Story Starters - Page Five
Fresh Bagels
The Bagel Shoppe is open 24/7 and is one of the happeningest hot spots in town. Bagels, all kinds, always fresh, all the time. Customers have become almost fanatically loyal and there are some local businesses that simply won't put out the "Open for Business" sign until the boss and/or employees have had their morning bagel fix.
Likewise, the lunch crowd is lined up out the door by 11:30 A.M. even though the Shoppe's famous Meal-in-a-Bagel doesn't go on sale until 12:00 noon.
And the after-five folks are not to be dismissed, no siree. Then there's the late-late night after hours crew that always drops in once the local clubs and bars have called last call. There will never be a last call at the Shoppe.
So, who are these people, these customers, these loyalists? Tell a few of their stories and how do they connect... or not... with one another?
Three regular customers show up precisely at 5:30 A.M. every morning, each getting a large order of bagels that will be taken to their respective workplaces. If a reality-TV spy camera followed each of those orders, what would we see?
What kinds of workplaces and coworkers and bosses will we meet? What's happening there and where do our bagel-carriers fit in?
The elderly couple who seem so frail haven't missed a day since the Shoppe opened fifteen years ago. What time of day or night do they show up and why is that significant to their story?
The punky-goth girl who's feeling more and more estranged from her goth friends is starting to feel more and more connected to the sunny disposition of the Shoppe's owner. Why is that?
And who is this owner who has inspired such devotion and why are HIS bagels the most sought after in town? What is it about him and the business that he's created that makes people enjoy just being near him? Is he good? Or, is he evil?
If you get any more ideas of you rown that you can add on to any of this, go for it! Hopefully, you'll get a story or paragraph or scene idea out of the exercise.
What makes any object, place, location, business feel "special?"
The Bagel Shoppe is open 24/7 and is one of the happeningest hot spots in town. Bagels, all kinds, always fresh, all the time. Customers have become almost fanatically loyal and there are some local businesses that simply won't put out the "Open for Business" sign until the boss and/or employees have had their morning bagel fix.
Likewise, the lunch crowd is lined up out the door by 11:30 A.M. even though the Shoppe's famous Meal-in-a-Bagel doesn't go on sale until 12:00 noon.
And the after-five folks are not to be dismissed, no siree. Then there's the late-late night after hours crew that always drops in once the local clubs and bars have called last call. There will never be a last call at the Shoppe.
So, who are these people, these customers, these loyalists? Tell a few of their stories and how do they connect... or not... with one another?
Three regular customers show up precisely at 5:30 A.M. every morning, each getting a large order of bagels that will be taken to their respective workplaces. If a reality-TV spy camera followed each of those orders, what would we see?
What kinds of workplaces and coworkers and bosses will we meet? What's happening there and where do our bagel-carriers fit in?
The elderly couple who seem so frail haven't missed a day since the Shoppe opened fifteen years ago. What time of day or night do they show up and why is that significant to their story?
The punky-goth girl who's feeling more and more estranged from her goth friends is starting to feel more and more connected to the sunny disposition of the Shoppe's owner. Why is that?
And who is this owner who has inspired such devotion and why are HIS bagels the most sought after in town? What is it about him and the business that he's created that makes people enjoy just being near him? Is he good? Or, is he evil?
If you get any more ideas of you rown that you can add on to any of this, go for it! Hopefully, you'll get a story or paragraph or scene idea out of the exercise.
What makes any object, place, location, business feel "special?"
Story Ideas from the Headlines
Family Rescued After 17 Days Trapped in Snow
Updated 3:04 AM ET March 23, 2006
Rescuers had given up on finding the Striver family after six family members disappeared more than two weeks ago, but they survived 17 days trapped in the snow in an RV and were together, safe and healthy, in their Oregon home Wednesday morning.
The Strivers set off on an overnight trip to the coast on March 4, but became trapped by a snowstorm on a rural backcountry road in southwestern Oregon. Marlo Hill-Striver's mother reported the family missing on March 8, launching a massive multi-county and two-state search.
The Strivers survived on the supplies in their RV and melted snow, and they watched on television while the search for them was finally called off.
###
Woman With Perfect Memory Baffles Scientists
Updated 3:04 AM ET March 23, 2006
James McGaugh is one of the world's leading experts on how the human memory system works. But these days, he admits he's stumped.
McGaugh's journey through an intellectual purgatory began six years ago when a woman now known only as AJ wrote him a letter detailing her astonishing ability to remember with remarkable clarity even trivial events that happened decades ago.
Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date.
Like any good scientist, McGaugh was initially skeptical. But not anymore.
"This is real," he says.
