SCP Idea - Miscnonsense

Summary:

A medicine from another universe

SCP Idea - Miscnonsense

miscnonsense 18 Dec 2019 19:28

A medicine from another universe that uses some anomalous ingredients to deal with a fictional mental illness. The Foundation is working on exactly what the disease is and how the medicine works, scientifically.

Last edited on 21 Dec 2019 07:08 by miscnonsense Show more

Re: SCP Idea - Miscnonsense

Doctor Fullham 21 Dec 2019 03:31

What you have currently is the "thing that does a thing" or "X that does Y" concept. An SCP article is much more than simply an anomalous item, being, place, or event. The true meat of the SCP is the story around the anomalous thing. The thing itself is a vehicle that the narrative is attached to. To give my best example from Series 1, look at SCP 093: The anomalous item itself is a rock that turns mirrors into interdimensional portals. The thing that makes this SCP shine is the story; the history of the dimension that it leads to.

I recommend reading several items on the Guide Hub:

How to Write an SCP

Clinical Tone: Declassified

Things What Do a Thing: An Essay On Anomalies That Are Things That Do A Thing

Essay Regarding SCPs, Narratives, and How They Can Share a Page

There are other guides there that can be very helpful, but these three are some of the most often recommended for first-time contributors. They have a lot of useful information to aid you in avoiding common pitfalls.

General Notes

We need to know more than just "it's a medicine that cures specific mental illnesses." What story are you going to tell - How The Foundation found it, Who or what created it and why, did someone use it to some end? (These are not all questions that must be answered, these are some possible narrative hooks.) You need something that differentiates this as an SCP, instead of just an Anomalous Item. I will also point out, as someone with a mental illness myself (depression), this can be a VERY touchy topic to write about, and unless you have one or are willing to do a lot of research, I don't recommend it. Your idea is also very similar to SCP-500, the "Panacea" that cures all ills, just limited to mental illnesses instead of physical ones.

I also recommend reading several (at least 10-20) of the top-rated SCPs from the last several months, and avoid reading series 1 SCPs for inspiration. Many series 1 SCPs would not last a day under current SCP standards, and a few are only still around because of their history with the wiki itself. (This does not apply to all series 1 SCPs, as you can see I mentioned 093 earlier, but many of these were written before the wiki's style had really been cemented.)

what it treats hasn't been identified

How do they know it treats anything if what it treats hasn't been identified?

The anomalous object, while important, is not actually the main focus of the SCP. A good story, a compelling narrative, something that makes the reader feel something - that is the goal of an SCP article. What feeling do you want to evoke from the reader? Horror? Empathy? Sadness? You need to create a narrative around this object and its effects.

I am not saying this to discourage you, I just want you to understand the amount of effort that goes into creating a successful SCP.

If you can revise this idea with a story that you want to tell, we will be able to give you much more meaningful and constructive critique.

Re: SCP Idea - Miscnonsense

miscnonsense 21 Dec 2019 07:07

Thank you for your feedback. The illness is supposed to be fictional, so it shouldn't step on any toes. I do have a story here, and am working on ways to fit it in, so to speak.

Re: SCP Idea - Miscnonsense

captexe 18 Dec 2019 19:59

miscnonsense, As a courtesy to our users on mobile devices, please collapse lengthy summaries since they take up a lot of space on the forum.
For outlines, you can write "A concept for medicine from another universe", and then write the rest of the information in the body of text where you asked if you published this to the right place.
Which you did; congrats and welcome.
Another thing is that it's one-hundred times easier for critters to expand on your idea and critique it properly when you elaborate on your concept as much as needed. Stating that, it doesn't intend that, by any means, you need to add wheelbarrows of prose and small laundry list details. It can call for lots of discrepancies and irrelevant information that conclusively has nothing to do with what you need to approach with in the conceptualization stage.

Additionally, since you're quite a new author, I strongly recommend taking a look at these articles if you haven't already so you can get a better handle on the website, Foundation, and to learn the structure of writing a successful SCP;
How to Write an SCP
Thing That Does a Thing
Common Pitfalls
They're truly a big help, notably for new authors. If you're serious about writing and you genuinely want to start actively drafting for the main site, I suggest giving these a look.

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— Capt

Last edited on 21 Dec 2019 03:56 by captexe Show more

Admin Post - Info - Open

Zyn 19 Dec 2019 06:55

captexe, as a general note, if you're going to recommend guides in a critique forum thread, ideally it should be clear to an author how going through those pages will help them improve the material at hand. The Site Rules and Guide for Newbies pages are more focused on site policy than writing, and a large number of staff on the Meet the Staff page aren't actively taking requests for feedback. Please be more conscientious when instructing new users in the future; else let staff handle providing this sort of direction.

Author, if you have trouble getting further feedback on this thread, try the IRC chatrooms or contact a Butterfly Squad Roster reviewer.

Last edited on 19 Dec 2019 06:56 by Zyn Show more

Re: Admin Post - Info - Open

captexe 21 Dec 2019 03:37

Understandable, I greatly appreciate the steer, and I'll make sure to keep it in mind.

Author, regarding your anomaly (since I never truly got to it,) I'll say this.

+ Comments

A lot of my thoughts here mirror Doctor Fullham's too:
for a first-time author, this article isn't going to be the easiest thing to get across convincingly, but it doesn't mean it's impossible.

a very specific type of mental illness.

If possible, to specify, what mental illness?

It can't be explained scientifically now.

Then how is it currently deemed as a mental illness? Who does it affect? How? These are vital points that are necessary if you want to write an article. Even if your SCP is unpredictable and hard to document, the foundation will attempt to include as much information as possible.

and comes from another world.

This is a pretty vague backstory. I would advise either excluding it since it doesn't contribute to understanding the anomaly or building on it, so it's more understandable and satisfying to read without worrying about the why's and the what if's. Plus, it merely adds to the questions; where did it come from? Where was it discovered? How was it formed? Why, why, and why?

It's difficult for users to accurately present useful feedback if you don't flesh out the core concept of your article, and whatever narrative will be constructed around it. We can't comment on what we don't know. I suggest you majorly add on to this concept to give it more narrative, make it intriguing, and distinct from the thousands of other SCPs.

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— Capt

Last edited on 21 Dec 2019 04:33 by captexe Show more

Re: Admin Post - Info - Open

miscnonsense 21 Dec 2019 04:48

Thank you for your feedback