Hey, Liv! Welcome to Beta Pens! I know it's scary, but remember that everyone who's ever posted a fic on Pens had to make a first post at some point. Most likely all the authors you read have felt that same fear. Just know that you're in good company, feeling that way.
I think your story sounds like a fine idea. I imagine it as a grand, sweeping epic adventure sort of story, with a squishy center filled with romance. It sounds lovely.
It's difficult to give advice, because it's all so subjective. I'm only offering my personal opinions and I have no idea what your strengths and weaknesses are, beyond what you've told us, so anything I say might not really apply to you at all. And you might get further opinions from others and find that there's no agreement. So please take anything I say with a grain of salt. That might be one of the most difficult aspects of using Beta Pens - sorting through contradictory opinions. But that's just part of the challenge of being a writer, so it's all good. Sometimes you have to listen to what others say, because they are right. And sometimes you have to listen to yourself, because those other people are dead wrong.
Since you say you've never written and finished something before, and this story sounds quite ambitious, you would probably be well-served to put
extra energy into the planning.
It sounds like you have several specific scenes in mind, with fuzzy areas between them. I would suggest that you focus now on filling in those fuzzy areas. Your story sounds big and complex, so it would probably benefit from good planning - good outlining or
snowflaking or whatever works best for you, as long as you have a clear view of the story - beginning, middle, and end - in your mind.
Some writers don't plan that way, of course, so your mileage may vary. Some writers plan meticulously before they begin writing and some fly by the seat of their pants. Personally, I think somewhere in the middle yields the best writing.
It's important that you know where you're going with the story. (Know your characters, their histories, their quirks, their issues, etc. Know your setting; be able to see it in your mind so you can describe it well. Have a good idea of what happens, why, and what are the consequences, the cause and effect of everything that happens, so your plot is cohesive.) Knowing where you're going with the story will make it so that you can be certain your story is moving in the right direction and you don't end up writing yourself into a corner.
But! It's also important that, in all that planning, you don't lose sight of the fact that some of your best ideas may arise
as you are writing. And that may require some revision of your outline. It's tricky. It can be very, very tricky, knowing when to stick with your plan and when to deviate from it. Having already gotten a solid grip on the total story you want to tell, before you begin the writing, should help you make better decisions about when and why to stick to your outline and when and why to let the story go off in its own direction for a while.
I recommend that you do a few things now:
One, write up a brief character sketch for each character. Include the things most of us probably already know, like age, appearance, etc. But also include information about their personalities, their histories, what their lives are like, even minute details like their favorite foods, colors, what they dream about, etc. Definitely need to figure out what sort of powers they have. (I noticed you mentioned that you thought Willow's powers might be more dark. So I think you should explore her background in preparing to write your story. She's a warrior, so she's probably had some pretty traumatic experiences. And so has Tara, though probably of a different kind. Might be interesting conflict if Tara's parents were killed by Vikings. That would be some good angst, I think. Just a thought.) You want to have a solid idea of who all these people are and how they got where they are - what makes them tick. So writing up some character profiles for Willow, Tara, Xander, Buffy, and Faith, should help. You shouldn't assume that everyone sees the characters the same way you do.
Two, since you seem a little fuzzy on how all your characters are connected, I'd suggest that you draw up a little map or something like that, showing how they're connected. Just for your own information, so you can see it laid out clearly, how they all fit together. Who's friends with whom and for how long, etc. Maybe even write up a little brief backstory. Like, how did Willow, Xander, and Faith or Buffy meet and how did they end up together on this plundering voyage? How did Tara and Buffy or Faith meet and what have their lives been like? And I think you definitely need to decide whether or not Buffy and/or Faith are Slayers. This could be integral to your plot development. (I imagine that if, say, Buffy is a Slayer and Tara's best friend, she might be very useful in a battle between Willow and Tara's fiance. The possibilities there seem endless to me, whether Buffy and/or Faith are Slayers or not, but I think you need to know that before you start your writing.)
Three, try to plan out the major events. Like, just based on your post, I imagine something like this:
- Willow on plundering trip to Ireland.
- W/T meet, but Tara currently engaged.
- King's truce/deal with the Vikings.
- Tara's fiance and Willow fight.
- Tara kidnapped.
- Tara rescued.
- And they live happily ever after.
You can see how each point leads logically to the next point, so you can more easily fill in the space between them with the smaller events that connect the major events. This should also help you set up some conflict that will help move the plot forward. For example, as I mentioned before, I can easily imagine that perhaps Tara's parents were killed by Vikings, so she might be weary of these new Vikings in town at first. Or perhaps the kidnapping of Tara is precipitated by Willow's friend Buffy or Faith threatening Tara's fiance. Or maybe Tara's friend Buffy or Faith threatens
Willow, thinking she is a bad, bad Viking, and someone kidnaps Tara thinking they are actually
rescuing her from Willow. There's really no end to what you can do with conflict!
Lord, okay, I think I've written waaaaay too much here. Bottom line - your idea sounds awesome. It's got Willow, it's got Tara! It's got Vikings! Go for it!
I do hope you'll continue working on it and posting here about it. Don't give up! Plan carefully! Try not to get overwhelmed. Take it day-by-day. Start small - do one character sketch today, do another tomorrow, do two or three more next week. We'll all be here with our thoughts and ideas if you want to post more here about your story.
I wish you the best.