that she runs into him some other way, and makes a decision based on that encounter?

Accepting any suggestions from those kind enough to answer.
 
Well, first off--and you didn't ask for this opinion, so it's worth what you paid for it, but bear with me here--first off, I'd like to point out that there is absolutely no reason this story needs to be fanfic. There is nothing inherent about the Dick Tracy characters being preserved here, and the rest of it you can recreate through your own characters and situations. Fanfic is a great crutch for beginning writers, but simply put, you're not a beginner anymore--the story's emotional heft proves that--and you no longer need it. Just saying. :)

As to your actual question.

The obvious answer would be for her to have some sort of disappointing encounter with her husband, where she tries to engage him in some way (emotionally, sexually, culinarily) and he angrily dismisses her as wasting her time--or, even worse, is just plain indifferent. But that's also a bit cliché. So you could take it at one remove: say Tess is just out doing the grocery shopping and realizes she's going through the motions and just doesn't care anymore. And she stops in the middle of the aisle and goes through all her ideas to try and put some momentum back in her marriage--what can I do, what can I do--and realizes that she has no answers, that she feels completely trapped. And then she goes and calls her new lover. This be more interesting, because we never find out what her husband would actually do, only what she thinks he would do. She's condemned her in her own mind, and while that's a strong indictment, particularly from a narrator, that doesn't mean she's right. However, it would also be a lot harder to write.

Anyway, hope this helps some. :)
 
Well, first off--and you didn't ask for this opinion, so it's worth what you paid for it, but bear with me here--first off, I'd like to point out that there is absolutely no reason this story needs to be fanfic. There is nothing inherent about the Dick Tracy characters being preserved here, and the rest of it you can recreate through your own characters and situations. Fanfic is a great crutch for beginning writers, but simply put, you're not a beginner anymore--the story's emotional heft proves that--and you no longer need it. Just saying. :)

As to your actual question.

The obvious answer would be for her to have some sort of disappointing encounter with her husband, where she tries to engage him in some way (emotionally, sexually, culinarily) and he angrily dismisses her as wasting her time--or, even worse, is just plain indifferent. But that's also a bit cliché. So you could take it at one remove: say Tess is just out doing the grocery shopping and realizes she's going through the motions and just doesn't care anymore. And she stops in the middle of the aisle and goes through all her ideas to try and put some momentum back in her marriage--what can I do, what can I do--and realizes that she has no answers, that she feels completely trapped. And then she goes and calls her new lover. This be more interesting, because we never find out what her husband would actually do, only what she thinks he would do. She's condemned her in her own mind, and while that's a strong indictment, particularly from a narrator, that doesn't mean she's right. However, it would also be a lot harder to write.

Anyway, hope this helps some. :)

Hello,

Well yes, I've already gotten to the point of original fiction. Thanks for the compliment. However, I'm a big fan of the Dick Tracy series, and this certain scenario/fantasy has been on my mind for literally years now....getting someone to write it with me took 2 years, and now that the foundation's set, I really am amped to keep going. And this certain story has some bits of the Dick Tracy world anchored to it....enough that you can't just sub in OC's. It's own little world.

I really want to get inside the head of these characters: that's a must for erotica in my book. That's why I'm looking for tips.

What about for the Brow? I'm not sure how this series would end, but I don't want him to be a black-and-white villain....what could be his thoughts on the aftermath, and any ideas for his inner conflict down the road?
 
Well, see, that's where I stop being able to help you. I don't know a darn thing about Dick Tracy. The first chapter is universal, but now you're getting very specific, and I'm lost. Sorry. =(
 
Perhaps she could perhaps catch herself reminiscing about in a dream/the shower? Or she could run into him by chance, which acts as a trigger?
 
Possible. I'm also trying to think of where the story probably could go. I definitely don't want an ambiguous ending or leave it hanging. Where could Brow and Tess's dalliance go? It would also depend on the circumstances decided upon..
 
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