Need some constructive criticsm on a plot?

Question

I'm kind of having writer's block on this story that I'm working on, and have been simply working on and changing around for a LONG time. One problem is that I don't want it to be a romance novel, but it keeps going in that direction.

The story is a science fiction that involves a female character in her mid 20s who finds out that she's from another planet, and was sent to Earth by her race to candidly gather information about Earth for the possibility of incorporating it into a Galactic Federation. When she's 26, she's called home.
She goes back to her planet and lives on a space station that orbits her home planet, where she meets a special ops agent who works for the Galactic Federation ("Galactic Federation" isn't the official name of the organization. Give me credit, I'm not that generic.)

As far as writing goes, that's pretty much all I have so far. I have a few ideas that involve political threats to this planet and Federation, but I'm having a hard time tying Earth into a more active role in the story because of the fact that Earth is not involved in this Federation. 
So essentially what I'm more trying to do is make it a political and action story, similar to Star Trek or Star Wars, but it keeps developing into a cliché romance story between my main character and the ops agent. They do have a thing for each other and will end up together eventually, but I don't want it to be the main focus of the plot.

Any suggestions?

? · Answer

I really like your story.
Notes:1)Don't be the person who always has a space name for everything.Just cause there from space doesnt mean they have to have space names.
2) You should consider  lowering the age of you MC people nowadays really like a 16-20 year old girl not one that will be 30 in 4 year's
3) Final note, if you dont want them to be together at First make it seem as though the agent has no intrest in her, and let her have those love moments but crush them by making the agent do something rude.

Hope this wasnt too too long...GL 
😊😜✌✋

Anonymous · Answer

I'm just going to say a few random things here and hopefully they will inspire you in some way.

**** Earthlings - well, NASA earthlings anyway - seem very eager to reach the outside. They are constantly transmitting messages, sending out information(golden records), and searching the grid for any possible life. I think that desperation can work to your advantage, especially if your protagonist's home planet is as frivolous as ours when it comes to using up valuable resources in a short period of time. Do they need something, an ore maybe, that is found on earth? What better way to stimulate their economy than by contacting earth?

**** The UN has an obscure program called the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs(UNOOSA) that oversees a treaty made in 1967 saying the committee would fight to protect earth from alien species contaminating humans, and they would do this by 'sterilizing' these spacemen. However, in 1977 the Voyager spacecraft carried a message that said "We step out of our Solar System into the universe seeking only peace and friendship." In saying that, your protagonist's connection with earth doesn't have to be a peaceful one for we are a two-faced lot.

**** Personally, I believe you can avoid romance by adjusting your characters' overall personalities. If she's a professional woman who can't fathom relations within the workplace, it'd be a lot harder for you to even accidentally push her toward the 'love interest' without feeling uncomfortable with this break in character.

Need some constructive criticsm on a plot?

2 Answers