Writing Thought for the Week

[ladyseishou]

Where to get the idea? Easy. Pick up your local newspaper. The odds are that on the first page or two it contains news of at least one homicide, an aggravated assault, a bank robbery, a mugging, a jailbreak. There also may be a recap on a criminal trial that merits national attention, an update on a series of unsolved murders, and an item about a child who has been missing. In other words, you'll find material for a dozen short stories or novels.

Mary Higgins Clark (The Cradle Will Fall, A Stranger is Watching)

Comments

[cheyinka]

My first reaction was "What a terrible idea! Why would hearing about a bank robbery give me any story ideas?"

Most of the possible ideas I can get from real-life crimes don't sound that interesting, in fact, but with a bit of effort I can dredge up some... for example, a story about someone who was murdered might "really" be about "was he really killed, or was it a ruse to disguise that he became a wereboar and had to cut ties with his family?" "is there a serial killer going after every descendant of his great-great-grandfather (barring himself)?" "did the victim have secret mystical knowledge that was only partially passed on to her disciple?"

I guess it would work better for someone who likes mystery novels, or perhaps romances, and is thinking of writing those?

[ladyseishou]

Inspiration for the attempted robbery of Gringott's Bank in the first Harry Potter novel?

To be truthful, I was a little undecided about using this quote (that and dealing with fever) but in the end, I thought that it went well with the idea that as writers we should find inspiration in and about anything. I believe that was somewhat Ms. Clark's point. And it seems to me that you found some rather interesting fodder for your werboar storyline.

And because even fantasy magical worlds might have banks ;-)

[cheyinka]

I like the quote, I just had a bone to pick with the speaker. :D

And, yeah, that's why I did put in the effort to think of ways to use a news story, because once I had the first idea I realized it was possible. It just didn't seem easy!