Arcade Man Story Starter?

Question

Help please! I need a story starter for a man whose been trapped inside an arcade machine by his will. He keeps living on inside the machine and he’s been trapped inside an arcade for years now until someone breaks in and starts to beat on the machine With a crowbar for its quarters but he finds the mans organs and blood instead.

Answer 1

Hello, this a really interesting story idea! What is important to consider is how conscious is the man of the world outside of the machine? Could he see the robber coming? What other senses can he still use or not? Also, how intact is his physical body in the machine? Or has he morphed so that he is less human and more machine?

You can also make it ambiguous at first by writing from his perspective as though he is still a man and not a machine. This is where describing his five senses would be a good tool to create that ambiguity. Then you can make the reveal when the robber starts using the crowbar.

Starting with the encounter with the robber is called in media res which means in the middle of action. This is because you would not be starting from the beginning when he fist got trapped in the arcade machine. If you go this route, you would then go back in time and show us how he got to where he is.

If he can't see what's happening outside of the arcade machine, then you can focus on what it's like for him in there. What is he thinking and has his thinking changed since being trapped? In this case, you can start at the beginning of his life in the machine and how he got there.

Hope this is helpful!

Best,

Dianna E.