New wine in an old bottle, so to speak

[TarnishedPenny]

Okay, perspective requested.

The basic theme for a story centres on an individual who is, for want of a better word, possessed by former selves. They’re not forcing him (a him, I think, as it seems mildly less likely to be creepy) to misbehave or anything, he’s his own person with free will and decent enough morals. It’d be more like the ancestral memory thing in Dune. He’s born with a thousand years of experience.

Needless to say, it gets noticed very quickly. He manages to conceal the early memories and his family and teachers think he’s merely (merely !) astronomically bright.

The story’s theme would be his ‘growing up’ (keeping in mind that he has more experience of being an adult than any person alive). His parents try to ‘protect’ him, but he inevitably winds up in the youngest person in university. (Sidebar, maybe he’s lucky he didn’t end up in a comfortable but inescapable lab cell in Area 51 or an equivalent. Will think on that.)

Long story, trying to get to the point and thanks for bearing with me…

All that is background. He now finds himself surrounded by normal college students and the basic plot is his relation to a normal late-teen coed.

Before we go any further, yes, yes, the imperative 18. Noted, later.

She thinks he’s cute, but kitten-cute as opposed to mature male cute. He sees it coming. That’s Plot Fork #1 - does he dodge, cooperate or what?

I have some general thoughts but am not entirely sure how it goes from there, except to say it’s very possible that an overconfident and a bit egotistical coed gets the surprise of her life…

Okay, that’s the general picture. The obvious problem is the 18+ rule. Notnotnot trying to evade or dodge that. We get too many queries here, so No. I have a way I think would work, but that would be Laurel’s call, of course,

Having tried everybody’s patience and stamina so far, a couple of questions.

First, is it plausible or am I too likely to get lost in backstory?

Second, I have my own thoughts on the problems associated with old-in-new existence, but I’d be interested in others’ speculations and impressions. What would it be like being ancient with knowledge, but fresh and young in body? It’s easy to just say it’d be delightful but I wonder if you see the same pitfalls I do.

Thanks.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It's not a new idea but it's still an interesting one. You never said anything about how long of a story are you trying to tell. Will it be a long, chaptered one? A long stand-alone story? If it's a shorter story you are planning, I don't think that your idea is adequate for that format. It would take time to develop this ancient, but still so young character.

Assuming a long story, I would say you need to give just some tiny hints in the introduction and focus on the present in the university, and then when you grab the reader's attention with this budding relationship and the chemistry and flirting between them, you start showing some flashbacks from his previous lives. That way you can introduce his past little by little and not overwhelm the reader before they start caring about your characters.
You can also use the flashback to show some sexual experiences in his previous life(s) and maybe link them somehow to the sex or foreplay he is having with this coed to add some depth to his surprising sexual skills, etc.

 

[Bazzle]

The only way I could think of telling it is from a later perspective?
If he is let's say 40 looking back at his innocence and how she changed him.

Lit seems have more leeway in adult reflection of past, rather than dealing with it in the here and now?

 

[SimonDoom]

First, is it plausible or am I too likely to get lost in backstory?

Is it plausible? Sure, as a science fiction story. Done right, any bit of "magic" can be sold, as long as you don't try to sell too much magic.

Second, I have my own thoughts on the problems associated with old-in-new existence, but I’d be interested in others’ speculations and impressions. What would it be like being ancient with knowledge, but fresh and young in body? It’s easy to just say it’d be delightful but I wonder if you see the same pitfalls I do.

This is hard to say, because I can't tell from your description where you want to go with this concept. That's the key, it seems to me, and nobody can tell you where you SHOULD go.

Is this an erotic story? Is the point to demonstrate his wisdom and experience as a lover trapped in a young body? If the answer is yes, then you might have a problem at this site, and it might be better suited somewhere else.

There have been plenty of movies based on the "old person in a kid's body" concept. Big. 13 Going On 30. They wouldn't be as effective if the characters were aged up to over 18, but I don't know how you avoid doing that and making the story pass muster here.

 

[NotWise]

Having tried everybody’s patience and stamina so far, a couple of questions.

First, is it plausible or am I too likely to get lost in backstory?

