Wouldn't it be nice....

[Chris James]

Oh, I do hope this is real:

http://now.msn.com/now/0529-gay-bully-note.aspx

[Guest Dabeagle]

That note is awesome. I so wish I could make a decent story out of it.

[Lugnutz]

That note is awesome. I so wish I could make a decent story out of it.

This, you can do. You pulled a great story from a picture.

[Gee Whillickers]

That's just great, even if it's not a real note. The sentiment is real enough. I'm anxiously awaiting Dabeagle's story in 3...2...1...

[blue]

Great note. Real or not, that's awesome. Two thumbs up. One for the openly gay boy in class. One for the linebacker or whoever put up the note.

[Guest Dabeagle]

Okay so now I'm knee deep in a story stealing that note. And I'm combining the earlier idea I had for a photographer with is and a Sanitarium. I blame all of you.

[Cole Parker]

I can hardly wait for that. It'll probably be epic.

C

[Guest Dabeagle]

It feels like cheating, so not epic.

[Chris James]

It is not cheating, Beagle. Many of us extrapolate our concepts for a story from real life events. If you are really clever at using the idea then everyone will appreciate the effort. There are some pretty complicated inspirational moments out there and I would think it grand if many of them could find their way into a story. So don't crash your ego, and get to work. I think we would all like to see what you develop.

[blue]

Practically anything from real life is story material. You can mix and match, take a bit here and a bit from there, and put 'em together how you see fit.

My mom was an oil painter, pro artist. Every summer, any vacation, she had a camera and a sketchbook. My mom, dad, and I would head down back country roads throughout the Texas Hill Country or along the route to my dad's parents' farm, near a tiny town in Virginia. Her paintings might take clouds from one photo (or a few), rocks from another, flowers from a few, deer from another, a stream from yet another, and so on. Usually, those were close to each other geographically, but my mom would sometimes bend the rules if it made sense visually and didn't break real-life rules for what would grow/live where. No one but her (or my dad or me) would know it wasn't any different.

So Beagle, borrow away!

And if you see a rather plump middle aged lady with a wild hat and old paint-daubed clothes, leaning over with her camera close to the ground and her butt high in the air, taking photos of flowering weeds in a ditch.... Well, it isn't my mom, but it's likely some crazy artist lady like my mom, hahaha. (Yes, that happened. More than once. I have (or had) photographic proof!)

[The Pecman]

Wow, that is a stunning (and short) idea for a story.

And if only because I love Brian Wilson's Beach Boys song of the same name, I hereby request Beagle to use Chris James' title! It's great, provided somebody else hasn't used it. (But I'm a sucker for classic song titles.)

[Cole Parker]

An idea is just that. A story is what grows out of it. Looking at the idea as having the majority of the worth of a story is the wrong way to think, to me.

Your story will have structure, characters, a set up, a denouement, excitement, exposition, backgroud, a setting--all the things that will make it real. The idea only hints at, perhaps motivates those things.

Storytelling is a real artform. And you do it wonderfully, Dave.

C

[Guest Dabeagle]

I missed the title suggested by James, and re-reading didn't help me.

Cole - check's in the mail.

Story is done, I think, off to beta and edit.

My problem with these stories is the whole 'ripped from the headlines' thing, like I said it feels like cheating. I haevn't watched any of the 9/11 plays or movies, I think I was overloaded on the whole concept but maybe that's a separate issue. I have issues

[blue]

The title he was referring to is the thread title, "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" by the Beach Boys.

IMHO, it's fine if your story idea comes from a news item, headlines, etc. One poem I wrote, "War At Home," was because I'd read or watched a news article about three teens in a park. One had killed another, very violently, over a breakup with a girl, and because of racial or gang issues. So one boy's life was lost, the other boy's life was ruined by his actions, and one girl would carry the memory, her life also damaged. ... And crime tape, blood, oil, grime, all around. Link: War At Home.

Why report news? So people will be informed of what's going on around them, and so people might do something to make things better.

Writing a story is one way of working to bring about change.

-- Yeah, I saw more than I ever needed to on 9/11 and after, news coverage. I haven't wanted to watch coverage of it afterward. Maybe someday. I didn't have anyone there, but it was all too unconscionable, and too easy to compare it to my own downtown area.

Anyway -- there's the seed of a great story (or several) in that clip.

[The Pecman]

Isn't that a great title? "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Man, I would've grabbed that if I had thought of it!

[Guest Dabeagle]

Go for it! I used something else, combined a few ideas I've been rolling around in my empty head.

[Gee Whillickers]

If you don't use it Pecman, I will. It's too good a title to pass up on.

[The Pecman]

Be my guest, Gee! Hey, I already used "Groovy Kind of Love," so I think the whole 1966 pop/rock ouvre is wide open.