The article states that this is a "normally functioning" intelligent human being and not a case of an "idiot savant" with remarkable memory abilities in a narrowly defined subject area. Scientists cannot explain the ability other than to suggest the woman's brain is hard-wired differently than a normal human brain and the distractions a normal brain might throw up in the path of recalling a memory are not present along this woman's memory pathways.
As a writer, if you had a character with this ability, what advantages and what dangers and what plot conflict and complications might this ability bring about?
Family Rescued After 17 Days Trapped in Snow
Updated 3:04 AM ET March 23, 2006
Rescuers had given up on finding the Striver family after six family members disappeared more than two weeks ago, but they survived 17 days trapped in the snow in an RV and were together, safe and healthy, in their Oregon home Wednesday morning.
The Strivers set off on an overnight trip to the coast on March 4, but became trapped by a snowstorm on a rural backcountry road in southwestern Oregon. Marlo Hill-Striver's mother reported the family missing on March 8, launching a massive multi-county and two-state search.
The Strivers survived on the supplies in their RV and melted snow, and they watched on television while the search for them was finally called off.
###
Woman With Perfect Memory Baffles Scientists
Updated 3:04 AM ET March 23, 2006
James McGaugh is one of the world's leading experts on how the human memory system works. But these days, he admits he's stumped.
McGaugh's journey through an intellectual purgatory began six years ago when a woman now known only as AJ wrote him a letter detailing her astonishing ability to remember with remarkable clarity even trivial events that happened decades ago.
Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date.
Like any good scientist, McGaugh was initially skeptical. But not anymore.
"This is real," he says.
The article states that this is a "normally functioning" intelligent human being and not a case of an "idiot savant" with remarkable memory abilities in a narrowly defined subject area. Scientists cannot explain the ability other than to suggest the woman's brain is hard-wired differently than a normal human brain and the distractions a normal brain might throw up in the path of recalling a memory are not present along this woman's memory pathways.
As a writer, if you had a character with this ability, what advantages and what dangers and what plot conflict and complications might this ability bring about?
A Day in the Life of a Tree
...or a week, a year, an hour, a minute...
Can you write a paragraph, a scene, a story about a tree? Create separate stories for each of the following trees (what have they witnessed, where do they live, what dangers have they faced, any significant historical era or persons involved, what makes that tree's story unique, and so on...):
...or a week, a year, an hour, a minute...
Can you write a paragraph, a scene, a story about a tree? Create separate stories for each of the following trees (what have they witnessed, where do they live, what dangers have they faced, any significant historical era or persons involved, what makes that tree's story unique, and so on...):
Here's a sample group of images. Can you write a story or screenplay scene that ties all three elements together?
What if...
...your arms and legs were removeable?
...we run out of landfill space for our trash?
...you had a third eye? Where would it be and what use would it have?
...you could grant one animal species the ability to talk? Which one would you pick and why? What kind of conversations would you have?
...you discover hard evidence that your employer is breaking the law? What crime are they committing? What would you do about it?
...you can prove how an election was rigged? What kind of election? What's your evidence? What if you COULD change the results but the guy who would then be the winner is much worse for the job? Would you still make an honest election?
...you had to pick which of your five senses you had to lose? You must pick one. Which one would you do without? How would you cope without it?
...you could have one superpower? Which one would you pick? Why?
...you could undo a past mistake? Which one? How would you undo it? What would happen from that point on?
...you could expose someone you know as a phoney? To whom would you expose that person and what would you get out of it?
...your favorite color was outlawed?
...you had to pick the songs for your favorite singer's next CD from songs that already exist. Which songs would you pick?
...you could rewrite all or any part of any movie? What would you change?
...you could sit down to dinner with any four persons, past or present, living or dead? Who would you pick and how would the conversation go?
...you could redistribute the world's wealth? How would you do that and what countries would you most affect?
...you could completely and forever eradicate ONE disease? Which one? Why?
...your arms and legs were removeable?
...we run out of landfill space for our trash?
...you had a third eye? Where would it be and what use would it have?
...you could grant one animal species the ability to talk? Which one would you pick and why? What kind of conversations would you have?
...you discover hard evidence that your employer is breaking the law? What crime are they committing? What would you do about it?
...you can prove how an election was rigged? What kind of election? What's your evidence? What if you COULD change the results but the guy who would then be the winner is much worse for the job? Would you still make an honest election?
...you had to pick which of your five senses you had to lose? You must pick one. Which one would you do without? How would you cope without it?
...you could have one superpower? Which one would you pick? Why?
...you could undo a past mistake? Which one? How would you undo it? What would happen from that point on?
...you could expose someone you know as a phoney? To whom would you expose that person and what would you get out of it?
...your favorite color was outlawed?
...you had to pick the songs for your favorite singer's next CD from songs that already exist. Which songs would you pick?
...you could rewrite all or any part of any movie? What would you change?