Second, I have my own thoughts on the problems associated with old-in-new existence, but I’d be interested in others’ speculations and impressions. What would it be like being ancient with knowledge, but fresh and young in body? It’s easy to just say it’d be delightful but I wonder if you see the same pitfalls I do.

Thanks.

It isn't plausible, but your job is to make the reader think it is. You could definitely get lost in back story. You might want to unfold it slowly.

I had an ancestral memory plot in "A Valentine's Day Mess." In that case the memories were shared by a brother and sister, and the story interleaved present events with tales of their ancestors' lives that they related to each other. It was difficult to write because of the stories-in-a-story format.

A lot of the possible solutions will depend on what you want your character to do. In my story I just wanted them to explore their own memories until they could explain why they had them. They were eventually exhausted by the voices in their heads and sought to close the door.

It sounds like you might want your character to do something extraordinary with his ability, so the backstory becomes a kind of superhero origin story. The superhero stories have different ways of handling the origin part.

 

[ElectricBlue]

All that is background. He now finds himself surrounded by normal college students and the basic plot is his relation to a normal late-teen coed.

If he's got all this ancient wisdom, why would he bother with her?

I'd say, write him a woman who can challenge him, not some queen bee princess who can't.

Just another perspective

 

[THBGato]

Have you read David Mitchell's "bone clocks"? Your premise sounds a little like that. Love that book, and its sequel.

 

[Bamagan]

Is the eroticism supposed to come from the power imbalance of the ancient kid being able to easily manipulate college girls because he knows all their tricks? That's bread and butter for a lot of readers in MC or NC/R, but would work just fine even if everyone's at normal college age. No need to try and get cute skirting the plain boundaries of what the site allows. If he's really got multiple lifetimes of experience, he should understand the value of patience and anonymity and not be in a rush to get to college when he's 16 or whatever. Far better to take his time and avoid the scrutiny of people who expect 'great things' from the 'prodigy' who skipped off to Uni so young. If he's that horny, it's even easier to manipulate high school girls, though you probably can't tell that (part of) the story here.

 

[HectorBidon]

What is it like for the MC? Does he know all the tricks in a clairvoyant, comic-book way? Or does he just instinctively exhibit a maturity beyond his years? Maybe what he has inherited is not so much an armamentarium of techniques, as an intuitively felt wisdom about the way that people feel and interact. I agree with Bamagan that he would not necessarily be hasty. He would relish each stage of his life. As a little boy he would have taken great joy in playing with his cars and trucks. As a college freshman he would be genuinely attracted to his pretty classmate, but he would realize that she was not yet fully the woman she would become. The surprise he might give her might indeed be quite a bit more surprising than she would ever have expected.

 

[Plathfan]

I have a similar story about an ancient demon, thousands of years old, possessing a young virgin. The highlight, obviously, is the dialogue, filled with hilarious moments, making it fun to write. There’s no need to overthink it. Once you figure out how the former self ended up in the present timeline, the rest will flow naturally.

I’d focus more on the ancient character’s current challenges than on their past. The sexual aspect should complement the plot rather than dominate it; otherwise, it'd be a waste of a great concept.

 

[WCSGarland]

Okay, just my 2 cents worth here, but it seems to me that given the concept/idea you described, the subject should have been more like old wine in a new bottle. But then again, maybe I'm just being pedantic.

 

[alohadave]

The basic theme for a story centres on an individual who is, for want of a better word, possessed by former selves. They’re not forcing him (a him, I think, as it seems mildly less likely to be creepy) to misbehave or anything, he’s his own person with free will and decent enough morals. It’d be more like the ancestral memory thing in Dune. He’s born with a thousand years of experience.

What you have is a gimmick. You are struggling because this isn't a story.

Where does this story end up? What's the struggle or thing he has to deal with and resolve?

Effectively, the MC is schizophrenic or has DID. People like that have lives and they deal with problems, but they respond to and act on external stimulus.

The internal voices can guide or mislead them (because not all of the voices are going to be good or have his interests in mind), but the MC is the one living through things.

Also, just because you have experienced voices telling you things, doesn't mean that you'll want to follow all their advice, or be able to pull off what they tell you to do.

The voices may take over from time to time and cause him problems. How does he deal with that.

But ultimately, you need a plot progression to know where you are going with the story. The rest helps you get there.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Thanks all. Much appreciated.