Premise: Out of luck guy who's doing his thankless 6 days a week 9am-7pm job takes a payless vacation (because his former school bully turned boss is too cheap) at a lake where he meets a mysterious woman who seems to take more than a passing interest in him. The woman turns out to be more famous than she lets on...

In short: less than average guy meets a pop star who's trying to hide from her fans so she can have a normal life and relationship...

Working Title: When My World Went Pop!

I have two stories going on here; poor guy has to put up with rivals he has no hope of withstanding and a girl who's trying to hide her public persona from him.

What do you think?

Sounds exactly like the webcomic 'marry me'.

If the story call to you then go for it. You are the one that is going to have to live with the art and the dialogues. Myself, I'd be more likely to have him be a mousy looking normal guy who happens to be an assassin. He was forced into the business and wants out . . . and so forth and so on.

What matters, though, is what works for you and makes you happy as a storyteller.

Skullbie
Sounds exactly like the webcomic 'marry me'.

I had no idea... :(

got idea; make it so they were already dating when he was a loser, she gets 'discovered' and turns into a celeb. You can go on with the normal story plans and it's more believable than 'really hot pop star wants loser main hero because he's normal'., etc.

Skullbie
got idea; make it so they were already dating when he was a loser, she gets 'discovered' and turns into a celeb. You can go on with the normal story plans and it's more believable than 'really hot pop star wants loser main hero because he's normal'., etc.

I could probably mix into that the idea that she already knows him from her childhood; they met at that same spot at the lake but were separated too soon...

The lake thing reminds me a bit of the movie The Notebook for whatever reason.

I'd be a little concerned that the whole "lame loser meets hot pop star thing" ends up sounding like basic dynamic of most yaoi where the geeky shy guy ends up with the hot popular guy falling for him. In reality that rarely if ever ends up happening. Skull's idea of them dating before fame wasn't bad. If you can, get your hands on the albums "Why do they rock so hard?", and "We're not happy til you're not happy" and the songs "Where Have You Been", "Slow Down", all by Reel Big Fish. Those album's and song's lyrics should provide you with some good fodder for thought and inspiration, especially the track "She's Famous Now".

When you get an idea like this, it can be very difficult to find a new take on it which isn't immediately reminiscent of something else.

One technique you could try would be to keep the story but place it in an unusual setting. You could write the same story in a SciFi, fantasy, Wild West, World War, Victorian or feudal Japanese setting and get very different results.

How much of this have you actually planned out? Outlines always sound generic, the detail is where you can start playing around with the idea.

DAJB
One technique you could try would be to keep the story but place it in an unusual setting. You could write the same story in a SciFi, fantasy, Wild West, World War, Victorian or feudal Japanese setting and get very different results.

Good idea. An example would be Grim Fandango, which is actually a fairly plain detective story, dressed up with skeletons and demons.

Custard Trout
How much of this have you actually planned out? Outlines always sound generic, the detail is where you can start playing around with the idea.

Lessee... down and out guy is spotted by a girl who seems to know him. After spending some time together they go back to their normal daily routine. He's an overworked office worker and she's a pop star. They contact each other privately, but because she's afraid she'll scare him away she hides her celebrity status from him using mundane disguises, and often escapes from the public with the help of her managers/foster parents. Meanwhile the poor guy has to contend with rivals (some rich and wealthy, some famous, some both) who somehow figure out that HE's the object of her affections, and he has no idea what's going on or why.

So I've planned a tiny bit into it. I don't normally write pure romance stories; they tend to be in the back or partly in the front. I'm not drawing a single line 'til I get my ideas straight.

Well, don't make him too clueless, I mean, there's only so long he can go on not knowing what's up before he loses charm and the eye-rolling begins.

Also, how old are these characters? (You mentioned foster parents.)

Just an idea, but an interesting dynamic to explore in this story is the fact that, as her lover, he is in the "cinderella" role, a role males aren't usually seen as comfortable in. That's a lot of exploring there. I mean, how does he feel about it? How does she? How do they work beyond the traditional economic gender roles? You have a situation here where, although he's landed a hot, famous lady, his bully boss could still attempt to emasculate him with the fact that he'll never make near the money she does and will only be "Mr. Britney" (or whatever her name is).

Speaking of, you could also mine that territory a bit. Like, what does he do when some starhumper producer offers him a rap contract to get at his honey? Or, my god, the gossip mags! the paparazzi! The crotch shots!!! ha!

Obviously, this all depends on the tone. Anywho, hope I've helped a bit. :)

make sure there's steamy sex. :)

Even if its implied or something. At least show a closed door or a car in a parking lot or some bushes with speech balloons making interesting sounds.