PRE - PRODUCTION: Regeneration: Reflections/A New Idea?

After my first tutorial of the year with Simon, I expressed my interest in the novel 'Regeneration' by Pat Barker. Initially drawn to it because of its recurring themes including Hospitalisation and War, both quite dark themes, which gave me a starting point and sparked my interest. I hadn't completely decided whether to compose and write an original production, potentially bringing in some of the themes I had been looking at or work from an existing novel and do an adaptation of it. However, in reading 'Regeneration', i'd hoped this would answer this question for myself and encourage my development process.

I have since read the book and decided that although I enjoyed it as a novel for leisurely purposes, I wasn't overly engaged or inspired by the story, and found the ending to be a very final, resolved ending with little exaggeration or much of a twist. When I imagine a dark, clever drama series, I think of unexpected and suspenseful moments throughout that keep the audience guessing, with a huge reveal at the end or doorway into another series that leaves you enthralled. Although, I have the option to take some elements or inspiration from this story forward and write something new, I don't feel compelled to continue working with this novel in particular. One aspect of the novel that I was inspired by was the character development, particularly of Siegfried Sassoon. As an outsider, I really felt like I knew his background and involvement in the war in great detail, understanding and empathising with him. The author achieved this through great visualisation, when Sassoon is recreating his memories from the War and talking about them in his poetry. However, I found his ending to be disappointing in particular as he returns to the war. Therefore, I felt as though he wasn't able to leave some of those memories behind, instead being immersed back into the environment he had suffered in.

In terms of my development process and moving onto something different, I initially considered other books that I have loved in the Crime/Thriller genre and am keen to look at. I considered 'The Lovely Bones', but this is a novel that has recently been adapted into a film and so wouldn't give me as much exploration in terms of visuals as it has already been explored by the Director Peter Jackson.
Therefore, I have decided to go back to pen and paper and devise a completely original production.
I am interested in the Mystery/Thriller genre in particular, as I find that the most interesting genre to watch myself. However, I am interested in combining genres, including Crime and elements of Horror.
As a starting point for coming up with a brand new concept, I will be brainstorming some new ideas and subjects to spark my ideas. I am still keen to go down the route of a dark drama as I think I would like to create something that will be really engaging and intriguing with some shocking moments and plenty of twists. I also think that I would like to write something with a doorway into another series, so potentially a cliff hanger, leaving the audience with an ending that isn't completely resolved.
I have completed a spider diagram again to brainstorm some of my ideas and then choose something to develop on. I have researched some formats for writing fictional stories, which I will use as a guideline for the characters and the structure of events.

New Ideas Exploration