Writer's Resources - Story Ideas

[Trey of Diamonds]

Have you ever read an article in the paper or on the internet and said “Wow, that would be a great background to a story?”, I do all the time. Check out this one.

Myths Over Miami
Captured on South Beach, Satan later escaped. His demons and the horrible Bloody Mary are now killing people. God has fled. Avenging angels hide out in the Everglades. And other tales from children in Dade's homeless shelters.

www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/1997-06-05/feature_1.html

Excerpt:

To homeless children sleeping on the street, neon is as comforting as a night-light. Angels love colored light too. After nightfall in downtown Miami, they nibble on the NationsBank building -- always drenched in a green, pink, or golden glow. "They eat light so they can fly," eight-year-old Andre tells the children sitting on the patio of the Salvation Army's emergency shelter on NW 38th Street. Andre explains that the angels hide in the building while they study battle maps. "There's a lot of killing going on in Miami," he says. "You want to fight, want to learn how to live, you got to learn the secret stories." The small group listens intently to these tales told by homeless children in shelters.

On Christmas night a year ago, God fled Heaven to escape an audacious demon attack -- a celestial Tet Offensive. The demons smashed to dust his palace of beautiful blue-moon marble. TV news kept it secret, but homeless children in shelters across the country report being awakened from troubled sleep and alerted by dead relatives. No one knows why God has never reappeared, leaving his stunned angels to defend his earthly estate against assaults from Hell. "Demons found doors to our world," adds eight-year-old Miguel, who sits before Andre with the other children at the Salvation Army shelter. The demons' gateways from Hell include abandoned refrigerators, mirrors, Ghost Town (the nickname shelter children have for a cemetery somewhere in Dade County), and Jeep Cherokees with "black windows." The demons are nourished by dark human emotions: jealousy, hate, fear.

[Trey of Diamonds]

Here is another one that has great possibilities:

The Man Who Would Murder Death
A rogue researcher challenges scientists to reverse human aging

chronicle.com/free/v52/i10/10a01401.htm

Just the title alone sounds like a sci-fi story.

Here is a small clip from the article:

HOW TO CURE AGING

Aubrey de Grey has a seven-step plan he says will "cure" aging and allow people to live for a very long time. Here it is:

1. The problem: Cell loss or atrophy
Mr. de Grey's solution: Develop stem cells to replace lost cells. Or use chemicals that stimulate the division of cells to produce new ones.

2. The problem: Cancer
Mr. de Grey's solution: Aggressive gene therapy will make it impossible for cancer cells to reproduce. Stem-cell therapy will prevent side effects.

3. The problem: Mitochondrial mutations
Mr. de Grey's solution: Mitochondria are the cell's power plants, and they house separate genes that are prone to harmful mutations that cause diseases. To prevent those problems, copy the critical mitochondrial genes and insert the copies in the cell's nucleus, where they will be better protected.

4. The problem: Unwanted cells (such as fat cells)
Mr. de Grey's solution: Possibly stimulate the immune system to kill unwanted cells.

5. The problem: Stiffening of proteins outside the cell
Mr. de Grey's solution: Proteins outside cells help support tissues, making arteries elastic and ligaments strong. But chemical reactions throughout life link those proteins and make them less mobile. Specific chemicals could break those links and allow the proteins to move more easily. One chemical is already in clinical trials, says Mr. de Grey.

6. The problem: "Junk" outside the cell
Mr. de Grey's solution: Plaques accumulate outside the cell and may lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's. Small molecules called beta-breakers may break these plaques down.

7. The problem: "Junk" inside the cell
Mr. de Grey's solution: As cells age, molecules can change in ways that make them stop working. Those structures can accumulate in cells and and eventually overwhelm them. Extra enzymes from bacteria could be given to cells to degrade the unwanted material.

[Brian Germain]

these are both incredibly awesome story ideas...

The first one would be great if the angle was from the homelesss children's perspective as if no one believed them but actually everything they had said was true. and the little homeless boy telling the story was actually a prophet.

anyway how did you come by these story idea's the problem is with all the stuff on the net it is hard to just pull a good one out of the internether so we're left with our imaginations that have been over polluted by already great stories and movies and so on... and then we just have to hope we come up with something very original that hasn't been done over and over again, while keeping from getting too far "out there" and alienating the audience we might have captivated otherwise.

-Brian

[Brian Germain]

I'e always wanted to do a story called "A Man Called HellFire" and this was really my story, with fantasy elements, it's about a guy who grows up poor. he has nothing but his family and friends, as the years go by he struggles to make something of his life and tries to maintain some semblance of good moral values. No one else seems to notice how steeped in morals he is as he doesn't wear his morals on his sleeve nor does he force his moral ethics on other people all the time but he does try to steer the ones he cares about in the right direction.

After seeing the world for it's corruption and getting his house broken into for the fifth time in less than that many years and having stuff stolen from him by people he had helped out because of his moral values, he gets extremely made after being mugged one too many times for little or no money at all, and beggared by some guy whom he knows for a fact isn't homeless too many times. And being offered a crack rock too many times he just goes nuts "Falling Down" style. but when he does he realizes that whenever he goes off he has like this radiant fire from his eyes fists and head... the fires of rage (which believe me when I saw David Flanary's "Burning Rage" title I about died) anyway he realize's how bad he is actually hurting others, including those he love's. even though it is just this pent up agression, it lands him in jail for awhile and he seriously has to rethink his life, and yet he has this power from within just smoldering like a time bomb but he can't use it lest he destroy himself and those closest to him.

Anyway a few years ago I guess about 5 now I met a girl named Michelle who goes by the pseudonym "Chelle Fire" and she is now my muse for this story, which I hope will also help distance myself from this story and be able to write it better. probably with the help of some other competent writer.

and that's one to grow on lol

-Brian

[Trey of Diamonds]

briangermain said:

anyway how did you come by these story idea's the problem is with all the stuff on the net it is hard to just pull a good one out of the internether so we're left with our imaginations that have been over polluted by already great stories and movies and so on...
-Brian

I do some political writing on the web so I am constintly crusing the news sites. Google News is great. When I find strange and odd news stories that sound more sci-fi than reality I try to keep them in memory for potential story backgrounds.