I hope this is the right place. I have been having the most awful time trying to get a character right. I got a few snippets of how I want him to be and what he does, but I can't - for the life of me - figure out how to put it together in one cohesive story. So I'll start from scratch, and I'd ask that some of you please help me.

It's a western, taking place in the American Frontier sometime in the late 1800's. The apparent theme of the story is revenge - but that's not what its about. Two unlikely individuals, John Taylors (an experienced outlaw, bounty hunter, and drifter) and Lillie Williams (a young, naive, 12 year old girl) embark on a quest to track down and either kill or capture a notorious outlaw by the name of Butcher Bill. The story would be about the father-daughter bond that grows between the two characters.

Now there's a lot of different routes to go with this but here's a few key events I want happening:
1. Both characters have been hurt by Bill. This is one of the prime reasons John is helping Lillie.
2. Maybe John's wife and daughter was killed by Bill, turning him into a shell of his former self. But Lillie reminds John of his daughter and this helps to build that father-daughter relationship I want. What do you make of that?
3. Perhaps John and Bill knew each other beforehand. Are they brothers, perhaps? Did they ride in the same gang? This would make it more personal for John and I like that.
4. I want several years to have passed by (maybe 3?) since John's family has been killed. But what reason would John have for not seeking Bill before this story? Do you think it's realistic that Bill had been hard to find and John has just been roaming around the west waiting to hear something about him?
5.1 This idea sees Lillie survive an attack by Bill. She comes into town, her story sparks interest by John. John is the only one willing to go after Bill, and Lillie tags along, but only because she knows where Bill is hiding out at.
5.2 This idea sees Lillie being captured and will be ransomed off the sheriff. Instead, the sheriff forms a posse and John joins in. John is about to kill Bill but he holds Lillie at gunpoint. Bill manages to flee, and this is when John and Lillie team up to track him down.
6. I had considered that they run across Cassius Green, Bill's right-hand man. Lillie wants him to die, because he helped kill Lillie's family, but John doesn't want to kill him... but for what reason? This would cause some dynamic between the two characters.

So with this information, construct some sort of background or bare-bones summary that you think works. Feel free to add onto things or take things out if you want.

1. Bill was a formal war officer known for burning down entire towns to capture outlaws. John and Lillie were both survivors of one of these towns.
2. It seems a bit cliche, I've heard stories like this before. Try this, John used to look up to bill, until he set his parents on fire and forced him to watch. Bill did the same to Lillie, John adopts her because he sees an image of himself in her.
3. I'm thinking, John used to think Bill was some sort of hero until he fell victim to his cruel methods of "regulating the law"
4. John grew older not expecting for justice to be served. One day, upon finding Lillie, he decides the only way for justice to ever be served is for individuals like himself to take justice into their own hands.
5.1. Lillie's story is that her town was gunned down by Bill and his men after wrongfully thinking there was a bounty on their heads. Bill forgets about Lillie and leaves her in the desert to die. John finds her and saves her life.
5.2. Lillie's parents are held hostage to be sold off to the sheriff. The sheriff didn't plan on paying the ransom because he doesn't believe in paying off criminals. Lillie tries to save them on her own, and ends up getting them killed. John hears about how she was planning this, and shows up just in time to save her before they can kill her.
6. Cassius is John's cousin. They grew up both together, and Cassius was adopted by Bill, whom he strongly admires for his ruthless crimes. So Bill is much older then John and Cassius, possibly by ten years.

@Axleonex: I've seen thos epics in your crossover and I think they look really cool. It's nice to see some Fett thrown into the mix.

And thanks for the feedback, I'll incorporate some of them if I can. Not sure if I like the idea of Bill being a formal war officer though. But I do like the fact that he's almost ten years older than they are. It makes me consider a 'father-son' relationship that Bill and John once shared. Perhaps Bill does something that wrongs John, but John is unable to kill this 'father-figure' and flees instead. Enter Lillie, and John vows to help her take her revenge against Bill.