...you could sit down to dinner with any four persons, past or present, living or dead? Who would you pick and how would the conversation go?
...you could redistribute the world's wealth? How would you do that and what countries would you most affect?
...you could completely and forever eradicate ONE disease? Which one? Why?
Inspiration from a Picture
A few questions to get you going...
Who lives on top of that mountain?
If no human being has ever set foot on the summit of that mountain before you (or your character), how does that make you (or your character) feel? Describe the emotions. Why? What's behind them? What struggle, sacrifice, pain, conflict had to be overcome or endured to get to that summit?
Is that foggy mist or forest fire smoke in the picture? What does that signify in terms of story (what your character has done or is about to do)? Is it a positive or negative (more conflict/problems to overcome)?
If you (or your character) meets up with one of the creatures of the forest, is it a friendly meeting or one of danger? For who? You or the creature? Why? What happens? If it is a friendly meeting, what sort of "relationship" forms between human and animal?
What other humans might also be in this scene that would pose grave danger to your character? Why? How?
Any discoveries made? What kind? What impact do they have on your character and story?
Why will your character never forget this place?
A few questions to get you going...
Who lives on top of that mountain?
If no human being has ever set foot on the summit of that mountain before you (or your character), how does that make you (or your character) feel? Describe the emotions. Why? What's behind them? What struggle, sacrifice, pain, conflict had to be overcome or endured to get to that summit?
Is that foggy mist or forest fire smoke in the picture? What does that signify in terms of story (what your character has done or is about to do)? Is it a positive or negative (more conflict/problems to overcome)?
If you (or your character) meets up with one of the creatures of the forest, is it a friendly meeting or one of danger? For who? You or the creature? Why? What happens? If it is a friendly meeting, what sort of "relationship" forms between human and animal?
What other humans might also be in this scene that would pose grave danger to your character? Why? How?
Any discoveries made? What kind? What impact do they have on your character and story?
Why will your character never forget this place?
Writing Challenge: TEN ADJECTIVES
Write a scene or story or paragraph or poem or anything else using the following ten adjectives (and you MUST use all ten):
worrisome
sweaty
carbonated
pink
penny-pinching
decayed
frothy
fuzzy
countrified
local
Write a scene or story or paragraph or poem or anything else using the following ten adjectives (and you MUST use all ten):
worrisome
sweaty
carbonated
pink
penny-pinching
decayed
frothy
fuzzy
countrified
local
Writing Challenge: TEN NOUNS
Write a scene or short story or poem or anything else using the following ten nouns:
billboard
jail cell
lake
porch
sweater
lemon
angel
host
static
radiator
Write a scene or short story or poem or anything else using the following ten nouns:
billboard
jail cell
lake
porch
sweater
lemon
angel
host
static
radiator
What would you take?
The 1960 movie, "Time Machine," starring Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux and based on the H.G. Wells classic novel of the same name ended with Rod Taylor's use of the machine to return to the future and the Eloi people.
Before he did that, he'd travelled back to his "present day" time of c.1900 to meet with some companions in his library. They were surprised when he slipped away for the last time and were mystified to discover that he'd taken five books back to the future with him. They (and the movie audience) never knew what five books he'd chosen to take with him.
If you saw this movie, what five books do you think this character brought back to the innocent, technology ignorant, and non-aggressive Eloi?
Given your own present-day (2005) circumstances and knowledge and sophistication, if you had to leave your life behind to help shape a new civilization, what five books would you choose to take and why?
After you answer that question, let's ask it again but not limit the answer to only book titles. Say you were allowed to take ten anything to this new world you would be helping to shape, what ten things would you take? It could be books, technological marvels, any convenience of modern life, anything at all. Assume that any object you choose (example: telephone) would also be sent along with whatever technology was required to make it practical.
So... what would you take?
The 1960 movie, "Time Machine," starring Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux and based on the H.G. Wells classic novel of the same name ended with Rod Taylor's use of the machine to return to the future and the Eloi people.
Before he did that, he'd travelled back to his "present day" time of c.1900 to meet with some companions in his library. They were surprised when he slipped away for the last time and were mystified to discover that he'd taken five books back to the future with him. They (and the movie audience) never knew what five books he'd chosen to take with him.
If you saw this movie, what five books do you think this character brought back to the innocent, technology ignorant, and non-aggressive Eloi?
Given your own present-day (2005) circumstances and knowledge and sophistication, if you had to leave your life behind to help shape a new civilization, what five books would you choose to take and why?
After you answer that question, let's ask it again but not limit the answer to only book titles. Say you were allowed to take ten anything to this new world you would be helping to shape, what ten things would you take? It could be books, technological marvels, any convenience of modern life, anything at all. Assume that any object you choose (example: telephone) would also be sent along with whatever technology was required to make it practical.
So... what would you take?