Popcorn thoughts
February 16, 2008
People constantly ask writers how they come up with story ideas and how they remain inspired. Well, this isn’t going to be a writing philosophy course or a how-to on writing (find all that at Jeff Cutler dot com). No, what this is going to be is a random train of thought post showing you how certain kernels can pop suddenly into stories or blog posts or even fiction that affects and entertains people.
The process here will be a list of ideas followed by a one- or two-sentence explanation of the blown out story. Let’s go…
Popcorn as a story idea. Well, duh, you’re reading that post already.
Natural selection aided by aliens. A story of how an intelligent family or group is selectively extinguished because they might be the people who discover smarter beings in our universe.
Brake maladies. A story about how brakes left in disrepair suddenly grab and stop a car, viciously flipping it up in the air like a Hollywood stunt. THEN, the car that was driving behind finds itself and its occupants crushed under the first car as it returns to the ground.
The waitress. Frustrated by her totally normal but uninspired lot in life, a waitress decides to take on a different persona each day forever.
Indian coffee man. A former Starbucks devotee embarks on a quest to find or grow his own coffee instead of paying $4 a cup for it. The Indian twist is because he’s partial to Keoke Coffee, a drink that’s quite popular at Native American casinos.
Food hustler. A slight man with a penchant for eating large portions of nearly any food crosses the globe winning money and free meals in food bets.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Ever wonder why writers carry notebooks with them? It’s because about 90% of these ideas would escape from our brains in about three minutes unless we write them down.
Got an idea you want me to write about – or better yet, talk about on Bowl of Cheese podcast, leave your comment on this post. If you don’t have a URL, make one up. The box is there to stifle the spammers.
More to come…