I was thinking that maybe John kidnaps Lillie for some reason. Do you watch Game of Thrones? If not, stop reading cause there's spoilers ahead. I don't want to rip it off, but The Hound sort of kidnaps Arya Stark; she doesn't mind it though. I was thinking that maybe John kidnaps Lillie, but Lillie doesn't care because she hates the way she lives anyway (abusive parents? Hateful foster home?). Throughout the course of the story the two develop that father-daughter relationship they both sorely need.

I keep imagining these scenes in my head. In one scene, John is working with Bill partway through the story, and I really like that, but I ain't sure how to handle it; it just won't fit. The other scene has an upset Lillie begging John to help her, so John just puts his hand on her shoulder and reassures her: "Okay, girl... I'll help you get what you want..."

John kidnaps Lilith? Sounds fun. How about there be a ransom to find Lilith and bring her home, as Lilith gets taken home, John thinks?,"let's take a detour and kill Bill on our way there." And it gets to the point that Lilith doesn't want to go home anymore.

Be sure to keep John and Lilith's personality diverse, banter between characters are always a good excuse for humor. I suggest drawing inspiration from two characters you like and imagining what it would be like if they were forced to travel together. "What if Cloud Strife was required to escort Jade from Jackie Chan adventures across the country?"

As for those scenes in your head, WRITE THEM THE FUCK DOWN. It's best to write them while they're fresh in you mind and your excited to write them. Then just save hem into a folder and woop it out for when your story is ready for that part.

John works with Bill after a madman handcuffs them together while there's a hit on both their heads. The corrupt governor doesn't want them revealing some of the crimes he's done. There's a chest Lillith stole that contains all the forged signatures from Mexico to Texas, John and Bill have to find other Sheriffs that are willing to bring the governor to justice.

Lillian meets a girl that's as old as her. The girl is African and is about to be sold off to slavery. Lilith begs John to help her, even though John's general ideology is "not my problem, not gonna help."

Thanks for the ideas Axleonex. I did write some of them down. I've actually got about 6-7 Wordpad documents about the thing. I can lay down at night and watch them in my head.

On another website I was interested in someone's idea that John and Lillie are related somehow. Whether she's a distant niece or something. Somehow, she falls into John's custody, and that's how they meet, but I don't know if that would work. What if Lillie was a runaway foster child? Her parents were killed by Bill, she hates being a foster child (weren't foster homes pretty common back then?), and she runs across John. Maybe she got into some trouble with a group of undesirables and she is rescued by John. What if John was her last known relative, she learnt that from the government when they tried to find her next custodial guardian, but they refused to send her to him since he was an outlaw? So she instead runs away from foster care to find him, is rescued by John, and voila! John is then charged with kidnapping, just another crime added onto his extensive list.

I really like the idea that John and Bill are both captured by a bounty hunter, thanks for sparking that idea in my head. Even though they hate each, and even though John has been on a warpath to kill him, they are forced to work together. This would really piss Lillie off, cause she's not old enough to understand that it's the best thing for their situation. I like that. The bounty hunter is after John to collect his bounty, then get paid by his employers for rescuing the 'kidnapped' Lillie, and he's more than eager to accept the bounty on Bill as well...

Okay, this is really starting to come together now!

Alright I got it, so I'm going to drop this off here for future reference on my part.

1. John's family is killed, so he resorts to a life of bounty hunting, outlawing, and becomes a drifter. Three years pass. During these years he has worked both for and against Butcher Bill.
2. Butcher Bill kills Lillie's family, so she is taken into foster care. She soon escapes foster care.
3. John is captured by the government, but his crimes will be forgiven if he manages to track down Lillie and bring her back alive. This isn't John's typical bounty target, but he is forced to comply.
4. John manages to find Lillie after a brief struggle and prepares to take her back to the government. He soon changes his path and agrees to help Lillie track down Butcher Bill and avenge her family.

Lillie has information regarding Butcher Bill that the government wants, which is why they are so desperate to retrieve her. They use John because they know they an bribe him into finding her. John, however, sees a part of himself in her (wanting to avenge the death of loved ones) and also sees his daughter inside of her, so he agrees to help her track down Bill (using the information she possesses). When word that John and Lillie are traveling in the opposite direction reaches the government officials they quickly brand him a traitor and kidnapper and his bounty is raised to staggering amounts.